Create an event invitation and invite guests

Create a GiftList event to share the occasion's details and collect RSVPs. You can attach a gift list, add useful links and choose whether guests need an event password.

Build the invitation

Watch this step, from 0:15

1. Open Events and start creating an event.
2. Add the occasion, date, start time and time zone. Check the time zone before sharing.
3. Add a place or video-call link, then choose a cover and headline.
4. Add details your guests need, such as what to bring or how to find the venue.
5. Review the guest and RSVP settings, including plus-ones where offered. Enable Ask for adults and children for separate headcounts. Guests include themselves once; Going totals exclude Maybe and declined replies. Older replies retain their headcounts and show without a breakdown until guests update them.
6. Preview the invitation and finish publishing it. Sign in or create an account when asked to publish.

Watch the walkthrough

Prefer to watch? The written steps cover the full task.

Play video: How to Make a Free Online Christmas Party Invitation With RSVPs

Attach a list and choose access

Watch this step, from 0:40

In Gift list, choose the GiftList you want guests to see. An event has one attached gift list. To share a second list, such as one for each child or a registry elsewhere, add its link in Links, which also suits registries GiftList can't import and wedding websites. Attaching a list does not change that list's password or give guests editing rights.

Under Who can see it, choose Unlisted — only people with the link or Password — link + a shared password. Give intended guests the password separately when required. The exact address or video link is shown only to you, your co-hosts and guests who reply Going, but anyone with the link can open an unlisted invite and reply. For a private party, choose Password.

Co-hosts and the guest list

In Co-hosts, invite someone by email to plan with you. Co-hosts can edit the invite, add a gift list and see every RSVP; they need a free GiftList account to accept. In Guest list, you can add guests by name, or with an email so GiftList sends them their own invite link. The guest list is also how you see who hasn't replied.

Add payment methods and QR images (optional)

In Add sections, choose Payment / QR code. Add Venmo, PayPal, Zelle or Cash App and enter the recipient’s details, just like a cash fund. You can use one of each method. If you attached a gift list, Copy payment methods from attached list brings its active saved methods into the event without replacing methods you already entered.

Payment details are saved for this event. Editing them does not change the gift list’s saved methods. You can also add payment methods without attaching a list.

Guests can open a supported recipient profile link or copy the recipient’s details into the payment app. Zelle uses an email address or US phone number that guests copy into their banking app. PayPal and Venmo recipients that use email or phone details may also require manual entry. GiftList does not process payments or confirm that money arrived.

Each method can have a recipient-supplied QR image: PNG, JPG or WebP. Keep QR images for the event under 1 MB in total so they fit in your saved draft. Keep the whole code and its border visible, and check that it matches that method’s recipient. Guests can scan it with another device; recipient details remain available if the image cannot load. Changing a recipient removes its QR image so you can add the matching one.

Images selected before sign-in stay in your local event draft and upload when you publish after signing in. Remove an image to keep the payment method, remove an individual method, or remove the section to omit payment details entirely.

Share and check responses

Watch this step, from 1:04

Use Share invite and send the invitation through your chosen channel. Open Guest list on your event to check responses. Copying the invitation link does not by itself send an invitation to everyone.

After you edit the event

Changes you save show on the invite right away, but GiftList does not email or notify guests about an edit. If you change the date, time or place, tell your guests yourself, for example by sharing the invite link again with a short note.

Remove or block a reply

If someone you don't know replies, or a guest should no longer come, you or a co-host can remove the reply:

1. Open your event's Guest list. Choose Remove beside a reply under Replied, not on your list, or the Remove this reply icon on an invited guest's row. You can also use the remove icon beside a name in Who's coming on the event page.
2. In Remove [name]?, check the details. Their reply comes off your guest list and headcount, and they won't see the event address anymore. GiftList doesn't tell them.
3. To stop them replying again, tick Block them from replying again, then confirm.

A block stops the account, or the browser or device, they replied from. Anyone with your link can still open the invite without the address, and GiftList can't recognize a new account or browser, so add a password to the event to keep strangers out. Blocked people are listed under Blocked on the guest list, where Unblock lets them reply again. Removing and blocking need a current version of GiftList.

Related: RSVP to an event, share a gift list.