Wedding guest messaging by text and WhatsApp

Why text and WhatsApp beat email for wedding guests

Wedding email invitations get buried. Open rates for marketing-style email hover around 20–40%, and a "Save the Date" from an address nobody recognizes often lands in spam or Promotions. A text message is opened within minutes by almost everyone, and WhatsApp — the default messenger for most guests outside the US — is widely reported to have far higher open rates than email.

That gap matters most for the two moments that decide your headcount: the RSVP ask and the day-of update. If half your guests never see the RSVP email, you are left calling relatives one by one. Duva closes that gap by messaging guests on the channel they already check dozens of times a day.

• SMS for US guests. Personalized RSVP links delivered by text — no app to download, no account to create.
• WhatsApp for international guests. Relatives traveling from India, the UK, or anywhere abroad get the same invite in the app they use every day.
• Automatic reminders. Duva quietly re-messages only the guests who have not responded, so you are not the one nagging.

Everything you can send

Duva is built for the full arc of wedding communication, not just one blast. Each message is personalized with the guest’s name and links to their own RSVP, so it never reads like spam.

• Invitations & save-the-dates. Send an animated save-the-date or a formal invite by text or WhatsApp, each with a one-tap RSVP link.
• RSVP requests. Guests RSVP for their whole party in one tap — per ceremony — with SMS verification so responses are real.
• Scheduled reminders. Queue an RSVP-deadline nudge or a "one week to go" message and Duva sends it at the right time automatically.
• Day-of announcements. Broadcast live updates — a shuttle time, a room change, "ceremony starts in 15 minutes" — to a whole ceremony at once.
• Logistics & details. Follow up with directions, dress code, meal choices, or parking notes without printing another insert card.

Message the right guests, not everyone

A group text to 300 people is a disaster — replies pile up, phone numbers leak, and half the room gets updates meant for the other half. Duva keeps one master guest list and lets you segment by ceremony, side of the family, or RSVP status, so every message goes to exactly the right people.

Only the guests invited to the sangeet get the sangeet reminder. Only the guests who RSVP’d yes to the reception get the seating text. Guests never see each other’s numbers, and replies come back to you privately.

• By ceremony. Separate invite lists for the welcome party, mehndi, sangeet, ceremony, and reception.
• By RSVP status. Text only the "yes" guests, or nudge only the ones who have not replied.
• Private by default. No shared group chat — each guest gets a one-to-one message and their number stays hidden.

How wedding guest messaging works in Duva

Setup takes minutes and the messaging runs itself from there.

• Import your guests. Upload a CSV or add guests by hand with their phone numbers and which events they are invited to.
• Assign ceremonies. Tag each guest to the events they belong to — Duva tracks a separate headcount for each.
• Send and schedule. Fire an invite now or schedule reminders; Duva picks SMS or WhatsApp per number automatically.
• Watch RSVPs roll in. Responses update your dashboard live, with attending / pending / declined counts per ceremony.

What it costs

Duva is free to set up: your wedding website, guest list, and RSVP collection cost nothing, and you get 50 message credits to start. After that, messaging is pay-as-you-go — you buy credit packs ($40, $99, or $165) that never expire, and each message uses one credit per recipient. There is no subscription and no per-guest fee for the website or RSVP tools. You only pay when you actually send messages.