Barnyard Template — Complete Guide

Barnyard turns your invitation into a page of real, hand-made materials. The page is brown kraft paper, natural linen or a chalkboard; at the top, your cover photo sits in a frame of twisted rope, and under it a wooden sign hangs on two ropes with your event name painted on it. Further down, your message is a kraft tag tied with twine, the countdown is a row of wooden crates, your schedule is written up on a chalkboard, and everything else is hand-stamped in one ink.

Barnyard is one of Fotify's simpler designs: its look comes from one ink colour you choose — any colour at all — a choice of paper and a small brand mark.

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

Barnyard 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 Barnyard different

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

Signature design elements

One stamp ink — pick it from the suggested swatches or from the colour picker. Barnyard uses it for the titles, the stamped lines and dates, the brand mark and the buttons, and adjusts it only as far as each of them needs to stay readable
Three papers — brown kraft paper, natural linen, or a chalkboard for a dark page
A wooden hanging sign — your event name painted in a western display face (Rye) on a wooden sign hanging from two ropes, with a gentle swing as the page opens
A rope frame — your cover photo framed in twisted jute rope
A brand mark — a wheat sheaf, a bunch of wildflowers, a horseshoe or a star brand, stamped under the sign, on the tag, on the reply card and at the end of the page
Hand-stamped type — the cover line and the dates are set in a worn typewriter face (Special Elite) in stamped frames with a slight ink texture; titles are in Alegreya small capitals and everything guests read in Alegreya
Always readable — whatever ink you pick, even a pale yellow or a near-black on the chalkboard, the text and buttons are adjusted until they read clearly on the paper, the tag and the cards

When to choose Barnyard

Barnyard suits any celebration with a country heart:

Barn and farm weddings — the wooden sign holds your names, the chalkboard holds the day from the ceremony to the last dance
Western and ranch weddings — pick the horseshoe or the star brand and a rust or barn red ink
Ranch and country parties — a hoedown, a barn dance, a harvest party
Farm-to-table birthdays — the chalkboard reads like the menu board of a farm kitchen

Guests can share their photos from the day through the photo upload section, and see them through Fotify's live gallery. See how Fotify works for weddings, parties and birthdays.

If you would rather have a fine restaurant's printed menu card, try Supper. For pressed flowers on cotton paper, try Herbarium.

Applying Barnyard to your event

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

Barnyard 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 Barnyard options are kept in case you switch back.

Barnyard options

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

1. Stamp ink

The colour everything is stamped in. Pick it two ways:

A suggested swatch — Barn red (default), Forest, Navy, Rust or Charcoal
Pick any color — the last chip opens your device's colour picker, so you can match your wedding colour exactly. The colour's code is shown beside the chips

Any colour works. Barnyard never paints your pick as it is where it would hurt legibility: the brand mark and the stamp frames keep your colour as far as they can, while the titles, the stamped dates and the buttons are deepened (or, on the chalkboard, lightened) just enough to read clearly. The wood, the rope, the twine, the tag and the chalkboard menu keep their natural colours.

2. Paper

Kraft paper (default) — warm brown kraft with fine fibres
Natural linen — a pale woven linen
Chalkboard — a dark slate page with a dusting of chalk: the whole page turns dark, and your ink is lightened so it stays readable

3. Brand mark

The small drawing stamped under the sign, on the tag, on the reply card and at the end of the page: Wheat sheaf (default), Wildflowers, Horseshoe (open end up, for luck) or Star brand.

4. Cover line

The stamped line above your photo and the wooden sign (up to 80 characters). Leave it blank to use the default ("You're invited to the barn"). Try "Together with their families" or "Come celebrate at the ranch".

5. Closing line

The line painted on the small sign at the end of the page (up to 80 characters). Leave it blank to use the default ("See you at the barn"). Try "Boots on, y'all" or "See you on the dance floor".

Every piece of text Barnyard prints on the invitation — the cover line, the reply buttons, the section labels and titles, the line stamped on the tag, 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

A rustic cover replaces the standard header:

Cover line (option 4) in a stamped frame, set a touch askew as a hand stamp lands
Your cover photo in a frame of twisted rope. Without a cover photo, the sign hangs from two nails instead
Your event name, painted on a wooden sign that hangs on two ropes. Long names step down a size so they never break mid-word
The brand mark (option 3)
The date in a stamped box, then the time and the place — each follows the Show date, Show time and Show location settings of your invitation's cover, and every guest sees the date you picked, whatever their time zone
Save me a seat — a button that scrolls to the RSVP form. It only appears when your RSVP section is visible, and never on a save-the-date page

Section heads

Each section opens centred: the section's label in the typewriter face, its title in Alegreya small capitals in your ink, and a short length of twisted rope with a knot at each end. For the story and gifts, your subtitle or gift message follows.

