Aquarelle Template — Complete Guide

Aquarelle is a loose watercolour invitation painted on cold-press paper. Your cover photo stands in an arch whose edges bleed softly into the paper, washes of colour bloom out from behind it, and painted flowers reach in from the corners. Your names are written in a flowing script, the countdown sits in round washes of colour, your story is told on deckled watercolour cards and the reply card has a painted sprig leaning over its corner.

Aquarelle is one of Fotify's simpler designs: its look comes from one colour you choose — any colour at all — and every wash and petal is painted in shades of it.

This guide covers how Aquarelle looks, the options unique to it, how to apply it to your event, and how it lays out each section of your invitation.

Aquarelle is available on every plan, Free included.

For an overview of the template gallery and the picker, see How to Customize Your RSVP Invitation.

What makes Aquarelle different

Standard templates change colours and fonts over the same shared layout. Aquarelle replaces the layout itself: its own cover and closing, its own section heads, and its own treatment of the message, countdown, gallery, story, day and reply.

Signature design elements

• A painted arch — your cover photo in a tall arch whose edges look brushed onto the paper, with two washes of colour blooming behind it and a small posy across its foot
• Watercolour that looks painted — soft wet edges, darker dried rims, a little granulation and colours that glaze where they overlap, on a paper with a faint cold-press texture
• Painted flowers — loose roses with eucalyptus, anemones and wildflowers with lavender and grasses, or greenery alone. You choose which
• One colour — pick it from the suggested colours or from the colour picker. Aquarelle keeps it soft where it is a wash and deepens it where it is text or a button
• A flowing script — your names, every section title, the story titles and the closing line are written in Great Vibes; the small spaced capitals and the numbers are set in Cormorant Garamond and everything you read in EB Garamond
• Always readable — whatever colour you pick, even a pale yellow or a near-black, the text and the buttons are adjusted until they read clearly

When to choose Aquarelle

Aquarelle suits celebrations that want to feel soft, romantic and hand-painted:

• Weddings — above all spring, summer and garden weddings, with your photo in the painted arch and your story on watercolour cards
• Engagements and vow renewals — a gentle page in your own colour
• Bridal showers and baby showers — pick a blush, peach, dusty blue or sage colour and rewrite the cover line
• Garden parties — try the wildflowers or the greenery

Whatever the occasion, the photos your guests take matter as much as the invitation. Guests can scan the event QR code and add their photos to the shared gallery. See how Fotify works for weddings.

For a garden wedding with painted roses and arches everywhere, try Lilac. For an airy page with floating polaroids, try Plum.

Applying Aquarelle to your event

1. Open your event, click Invitation in the sidebar, then the Invitation tab
2. In Design Template, click Change template if the gallery is collapsed, and find Aquarelle under Designs (it is listed under the Wedding filter, and under Baby shower and Party too)
3. Optional: press Try it on to see Aquarelle with your own invitation details in the live preview — nothing is saved until you press Use this design
4. Or click the Aquarelle card to apply it straight away
5. Open Aquarelle options below the gallery to pick your colour and the other options described below. Changes save automatically

Aquarelle works on every plan. On free events a small "Made with Fotify" badge appears in the bottom corner of the invitation; any paid plan or an active subscription removes it.

Switching to another template later is non-destructive: your event content stays exactly as you entered it, and your Aquarelle options are kept in case you switch back.

Aquarelle options

Aquarelle has six options of its own. They take the place of the standard colour and font controls, which Aquarelle doesn't use.

1. Watercolour

The colour the page is painted in. Pick it two ways:

• A suggested swatch — Blush (default), Dusty blue, Sage, Lavender or Peach
• Pick any color — the last chip opens your device's colour picker, so you can match your flowers or your wedding colours exactly. The colour's code is shown beside the chips

Any colour works. Aquarelle paints soft washes of it behind your cover photo, the message, the day and the reply card, fills the countdown circles with it (every other circle in a neighbouring shade, the way watercolours mix on paper) and paints the petals of the flowers in shades from very pale to deep. Your names, the titles, the dates and the buttons use a deep shade of the same colour so they stay readable. The leaves stay a soft garden green whatever colour you pick. A grey gives a pencil-grey wash and silver petals.

2. Flowers

• Roses (default) — loose roses with buds and silver-dollar eucalyptus
• Wildflowers — anemones with dark centres, small five-petal flowers, lavender and grasses
• Greenery — eucalyptus leaves, olive branches and fern with a few berries in your colour

The flowers are painted in the top corners of the cover, around your cover photo, beside the message and the story, on the reply card and in a garland at the end of the page.

3. Paper

White (default) or Cream — the cold-press paper the page is painted on. The cards stay a shade brighter than the paper.

4. Blooming flowers

On by default: the washes and the flowers bloom gently onto the paper as the page opens. Turn it off for a page that is still from the start. Guests whose device asks for reduced motion always see a still page.

5. Cover line

The small line above your names on the cover (up to 80 characters). Leave it blank to use the default ("Please join us to celebrate"). Try "Together with their families" or "Please join us for the wedding of".

6. Closing line

The line written in the script at the end of the page (up to 80 characters). Leave it blank to use the default ("We can't wait to celebrate with you").

Every piece of text Aquarelle prints on the invitation — the cover line, the Kindly reply and Reply now buttons, the section labels and titles, the countdown units, the closing line — can also be rewritten directly on the page: switch the live preview into edit mode and double-click the text. Section titles you have already set in their own settings (story, countdown, gifts, where to stay, getting there, FAQs) are edited in place the same way.

