# Invitations

Section: Guest Management · Page: https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/invitations

(Plans: Pro & Expert)

When it matters who is asked (collectors, VIPs, press, artists) you send an
invitation: a personal invite to a named guest, with its own link and its own
tracked response. For a route anyone can use, share a
[booking link](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/booking-links) instead; both can run on the
same event, and inviting your priority guests personally before the public link
opens gives the people who matter most first choice of places. Guests who confirm
count against your monthly free-guest allowance, then credits, see
[Billing and credits](https://artsvp.com/docs/settings/billing-and-credits).

## Sending invitations

1. Open the event's **Guestlist** and choose **Invite Guests**.
2. Add recipients: type them in (a **Name** is required, or both
   **First name** and **Last name** if you collect those separately;
   **Email** is optional), import a CSV or Excel file (.xlsx), or pick
   from your
   [contacts](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/contacts-and-data) and contact lists.
   Each email is invited on its own, even when several belong to one contact.
   Contact lists are managed on **Settings** → **Contacts** (use **Filter** or
   **Manage lists** there), they do not show on the Guestlist until you invite
   from them. When you import a file, include a phone column and map it if you
   send invitation texts; a number needs a country code, for example
   *+44 7700 900123*, and a number without one is skipped and does not fail the
   import.
   Imported rows are created in the background, and nothing is sent
   automatically. The invitations appear in your guest list shortly (large
   lists can take a few minutes) at **Pending** status. When you're ready,
   select them there and choose **Send invites**.
3. Choose how to deliver:
   - **Send your invites**: compose the invite email (subject, body,
     personalisation variables, banner), click **Send me a test**, then send.
     Sending has a short hold so you can cancel a slip.
   - **Copy your invite link** or **Download your invite links**: take each
     guest's personal invite link and send it through your own channels: a
     personal email, WhatsApp.
   - **Save & send later**: the invites sit at Pending until you send them.

When you type an **Email** on **Manually**, a **Heads up** note appears if
that person is already on the guest list. It is a warning, never a block.
**CSV Upload** and **Contact List** are not checked. See
[Already on the list](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/guest-list#already-on-the-list).

When you know a guest only by their email address, give them a stand-in
**Name** (*Guest of Galerie Lumière*) and send as usual. If you collect
first and last name separately, both **First name** and **Last name** are
required. The guest cannot change that name when they RSVP: it becomes
the name on their booking, ticket, and guest list entry. Change the body's
opening *Dear {{name}},* to a greeting such as *Hello,* before you send,
and correct the name from the guest's panel if you learn it before they
book. A [booking link](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/booking-links)
is the alternative when the guest should type their own name.

**Send me a test** delivers the invitation as you've written it to the email
address on your account. You cannot choose another recipient: a test always
goes to your own account email. Your guests are not contacted. To show a
colleague, forward the test email from your own inbox. The test's invite
link cannot be used to RSVP or book, so it is safe to forward. The test does
not count towards any invitation's 5 sends through ARTSVP. Sending the real
invitation to that person counts as a real invite, uses one of that
invitation's 5 sends through ARTSVP, and carries a live booking link. The
subject starts with *[Test]* so you can tell it from the real send. The same
button is on the composer when you choose **Send invite** from a guest's
panel, or **Send invites** from the guest list. The test also shows the
unsubscribe footer guests receive.

### More than one event

From **All Guests**, you can tick Pending invitations that belong to
different events and send them together. **Actions** → **Send invites**
opens **Send your invites** with an **Event** tab for each event. Each
tab shows that event's own subject, banner, and body, so those guests
receive the wording for their event, never another event's.

Choose a tab to check or change what its guests receive. An amber note,
**Changed for this send only**, appears when you edit: the invite email
saved on that event stays as it is, and **Undo** puts the saved wording
back. The **From** name is the same in every tab. Email settings (the
gear beside **Send me a test**) apply to every event in the send.

**Send me a test** delivers the open tab to your account email.

Invitation emails include a footer link, *Unsubscribe from Gallery A
invitations*, named for your organisation. A guest who uses it stops
receiving further invitation emails from you.

