Digital invitation: the cost of a christening at home

A christening lunch at home comes down to numbers. The cake is ordered by the slice, the chairs are hired by the unit, and whoever cooks charges per head. The cost of a christening at home doesn't start with the menu — it starts with how many people actually walk through the door. That's the figure a paper invitation never gives you back. A Digital invitation does: choose a design from the catalogue, test it free, and send it today.

Two ways to play it. Guess, and spend the last week ringing round to find out who's actually coming. Or close the list first and buy the cake when you know the number.

The cost of a christening at home starts at the table, not the menu

Every extra guest lands on three bills at once. One more table of ten in the living room means ten more plates, ten more chairs to hire and return, and ten more glasses to wash. Nobody notices until the day itself, when you sit down and count. And the group chat won't help you here: 'I'll try to come' isn't a number you can hand to a caterer or a hire company.

• Cake, ordered by the slice, per confirmed guest
• Lunch or catering, charged per cover
• Chairs, tables and glassware, hired by the unit
• A keepsake per person — plus the evening spent putting them together

A Digital invitation closes the headcount before you order the cake

Replies arrive inside the invitation, in one ordered list you can read on your phone. You choose what the RSVP form asks, so what comes back is a number instead of a thread of maybes. Guests open the link in any browser and answer from their own phone — nothing to install, nothing to chase through WhatsApp.

And when something moves, you edit it. The ceremony shifts from 12:00 to 12:30, lunch at home starts at 2, the map pin was on the wrong street — change it and the same link shows the new version. No second message, no reprint, nobody turning up at the old time with a wrapped box under their arm.

Setting it up takes an afternoon

Start with the style. Filter the collection, test a design for free on the cover, and decide whether you want the chalky calm of Umbral de cal or something brighter for a courtyard lunch. Then fill in the text in Joy Studio — heading, names, date, phrase, place — with a character counter and a live preview as you type. Add up to six of your own photos, music if you want it, and the RSVP questions you need. The site runs in seven languages, which matters when half the family is abroad. When you're happy, publish with one button and watch the replies land in the same invitation.

Order the cake by the slice, not by hope. Close the guest list before you ring the pastry shop.

What a Digital invitation costs, and what it doesn't

29.99 EUR, paid once. Pick a design, try it free, and buying it unlocks every scene of the invitation. Nothing gets printed or posted, so there's no bill for envelopes, stamps or a reprint when the time changes — and if someone in the family wants paper, print a few copies for the people who'll keep them. Close the headcount first: build your invitation from the catalogue, try it free, and publish it this afternoon.