Christening invitations on a boat: RSVP without seasickness

The christening is at noon and the boat leaves at 12:30, and by nine in the morning you have already typed the word 'pontoon' four times: once in the group chat, once to your cousin, once to the godparents, and once to someone who answered with a thumbs-up and nothing else.

That is the case for christening invitations on a boat that live on a link instead of a card. The harbour, the boarding time and the dress code are written once, in the thing everyone is already holding. No reprints, no second message with the corrected hour.

Christening invitations on a boat: harbour and boarding time first

Before you look at a single design, get the hard facts down. The baby's full name, the date, the harbour, the boarding time. 'Port de Sóller, 12:30' is a sentence you can build a morning around. In the editor each fact has its own field — label, names, date, phrase and place — so a long surname never pushes the date onto a second line.

• The baby's full name and the date, each in its own field.
• Harbour, pontoon and boarding time, kept apart from the ceremony time.
• A map pin for the meeting point on land, plus where to leave the car.
• A dress code written for a deck: wind, sun and shoes that hold.

Tell the day in scenes, not in one long paragraph

Split the morning into short, recognisable scenes: 'Foot of the pontoon' for arrivals, 'Crossing' for the run out of the harbour, 'Toast on deck' for the aperitif. Each scene takes its own text and photos, so the invitation reads in the order the day happens.

The first scene needs three things: the baby's name, the date and the harbour. The plan of the day belongs on the next one. If there is lunch on land afterwards, give it its own scene and its own time — 'Lunch at the lighthouse restaurant, 15:00' — instead of squeezing it into a footnote.

Write the harbour and the boarding time first. Everything else can change on the day.

RSVP from a phone, not from between memes in the chat

Guests open the link in any browser and confirm from their phone. No app to install. The answers collect inside the invitation, in one ordered list, which is what you want when you are counting heads at the gangway. Set only the questions you will actually use: 'Are you coming on the boat?', 'Bringing someone?', 'Staying for lunch on land?'. Three questions, one glance, and you stop chasing replies in the family chat.

Dress code, cover photo and the edits you will make later

On deck the wind has an opinion, so write it into the words: 'guest dress, no stiletto heels' says more than 'elegant'. Warn about the three steps to get aboard. Add one line about a thin layer, because the way back is cooler. Up to six of your own photos fit the frames, and you choose which one opens the invitation — the baby looking at the water beats a stock photo of a yacht. Background music sets the mood before anyone steps aboard. Share it by link, as a QR code on the lunch table, or straight to a message, and if there is family in France or Germany you can set the invitation by language. Try the design free before you pay. €29.99 unlocks every scene, once, with no subscription. Change the time, the map or the dress code afterwards and the link stays exactly the same.