Invitation emails also include a line below the RSVP button: **Unable to
attend?** *Please click here to mark yourself as not attending.* On a
collection invitation the wording is **Unable to attend any of the events?**
instead. This line cannot be edited or hidden on its own.

The composer's email settings (the gear icon beside **Send me a test**) include
**Remove the invite link from the email**. Checking it removes the RSVP button,
the "Unable to attend" line, and the fallback link together, leaving only your
message and banner. It is meant for a save-the-date or an early note where you
plan to send the real invitation later. Test sends respect this setting.

One thing to be aware of: in portal mode, the settings gear does not appear, so
partners cannot remove the invite link.

One thing to be aware of: confirmation and reminder emails still go out as
usual. For a portal invitation, the link names the partner the guest sees
(their connected organisation, or the portal itself), not the event's
organiser.

Each invitation carries a unique link where the guest confirms or declines, and
replies update the guest list immediately: Invited becomes Confirmed or
Declined. The link is personal and single-use, once it has been used to book,
reopening it shows your invite-used message rather than a fresh booking form.
If they already have a booking, the page also says **You already have a
booking for this event.** and offers **Email me my booking link**. The link
is emailed to the address on the booking, not shown on the page.

If an invited guest arrives without booking, confirm them at the door with
**Confirm & check in** (Check-in Mode, or their invitation on the guest list).
Every role can do this, including Check-in only. Declining on their behalf
needs an Admin, Event Manager, or Booking Manager.

If your organisation has an invitation-text automation, sending the email (or
logging a contact) also texts the invite over WhatsApp. That needs a mobile
number on the invitation. If WhatsApp cannot deliver it to a number in the UK,
Germany, Spain, Latvia or Mexico, the same invitation follows by SMS. The
wording is ARTSVP's invitation template, not the email you composed, and each
invitation is texted once. The WhatsApp message opens with the event's **Social
Sharing** picture (the sharing image, or the **Banner Image** if you have not
set one). Change that picture under the event's **Settings** → **Advanced**, or
under **Settings** → **Details** on a collection. An invitation whose event or
collection has neither picture uses an ARTSVP logo; an SMS fallback is text
only. The text counts as one of the invitation's 5 sends through ARTSVP, so an
invitation that has already been sent 5 times is not texted. See
[Automations](https://artsvp.com/docs/automations/overview).

## Duplicates in imports

Importing a CSV or Excel file creates one invitation per row. The import does
not merge duplicates: if the same email address appears twice in one file,
two separate invitations are created. If you upload several files, or upload a
file that includes people already on the guest list, each row still becomes
its own invitation. Each invitation can be emailed separately and has its own
invite link.

This is by design: you may want to send someone a fresh invitation to a new
event or after they declined, and the import cannot guess your intent. The
**Heads up** warning that appears when you type an email manually does not
appear during CSV imports.

> **Tip:** Before uploading, combine your files into one and remove duplicate
> email addresses. Sort by email in Excel or Google Sheets, then remove
> repeated rows. This keeps your guest list clean and avoids sending the same
> person multiple invitations.

The same applies to portal imports: each row in a partner's CSV becomes a
separate invitation, and credits are charged per invitation created. See
[Portals](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/portals) for portal credit costs.

## Personalisation variables

The invite composer lets you include tokens that are replaced with each guest's
details when the invitation is sent. In the preview the tokens appear as
coloured chips; in the editor they are written as `{{token}}`.

| Token | Replaced with |
|---|---|
| `{{name}}` | Guest's full name |
| `{{first_name}}` | The guest's first name. If they entered one full name, this is the first word. |
| `{{last_name}}` | The guest's last name. If they entered one full name, this is everything after the first word. |
| `{{email}}` | Guest's email address |
| `{{invited_by}}` | Name of the organisation or portal that created the invitation |

`{{invited_by}}` is filled automatically, you do not type it yourself. For an
invitation you send from the event's Guestlist it is your organisation's name;
for an invitation a partner sends from their portal it is the portal's name.

