Wedding Anniversary Invitations: Put the Set Menu in Writing

The table is booked. You've been through the menu with the restaurant twice and you know the price per head. Then your phone starts: 'Is there anything without meat?' 'What time do we actually eat?' 'Is it black tie?'

That's not your guests being difficult. A set menu only works when it's written down before anyone has to ask. Your wedding anniversary invitations are where you settle it: what's on the plate, when to arrive and how to reply.

Choose the set menu before you send the wedding anniversary invitations

Two or three dishes that suit everyone work better than a long list: one meat main, one fish main and a vegetarian option. Sirloin, sea bass and mushroom risotto is enough. Before you touch the invitation, get three things from the restaurant in writing: the price per head, the minimum number of guests and the cut-off date for changes. Then name the dishes properly. 'Sirloin with roast potatoes' tells your guests more than 'the house meat'.

• Pick two mains and one vegetarian dish: sirloin, sea bass, mushroom risotto.
• Ask the restaurant for the price per head, the minimum number of guests and the cut-off date for changes.
• Name every dish in full, including what it comes with.
• Settle the menu before you send the invitation, not after the first replies arrive.

One line for the menu, one line for the time and dress code

The menu takes a single line inside the invitation: 'Set menu: starter, main and dessert. Vegetarian option available.' If you want to offer a choice, keep it to one vegetarian dish and at most one gluten-free plate. A set menu means you've already decided. Ten options turn dinner back into a questionnaire.

Allergies and intolerances need their own channel, separate from the reply form: 'Message me on WhatsApp a week before if you need an adaptation.' Then add the details people always ask for. An exact time — 'Dinner at 7:30pm'. A dress code — 'black tie' or 'cocktail', which sets a different tone for a gala dinner than for a garden lunch. And the address or a map link, so nobody has to text you for directions.

If a guest has to message you to find out what's for dinner, the invitation isn't finished.

Confirmations land inside the invitation, not in your messages

With the menu on the page, the replies arrive in the same place: a list inside the invitation, with the questions you chose to ask. No chasing answers one by one. If the time, the address or the wording of the menu changes later, edit it and the link stays the same — nothing to reprint, nothing to resend. A Send The Joy invitation costs 29.99 EUR as a one-off payment, with no subscription, and you can try the design for free before you pay. Close the menu, then publish the link.