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Guide

Send the invitation you designed — a card or a short video — and track the RSVPs for free

Upload the card you made or bought — an Etsy template, a Canva design, a photo of a printed invitation — and Mela shows it whole, exactly as you made it, with the reply form underneath. Share the link by text, WhatsApp or email, add guests by phone number so each gets a personal link, and watch the replies land. Nothing to pay, no ads beside your design, and your guests never make an account.

How it works

1. Create the eventTitle, date, place — the details guests will need beneath the card. In the app or from the web.

2. Add your designOn the design step, choose “Use your own design” and pick the image. JPEG or PNG; a screenshot of your Canva export or the Etsy file works.

3. Send itShare one link in the group chat, or add guests by name and mobile number so each gets a personal link by text. The preview in the message shows your design.

4. Count the repliesAdults, kids and plus-ones as they arrive; who has not replied; one tap to remind only them.

A short video or a GIF instead

The same step takes a clip of up to 15 seconds, or a GIF. In the app the clip is trimmed and shrunk on your phone before it uploads, and a GIF is converted to video; on the web, clips up to 20 MB and GIFs up to 8 MB. Guests see it play muted at the top of the invitation, with the details beneath; the first frame is the picture in the message preview.

Three video invitations per host per month, and the clip is removed 90 days after the event while the poster stays, so the link never breaks. Those two limits are what keep this free.

What guests see

Your image, uncropped and with nothing written over it, on a plain paper background. Beneath it: the title, the date, the place, who is hosting, and the yes / maybe / no buttons. If you add a bring list, it sits below the reply.

The card is also the picture in the link preview, so the bubble in WhatsApp or iMessage shows your design before anyone taps.

Why this is free here and paid elsewhere

Uploading your own design is a paid upgrade on the big invitation sites, priced by how many guests you have. Mela is free at any size and shows no ads on invitations or reply pages; it is paid for by sponsored listings that communities choose to allow in their vendor directory.

Mela vs. Evite Invitations RSVP and headcount Try the demo

Before you upload

Export at a phone-friendly size — around 1200 pixels on the long edge is plenty; Mela resizes anything bigger.
Keep the text on the card readable at phone width; the details are repeated beneath it anyway.
If the design already shows the date and place, type the same ones into the event so the reminder and the calendar entry match.
Check the template licence: most Etsy templates allow personal use and digital sending.

Create an invitation with your own design

Free · no ads on the invitation · guests reply with a name and mobile number

Create an invitation with your own design Try the demo first

Nothing in the demo is sent or published.

Questions

Will the design be cropped?

No. In “own design” mode the image is shown whole at the width of the screen. The photo mode, which places the title over a full-bleed picture, is still there if you want it.

What formats work?

JPEG, PNG and WebP. Export a PDF to an image first. Up to 10 MB; the web creator resizes large images in the browser before uploading.

Can I send it by phone number?

Yes. Add guests by name and mobile number in the app and each gets a personal link by text; or share one link anywhere.

Is it really free?

Yes. Nothing to pay at any guest count, and no ads on the invitation or the reply page.

Also worth reading

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