Wedding abroad invitations: what to say and what to put in the guest information pack

The invitation sets the trip in motion, so it carries the facts guests need to decide and to book. Everything else can wait for the information pack.

• Your names, and who is invited. Say clearly whether children or a plus-one are included.
• The date, with the day of the week, and the town and country. Name the venue if it is fixed.
• The travel window: the day guests should arrive by and the day the celebrations end.
• The RSVP date. Set it earlier than you would for a wedding at home, so you can confirm numbers with the venue and guests still have time to book.
• Where the details will follow: a wedding website, a shared document or a message closer to the date.

If guests need much longer than usual to plan, send a save-the-date first with the date and the place, and follow with the full invitation once the venue and schedule are confirmed.

Replace the brackets with your own details, and cut anything that does not apply.

Formal invitation

“[Name] and [Name] request the pleasure of your company at their marriage on [day, date] at [venue], [town], [country]. Celebrations begin with a welcome evening on [day] and end with a farewell brunch on [day]. Please reply by [RSVP date]. Travel and accommodation details will follow in your guest information pack.”

Relaxed invitation

“We’re getting married in [town, country], and we’d love you to be there. Join us from [day, date] to [day, date] for the wedding on [day]. Please let us know by [RSVP date] whether you can come. We’ll send everything you need to plan the trip soon after.”

Save-the-date

“Save the date: [Name] and [Name] are getting married in [town, country] on [date]. Invitation and travel details to follow.”

When the trip is a big ask

“We know travelling abroad is a lot to ask, in time and money. If you can’t make it, we completely understand, and we’ll share the photos with you afterwards.”

Guests from different countries read dates and times differently, and many will check your schedule from home before they travel.

• Write dates with the month as a word, for example “Saturday 12 June”, so nobody mixes up the day and the month.
• Give every time in the venue’s local time and say so once, near the top: “All times are local time in [town].”
• For guests from far away, say how many hours the venue is ahead of or behind their home, or link to a time zone converter.
• Give a travel window, not just the wedding day: when to arrive, when the first event starts and when the last one ends.
• Put the deadlines for guests (RSVP, room block, transfer booking) in one list with the venue time zone.

Mobile data costs depend on where each guest’s plan comes from. Under the EU’s roam-like-at-home rules, a plan from an EU country normally works at domestic prices in another EU country, and the rules also cover Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as Moldova and Ukraine. Operators may apply a fair-use policy that limits data at the domestic price. Plans from other countries are not covered by those rules, so guests from the UK, Switzerland, the United States and elsewhere should check their own roaming charges (some operators include EU roaming in their plans). The Your Europe page on mobile roaming explains the rules.

In the information pack, you don’t need to advise on plans. A short reminder is enough:

“Please check your mobile plan’s roaming charges before you travel. The venue has guest Wi-Fi: [network name] / [password].”

A dress code written for a wedding at home may not work on a beach in August or a hillside in October. Tell guests what the setting is like, not just how formal it is.

• Name the dress code and describe it in a few words: “Summer formal: light suits, no ties needed, long or midi dresses.”
• Say what the ground is like. Grass, sand, cobbles and steep paths all affect the choice of shoes.
• Give the typical weather for the season and the time of day, and say whether anything happens outdoors after dark.
• Mention sun and heat, or cooler evenings, and whether there is shade or an indoor fallback.
• If the venue or a religious ceremony has rules on covered shoulders or similar, say so plainly.

Sample line: “Dress code: garden formal. The ceremony is outdoors on grass, so block heels or flats work best. Evenings can be cool, so bring a layer.”

The information pack is where the detail lives. Send it as a link or a document once guests have replied, and print a short version for welcome bags if you are making them.

• Welcome: a line or two from you, and who to contact with questions, with a phone number that works abroad.
• Schedule: every event, with the place, the start time in venue time and what to wear.
• Getting there: nearby airports, transfers, parking, and whether you are arranging any shared transport.
• Where to stay: any room block, its booking deadline, and other options nearby.
• Phones and Wi-Fi: the roaming reminder above, and the venue Wi-Fi details.
• Dress and weather: the dress code and the practical notes on ground, heat and evenings.
• Photos: the one-line album request and the QR code, as below.
• FAQ: answers to the questions guests will otherwise send one by one.

For entry rules, visas and travel documents, point guests to their own government’s travel advice rather than answering for them.

Guests take photos all weekend, and many of them fly home within a day or two. Ask once, clearly, and give them one way to share.

“Taking photos over the weekend? Please add them to our shared album from the wedding day onwards: scan the QR code or open [album link]. It works in your phone’s browser, with no app or account.”

Every album comes with a sharing link and a downloadable QR code image, so you can put the code in the information pack, on the printed welcome card or on a sign at the venue. A printable A4 QR poster is included from Mini upwards. For sign layouts and short wording for the day, see QR signs anyone can follow.

If you use password protection, tell guests the password in the same message. For an encrypted album, send the complete link exactly as copied, because it contains the key that unlocks the photos.

Your Free album holds up to 100 photos in total and stays available for 14 days from its first successful upload. No payment card needed. Videos are not included.

Because that countdown starts with the first upload, not the wedding date, ask guests to wait until the wedding day if the information pack goes out weeks before. Use a separate rehearsal album for your own test. The photo limit is shared by the whole album. If you expect more photos or need more time, you can upgrade the album; see pricing and options.

FotoDrop doesn’t send reminders to your guests. Plan one follow-up message yourself, after everyone has travelled home, with the deadline in venue time. The guide for destination wedding guests covers signs, venue Wi-Fi and reminders across time zones in more detail.

Photos are normally optimised to at most 4,000 pixels on the longest edge. Keep the camera originals separately if you need untouched files, larger prints or room for substantial cropping.

Copy the questions that apply, and replace the brackets with your own answers.

What time zone are the times in? All times are local time in [town], which is [number] hours [ahead of / behind] [home city].

Can I bring my children or a guest? [Your answer, matching the invitation.]

When should I arrive and leave? Please arrive by [day]. The last event is [event] on [day], so [day] is a good day to fly home.

Will my phone work? Please check your mobile plan’s roaming charges before you travel. The venue has guest Wi-Fi.

What should I wear? [Dress code, ground and evening temperature.]

Do I need a visa? Please check your own government’s travel advice for [country], as the rules depend on your passport.

How do I share my photos? Scan the QR code in this pack or open [album link], choose your photos and wait until the page says they are uploaded. You can add more after you get home, until [deadline, venue time].

Album details and uploaded photos on FotoDrop.eu use Cloudflare storage restricted to the EU. Email delivery, network handling, support, logs, caches, visit measurement and backups have their own processing arrangements and may involve locations outside the EU.

This describes where the album is stored. It is not a promise that every part of the service stays in the EU. The privacy policy covers who processes what and where.

Guests open the album in their browser without installing an app or creating an account. By default, people with the shared link or QR code can view its photos while the album is active. A link can be forwarded, and recipients can save copies.