How each section is treated

Cover

Aquarelle's cover replaces the standard header. On a wide screen it is split in two; on a phone the two halves stack:

• Your cover photo in a tall arch whose edges bleed into the paper, keeping the horizontal crop you set, with two washes of your colour behind it and a posy painted across its foot. Without a cover photo the arch is a pale wash holding a painted bouquet
• The cover line (option 5) in small spaced capitals, your event name in the flowing script and a brushstroke under it
• The weekday and the date in your date format, then the time and place — the time follows the Show time setting of your invitation's cover, the date and the place follow Show date and Show location, and every guest sees the date you picked, whatever their time zone
• A Kindly reply button that scrolls to the RSVP form. It only appears when your RSVP section is visible, and never on a save-the-date page
• Painted flowers reaching in from the two top corners

Your names are printed exactly as you typed the event name. Long names step down a size so they never break mid-word.

Section heads

Each section opens centred: a small label in spaced capitals in your colour, the title written in the script, a dry brushstroke of your colour under it and, for the story and gifts, your subtitle or gift message.

Message — a few words from you

No card: the title written in the script over your message, centred at reading size on a soft wash of your colour, with flowers in the corner. A long message aligns to the start of the line.

Countdown — circles of colour

Each unit — days, hours, minutes and, if you show them, seconds — sits in a round wash of your colour (every other one in a neighbouring shade), the number in the serif and the unit underneath. It counts down to your event's date and time in the venue's time zone, and shows your completed message once the moment arrives.

Gallery (Carousel) — deckled prints

Every photo is a print on torn-edged watercolour paper with a soft shadow, laid down with a small tilt, two across on a phone and three across on a wide screen. A single photo lies alone in the middle.

Story — watercolour cards

Each milestone is a card of deckled watercolour paper with a wash of colour blooming out from behind one corner: the milestone's photo as an inset print, its title in the script, its date in small capitals and its text. One column on a phone, two staggered columns on a wide screen. A milestone without a photo is simply a shorter card.

Itinerary — the day with painted icons

Your day sits on a soft wash, threaded on a painted line. Every moment is a row: the time in your colour, a tiny painted icon on the line (a dab of colour under a small line drawing), then the moment, its place and any note. The drawings (rings, two glasses, a camera, a plate, a cake, music, a heart, a moon) are handed out in order down the list — they decorate the rows rather than describe them, and your entry icons are not shown. Each day's heading (only when the day has a date or a label) sits over its moments.

RSVP — a deckled reply card

The reply form sits on a card of deckled watercolour paper, under a small label, the title and your RSVP deadline, with a painted sprig leaning over its top corner and two washes blooming out from behind it. On a save-the-date page the card holds the save-the-date note instead of the form.

Gifts, Event Details, Location and Save the Date

These share their structure with Fotify's other picker-coloured designs, dressed in Aquarelle's paper cards:

• Gifts — every registry, payment option, charity and wishlist item on its own card, grouped under small labels when you offer more than one kind. Payment details sit in an inset box with a Copy button; pay links, scan-to-pay QR codes and wishlist reservations appear as buttons on each card
• Event Details — a card per topic: the dress code with your suggested and avoided colours as swatches, where to stay and getting there as small cards (with a Book button where you added a link), and the FAQ as questions that open on tap
• Location — a map card beside an address card with your address, your directions and an Open in Maps button. When a map can't be shown, the map card draws a pin with the venue's coordinates; without coordinates the address card spans the row
• Save the Date (Calendar) — the title in the script on a soft wash, the event date and Google, Apple (downloads the calendar file) and Outlook buttons

Closing

Your closing line written large in the script (option 6) on a soft wash, the date and place, a Reply now button and a painted garland.

Sections that use the shared layout

These sections keep Fotify's shared layout and are dressed in Aquarelle's style:

• Photo upload, QR code, Table assignment, Playlist, Sub-events, Special treatments and custom sections

Each sits in the same column as the rest of the page on a paper card, with titles in the serif and buttons in your colour. Photos in custom sections are capped in height so a tall portrait never takes over the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Where do the names on the cover come from? A: From your event name, exactly as you typed it. Aquarelle never splits or rewrites it, so write it the way you want it shown, for example "Ana & Leo".

Q: I picked a light colour. Why are the buttons darker than the colour I chose? A: The washes keep your colour soft, but text and buttons use a deeper shade of the same colour so they stay readable. The flowers are painted in shades from very pale to deep.

Q: Can I use Aquarelle for something other than a wedding? A: Yes. Rewrite the Cover line and the Closing line, and the section labels and titles in edit mode. A blush, peach, dusty blue or sage colour suits a bridal shower, a baby shower or a garden party.

Q: Does the drawing next to each moment of my day match the moment? A: No — the drawings are decoration, handed out in order down the list, so a row may show a camera or a cake whatever it is. Your entry icons are not shown in Aquarelle.

Q: Does Aquarelle work in right-to-left languages? A: Yes. In Hebrew and Arabic the layout mirrors: the cover's photo and text swap sides on a wide screen and the flowers, the story's washes and the line of the day move to the other side. The names and titles are set in the serif, since the script has no Hebrew or Arabic letters. The cover photo's crop stays as you set it.

Q: Does the page move? A: Only once and gently: as the page opens, the washes and the flowers bloom onto the paper. Turn off Blooming flowers for a still page; guests whose device asks for reduced motion always see a still page.

Next steps

• See How to Customize Your RSVP Invitation for the template gallery and how to try a design on before applying it
• Compare the other romantic designs: Lilac, a garden wedding with painted roses and arches, or Plum, an airy page with floating polaroids
• Let guests share their photos with a QR code: read about Fotify for weddings and digital invitations with RSVP

Need help? Get in touch through the in-dashboard help widget.