Wedding guests who don't know each other: break the ice

Your oldest friend is at the bar. Your cousin from the village is at the far end of the courtyard. They have never met, and you can see it from the door: two groups standing a few metres apart, both waiting for someone else to speak first.

You can't be in six conversations at once on the day. What you can do is most of the introducing weeks earlier, inside the invitation link. Add a few small details and your guests walk in already knowing one name, one face and one thing to say.

Wedding guests who don't know each other: start before the first toast

Give the invitation a scene that says where each group comes from. "Flatmates in Valencia, 2016" or "the 2014 basketball team" does more work than a photo. Your university friends work out who the loud table is, and your aunt has something to ask about when she sits down next to them.

• A welcome line that hands people a topic: "Don't know anyone? Start at the back table — that's where the film talk happens."
• One scene per group explaining how you met, so nobody has to explain their connection to you during dinner.
• The link sent three weeks before the wedding, when there is still time to read it twice.
• An RSVP question that starts a conversation, such as "which song can't be missing?", so there is something to talk about at the bar.

An open question beats a name tag

A name tag tells people what to call someone. A question tells them what to say. When you set up the RSVP form, add something light you actually want to know — the song they would put on first, the film they would defend in an argument.

"Are you coming with anyone?" tells you more than "attending: yes or no". You learn who arrives alone, who travels with someone, and which groups have already formed themselves. Read the list in order before you plan the tables.

Guests don't need to know everyone. They need one name and one reason to walk across the room.

Photos make the introductions you can't

You can add up to six of your own photos, mark one as the cover and swap any of them later. Put a university photo and a family photo in the same invitation and two strangers recognise each other by face before the day. Choose the cover where the most different groups appear: it is the first thing anyone sees when the link opens.

The plan changes and the link doesn't

If a drinks hour appears or the venue moves, edit that scene and everyone opening the same link reads the new version. No reprints, no second message, no envelope with the old time on it. Nobody installs an app either: the invitation opens in the phone's browser and guests reply from wherever they are.

Pick a design, write the line that gives each group a topic, and publish three weeks before the wedding. Then, in your speech, put two names together that don't know each other yet — "Sam and Priya, you've both been to Japan" — and watch what happens next.