Digital Invitation for a St John's Eve Bonfire Party

It's 23 June, twenty past eleven at night, and the group chat is still going: who's bringing the wood, where the fire actually is, whether dinner is in the same spot as last year. The cool box is still sitting in someone's hallway. A digital invitation for St John's Eve sorts all of that before the first bottle is opened: you pick a design from the collection, fill in the details and send one link.

Below is what to write down, what to ask people when they confirm, and what to do when the wind pushes the fire two coves down the coast.

Where the bonfire goes, and when it starts

Write two separate times: dinner at 20:30, fire lit at 22:00. Whoever leaves work late then knows exactly what they're missing and can still turn up for the part that matters. Give the meeting point something you can see in the dark, because 'the beach by the rocks at the breakwater' beats 'see you at the beach' every time. And settle who carries what before the day: the wood, the long lighter, the cool box with ice. Hunting for firelighters at half ten at night is nobody's idea of a good start.

• Dinner time and fire time, written as two separate lines.
• A meeting point with a landmark: the rocks at the breakwater, the lighthouse car park, the gate into the pine wood.
• What each guest is bringing, set up as a question in the confirmation form.
• Last year's bonfire photo as the cover, uploaded straight from your phone.

Dinner on the sand: table or picnic, and what to wear

Say whether there's a table or everyone's on the ground. It changes what people load into the car: folding chairs and a real tablecloth, or a blanket and paper plates. Same with what to wear. 'Light jacket, it gets cool at one in the morning' tells people far more than 'summer casual' ever will.

If the group is big and mixed — friends from football, cousins, two colleagues — put the house rules in the invitation too. 'Kids welcome, there's a shallow end' or 'grown-ups only this year' saves three separate conversations, and the replies still come back in the same place.

The bonfire is the hard part. The invitation is one link.

If the wind moves the fire, the link stays the same

Wind shifts, the cove fills up, someone gets there early and finds the spot taken — it happens every year. Change the place in the editor and everyone who already has the link sees the new version. Same for the time, the map, the dress-code line or a typo in the address: no reprints, no 'sorry, wrong info' message to forty people. Photos work the same way. You can upload up to six of your own, choose which one is the cover and swap any of them whenever you like.

Why a digital invitation fits St John's Eve

St John's Eve comes together in a few hours with a big, mixed group, and it stays 100% digital: no cards, no printing, no envelopes. Each guest only needs a phone, a tablet or a computer with a connection, and they confirm inside the invitation without installing anything. Set the questions you want answered this year, publish with one button and share the link — the RSVPs land in one ordered list while you're out buying ice. You can test the design free by editing the cover in try mode; buying once (29,99 EUR) unlocks every scene. If organising falls to you this year, don't do it with a poster and fifty crossed messages. Build the invitation, send the link and let the confirmations arrive on their own.