Set Up Your Invitation with the Guided Wizard

The setup wizard walks you through building your digital invitation one simple step at a time — with plain explanations, an AI writing assistant on every content step, and a live preview of exactly what your guests will see. It's the easiest way to go from "I have an event" to a polished invitation, especially if it's your first time.

Everything the wizard does uses the same settings as the full editor, so you can stop at any point, come back later, or fine-tune the result in the editor afterwards — nothing is ever locked in.

Starting the Wizard

There are three ways in:

1. Creating your first invitation — on the RSVP page, choose "Start the step-by-step wizard" instead of the quick form
2. Right after a quick creation — after using the quick form, a dialog offers to walk you through the setup
3. Any time later — click "Guided setup" at the top of the Invitation editor to re-run the wizard over your existing invitation

The wizard remembers where you left off, and you can jump back to any step you've already visited using the progress bar at the top.

The Steps at a Glance

1. Basics — creates the invitation: RSVP deadline, plus event date and location if they're missing
2. Photo — upload your cover photo and tell Fotify whether it already contains text
3. Design — pick a template (colors, fonts, style) and optional background music
4. Message — write the welcome message guests read first, with AI help
5. Sections — switch on the blocks you want: countdown, photo carousel, your story, map, schedule, gifts, dress code, FAQs, accommodation, transportation, add-to-calendar, guest photos, entry QR, and custom blocks
6. Content — fill in each block you enabled, each with its own AI chat
7. RSVP — personalize the response form wording, notifications, and add your own questions
8. Guest access — choose how guests get invited: personal invitations, an open registration link, or both
9. Review — a checklist of what your invitation includes, with a real preview

The Cover Photo Question

When you upload a cover photo, the wizard asks one important question: does your image already contain text?

• It's a regular photo — Fotify displays your event name, date, and location elegantly over the photo, and the image fills the screen
• It's a designed invitation with text — for images made in tools like Canva that already include your event details. Fotify hides its own overlay text and shows your whole design without cropping, so nothing overlaps

You can change this later from the editor's Design tab, where a full crop tool is also available.

The AI Writing Assistant

Every content step has a small "AI help" button that opens a chat. Tell it what you'd like — "warm and informal", "it's a surprise party", "suggest questions for a wedding" — and go back and forth until it sounds right.

How it works:

• Each concrete draft comes with a "Use this in the form" button — nothing touches your invitation until you click it, and nothing is saved until you continue the step
• Applied a draft and changed your mind? Click Revert to restore your previous text
• The assistant sees what's already in your form, so "make it shorter" or "add something about the kids" works on your actual content
• It writes guest-facing text in the language your invitation already uses — chatting in English about a Spanish invitation won't translate it (ask explicitly if you do want a translation)
• In the welcome message, it can address guests personally using the magic words below

The assistant covers: the welcome message, countdown, your story, schedule, gifts, FAQs, dress code, RSVP wording, the registration page, and custom RSVP questions.

There's a fair-use daily limit on assistant messages. This chat is separate from the AI Design Studio, which redesigns the whole look of your invitation — the wizard's assistant helps you write, the Studio helps you design.

Magic Words (Personalization)

In the Message step you'll see clickable "magic words":

• {{FIRSTNAME}} — replaced with each guest's first name
• {{FULLNAME}} — replaced with each guest's full name

So "Dear {{FIRSTNAME}}," becomes "Dear Ana," when Ana opens her personal invitation link. Click a magic word to insert it wherever your cursor is.

Watching Your Invitation Take Shape

A floating Preview button is available on every step (once the invitation exists). It opens the real invitation — exactly what guests see — and updates a moment after each step saves.

See How to Customize Your RSVP Invitation for the full details on the live preview, including the sample guest controls and the "After confirming" view.

Choosing How Guests Get Invited

The Guest access step explains the two invitation modes in plain words:

• Personal invitations — you add each guest, and everyone gets their own private link. You control exactly who's invited, and responses are tracked per person. Best for weddings and fixed guest lists.
• Open registration link — one public link you share anywhere (group chats, email, a poster with a QR code). Anyone who opens it signs themselves up. Best for corporate events, community parties, or when you don't have everyone's contact details.

You can use both at once. The wizard covers the basics; for multiple links with auto-tagging and per-link analytics, see the registration form guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I have to finish the wizard in one sitting? A: No. Every step saves when you continue, and the wizard remembers where you left off. You can also exit to the editor at any time — nothing is lost.

Q: Can I run the wizard again after finishing it? A: Yes. Click "Guided setup" in the Invitation editor any time. It loads your current settings, so it works as a guided review of what you already have.

Q: Will the wizard overwrite what I customized in the editor? A: No. It reads your current settings and only saves the changes you make in each step. Skipping a step changes nothing.

Q: Does the AI assistant publish anything on its own? A: Never. Its drafts only fill the form fields when you click "Use this in the form", and the fields are only saved when you continue the step. There's also a Revert button after applying.

Q: Is the AI assistant the same as the AI Design Studio? A: No — they're complementary. The wizard's assistant writes content (messages, FAQs, schedules) through a chat on each step. The AI Design Studio redesigns the look of the whole invitation.

Q: What if my event doesn't need some sections? A: Just leave them off in the Sections step. You can enable any block later from the wizard or the editor.

Q: Can I still use the quick creation form instead? A: Yes — the quick form on the RSVP page still works, and right after it creates the invitation you'll be offered the wizard to continue the setup.