### Fallbacks

A token can carry a fallback value: `{{name|there}}` becomes *there* when the
guest has no name. If no fallback is given and the value is missing, the token
is replaced with nothing.

### Custom variables from CSV

When you import a CSV and choose **Send your invites**, any extra columns you
mapped become available as tokens for that batch. Column names are lowercased
and spaces become underscores, so a column headed *Company Name* becomes
`{{company_name}}`. These custom tokens appear in the Personalise menu
alongside the built-in variables.

You cannot create or send invitations for a cancelled event. Anyone who opens
an existing invitation lands on its page and sees your cancelled message. See
[Cancelling an event](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/overview#cancelling-an-event).

## Golden invites

Some guests you cannot say no to. A director arrives with a collector in tow, a
lender asks for two more places on the morning of the opening, an artist wants
their gallerist beside them. A **Golden** invitation books past a full event:
capacity no longer applies to it, so the guest is admitted even when the event
is fully booked.

Open a guest's invitation from the event's guest list and set **Golden** to
*"Yes"*. It applies to that one invitation, not to the event, so a full house
stays full for everyone else.

Golden also books the guest in the ordinary way on an event that would normally
hold them back: on a register-interest or waitlist event, a golden invitation
confirms a place rather than joining the queue.

One thing to be aware of: an invitation's settings lock once it has been used to
book, so mark it Golden before you send it, not after the guest has tried.

### Golden and Skip payment are separate

The two settings sit next to each other and answer different questions.

| Setting | What it changes | Leaves alone |
|---|---|---|
| **Golden** | Capacity. The guest books into a full event. | Payment: they still pay for a paid ticket. |
| **Skip payment** | Price. The guest sees no prices and no payment step. | Capacity: a full event still turns them away. |

Use either, both, or neither. A complimentary place at a sold-out opening needs
both: **Golden** to get them in, **Skip payment** so they are not charged.

> **Tip:** Keep a couple of Golden invitations in reserve rather than raising
> capacity for one guest. Capacity is a promise to everyone; a Golden invitation
> is an exception to it.

## Use limit

Every invitation has a **Use limit**. The **Uses** row counts bookings made
through it, for example "2 of 3 used". A booking for 2 people at one event
counts as 1 use. 0 means unlimited.

A single-event invitation starts at 1.

A collection invitation starts at the number of events in the collection.
Not supported yet: reaching the limit does not stop them booking another
event in the collection, so it can't yet cap how many of those events they
pick. Opening an event they have already booked takes them back to that
booking. See [Use limit](https://artsvp.com/docs/collections/building-a-collection#use-limit).

The pencil under **Invite Settings** saves a new number. On a collection
invitation, adding or removing an event, or a title, text, or image block on
the collection page, sets that number back to the number of events. A
single-event invitation stays as you saved it.

## Chasing replies

Resend an invitation from the guest's panel, or bulk-send to everyone still
Pending from the guest list. Each invitation can be sent through ARTSVP up to
5 times in total. The invite email template lives in the event's **Settings** → **Emails**
tab and can be customised again before each send, see
[Event emails](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/emails).

### If someone declined by mistake

The guest can change their mind: they reopen the **same invitation link** and
accept. Their status updates from Declined to Confirmed on your guest list.

Alternatively, you can send them a **fresh invitation**: open the event's
**Guestlist**, choose **Invite Guests**, and create a new one for them. The
original declined row stays on the list as history. When you type their email,
a **Heads up** note tells you they already declined, before anything is sent.

One thing to be aware of: **Send invite** and **Copy link** are disabled on
declined rows in the admin panel, so you cannot resend the original invitation
email or copy its link from there. If you need to remind the guest of their
link, send a fresh invitation instead.

## Guests without email addresses

A guest invited with no email still exists on the list at Pending. Use their
invite link to reach them another way, or add the email later and send.

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Keep reading: [Guest List](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/guest-list) ·
[Booking links](https://artsvp.com/docs/guest-management/booking-links) ·
[Event emails](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/emails) ·
[Publishing and sharing](https://artsvp.com/docs/events/publishing-and-sharing#social-sharing) ·
[Automations](https://artsvp.com/docs/automations/overview)

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