Message — the kraft tag

Your message on a wide kraft tag lying across the page, its corners clipped at one end and twine tied through a reinforced hole. "A note from us" is stamped at the top of the tag, above the brand mark and your message. A long message steps down a size and aligns to the start of the line, which is easier to read over many lines.

Countdown — wooden crates

The time left as a row of wooden crate ends, each with its number painted on the slats and its unit stamped beneath. The countdown's own title replaces "Counting the days" when you set one, and your completion message is shown once the day has come.

Gallery (Carousel)

Your photos in frames of weathered barn wood, each hanging from a nail, slightly askew — two frames a row on a phone and three on wider screens (two for two or four photos, and a single centred frame for one). When the last row has fewer photos, they sit centred under the others.

Story — hung from a rope

A length of rope runs down the side of the section, and every milestone hangs from it the same way, on a wooden peg: a card with its photo (when it has one), its date in a stamped box, its title in small capitals and its text. On wider screens the photo sits beside the text.

Itinerary — the chalkboard

The schedule written up on a chalkboard in a wooden frame. Under each day's date, every entry is a line in chalk: the moment, a dotted chalk line, and the time in a chalk shade of your ink, with the place and any note beneath. Entry icons are not shown.

Location, Gifts, Event Details, Save the Date and RSVP

These five sections share their structure with Fotify's other picker-coloured designs (Meridian, Thread, Prism and the others), dressed in Barnyard's style: cards a shade lighter than the paper with a soft shadow, buttons in your ink, and titles in Alegreya small capitals.

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
Gifts — every registry, payment option, charity and wishlist item is its own card in a grid, grouped under small labels (with a count) when you offer more than one kind. Payment details sit in an inset box with a Copy button, and long account numbers wrap inside the card. Pay links, scan-to-pay QR codes and wishlist reservations appear as buttons on each card
Event Details — a card per topic: dress code with your suggested and avoided colours as swatches, where to stay with each hotel as a mini-card (distance, price range, promo code, notes and a Book button), getting there with an icon for each kind of transport, and a full-width FAQ card where each question opens on tap
Save the Date (Calendar) — one card with the title and the event date on one side, and Google, Apple (downloads the calendar file) and Outlook buttons on the other
RSVP — "Will you be there?" with your RSVP deadline under it, and the reply form on a stamped card: a heavy rule in your ink round the card, a wooden plank across its top with your brand mark painted on it, and the form below the plank, with the attend / decline choices as two selectable boxes. On a save-the-date page, the card holds the save-the-date note instead of the form

Closing

A smaller wooden sign hanging on two ropes with your closing line (option 5) painted on it, the brand mark, the date and place, and a final Save me a seat button.

Sections that use the shared layout

These sections keep Fotify's shared layout and are dressed in Barnyard'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 card, with titles in Alegreya small capitals and buttons in your ink. Photos in custom sections are capped in height so a tall portrait never takes over the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is Barnyard only for weddings? A: No. It's listed under weddings first, but it works for any country celebration: a ranch party, a barn dance, a harvest party or a farm-to-table birthday. Every line of wording can be changed to suit it.

Q: Can I put our names on the wooden sign? A: The sign shows your event name, so name your event the way you want it painted — for example "Emma & Jack". Long names step down a size to fit the sign.

Q: I picked a pale colour. Why are the titles darker than my colour? A: Barnyard keeps the page readable: the brand mark and the stamp frames keep your colour as far as they can, and the titles, the stamped dates and the buttons use a deeper shade of the same hue so they read clearly on the paper. On the chalkboard, it uses a lighter shade instead.

Q: Why doesn't the wood or the rope change with my ink? A: They are the materials of the page: the wood, the rope, the twine, the kraft tag and the chalkboard keep their natural colours on every paper, and your ink is what is stamped on them.

Q: My cover has no rope frame. Why? A: The rope frame holds your cover photo. Add a cover photo to your invitation and it appears in the frame, with the sign hanging beneath it; without one, the sign hangs on its own.

Q: Does Barnyard work in right-to-left languages? A: Yes. In Hebrew and Arabic the layout mirrors: the tag's twine moves to the right-hand end, the story's rope runs down the right side, and long messages align to the right. The cover stays centred and the cover photo's crop stays as you set it.

Q: Does the page move? A: Only a gentle swing as the wooden sign settles on its ropes when the page opens. Guests whose device asks for reduced motion see a still page.

Q: Can I ask guests about dietary needs or song requests? A: Yes. Add custom RSVP fields (dropdowns, checkboxes, text and so on) to the reply form; they pick up Barnyard's fields and labels automatically and appear on the stamped card.

Next steps

See How to Customize Your RSVP Invitation for the template gallery and how to try a design on before applying it
Compare other designs: Supper for a restaurant menu card on a linen tablecloth, Herbarium for pressed flowers, or Thread for a simple page in a colour you pick
Let guests share their photos from the day 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.