Speakeasy Template — Complete Guide

Speakeasy is a 1920s Art-Deco invitation template for galas, New Year's Eve, Gatsby parties and any evening that deserves a little glamour. Your guests arrive at a secret door: the peephole slides open, someone looks them over, and the doors part onto your photo. Everything after it is black lacquer and gold — sunbursts, stepped frames, a cocktail menu, a playbill, a matchbook and the password at the door. It is theatrical, but every name, date, place and the reply form stay clear and easy to read.

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

Speakeasy 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 Speakeasy different

Standard templates change colours and fonts over the same shared layout. Speakeasy replaces the layout itself: its own cover, its own closing, and a hand-made treatment for each section.

Signature design elements

• A secret door — the cover is a stepped Art-Deco doorway under a gold sunburst, with a brass plate on it. When the invitation opens, the peephole slides aside, a pair of eyes looks your guest over, and the doors slide apart onto your cover photo. Without a cover photo, the doors open onto an illustrated bar: shelves of bottles, pendant lamps and a champagne tower
• Black and gold, or silver, or rose gold — every line, title and button is set in one metal on a lacquered room. You choose both
• Art-Deco ornament — a faint fan or chevron pattern on the walls, stepped corners on every frame and button, a Deco rule under every title and a stepped frieze to finish the page
• Paper artefacts on the bar — your story is printed as a theatre playbill, your gifts as bar chits with a torn top, and your save-the-date as a "Reserved" card on the table
• The password at the door — the RSVP opens with tonight's password showing through the peephole slot. It is decoration only: nothing checks it and guests never have to type it
• Three typefaces, three jobs — the Deco display face Limelight for names, titles and buttons, the thin poster capitals of Poiret One for small headings, and the classic didone Libre Bodoni for everything guests read

When to choose Speakeasy

Speakeasy suits evenings with a dress code and a bar:

• Galas and award nights — black tie, a programme and a menu
• New Year's Eve — the countdown clock, the gold and the "see you inside" closing were made for it
• Great Gatsby and Roaring Twenties parties — the theme is built in
• Milestone birthdays, anniversaries and cocktail parties — anything elegant after dark
• Weddings and engagement parties with a 1920s or jazz-age theme

For a film-poster feel, try Cinematic. For a dark, glowing modern look, try Aurora. For foil-stamped formality, try Atelier.

Applying Speakeasy 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 Speakeasy (it is in the Party category)
3. Optional: press Try it on to see Speakeasy with your own invitation details in the live preview — nothing is saved until you press Use this design
4. Or click the Speakeasy card to apply it straight away
5. Open Speakeasy options to adjust the template-specific settings described below. Changes save automatically

Speakeasy 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 Speakeasy options are kept in case you switch back.

Speakeasy options

Speakeasy has eight options of its own. They take the place of the standard colour and font controls, which Speakeasy doesn't use. Nothing on a Speakeasy invitation is guessed from your other details: every piece of text it shows is either your own event information or one of these options (or a default you can rewrite).

1. Room

The lacquer behind everything. Every combination of room and metal is tuned so text stays easy to read.

• Onyx (default) — black lacquer
• Emerald — bottle-green velvet
• Oxblood — deep claret leather

2. Metal

The metal of every line, title and button.

• Gold (default)
• Silver — nickel and chrome
• Rose gold

3. Wall pattern

The faint Art-Deco pattern on the walls behind the page.

• Deco fans (default)
• Chevrons
• Plain lacquer — no pattern

4. Secret door

On by default: the peephole slides open and the doors part onto your cover photo when the invitation opens. Turn it off and the doorway simply stands open. Guests who have reduced motion turned on on their device always see the doorway open, and the doors never hide any text — only the photo behind them.

5. Name on the door

The brass plate over the door, also printed on the matchbook in the location section — for example "The Gilded Owl" or "Club 21". Leave it blank to show the default, "Members only". To change it, type the name into this option, or double-click the plate in the live preview's edit mode.

6. Tonight's password

The password shown in the peephole slot above your RSVP form — for example "Twenty-three skidoo". It is there for fun: guests are never asked to enter it and nothing checks it. Leave it blank for the default, "Bee's knees". To change it, type your own password into this option, or double-click it in the live preview's edit mode.

7. Cover line

The small line above your event name on the cover — for example "Ring in the new year with us". Leave it blank to use the default ("Psst — you're on the list").

8. Closing title

The gilded line under the closing sunburst. Leave it blank to use the default ("See you inside"). Try "Mum's the word", "Last call at midnight" or "Dress to the nines".

Every piece of text Speakeasy prints on the invitation — section titles, "Knock twice", "Playbill", "Reserved", "Keep it under your hat", the plaque buttons and the closing title — 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

The cover replaces the standard header:

• The secret door — a stepped Art-Deco doorway under a gold sunburst, with the brass plate (option 5) at its heart. It opens onto your cover photo, or onto an illustrated bar when there is no photo (option 4 for the doors)
• Cover line (option 7) in thin poster capitals, then your event name in large gilded Deco capitals
• Date — the weekday, the date and the time, separated by small gold diamonds. The time follows the Show time setting of your invitation's cover
• Place — your event location in italics
• Knock twice — a gold plaque that jumps to the RSVP section, with "The list closes" and your RSVP deadline under it

Message

Your invitation message as a note in a stepped gold frame, opening with a gilded initial when the first paragraph is long enough.

Countdown

A deep band edged with a stepped frieze. A Deco wall clock whose hands show the time left — so as your event gets closer, the clock runs backwards — beside the days, hours, minutes and (optionally) seconds in gold plaques. When the countdown ends, your completion message is shown instead.

Gallery (Carousel)

Your photos as portraits along the lounge wall, each in the same stepped gold frame. Swipe or scroll sideways; on wider screens, diamond arrow buttons appear when there are more photos than fit.

Story

A theatre playbill: an ivory programme with a black masthead, and every milestone printed the same way as one act — "Act I", "Act II" and so on in order, the date, the title, the description in italics and, when there is one, the photo in an oval cameo. Your story subtitle appears under the section title.

Location

A gold matchbook with a sunburst emblem, the name on the door (option 5), your address and "Keep it under your hat", above a striker strip. Beside it: the map in a stepped gold frame when your location has one, your directions and a Directions plaque that opens the map.

Itinerary

A cocktail menu in a gold frame crowned with a Deco fan. Each day is a menu heading, and each entry a menu line: the event in small capitals, a dotted leader, and the time where the price would be, with the place and any note underneath.

Gifts

The tab. Every registry, monetary option, charity and wishlist item is a bar chit — an ivory slip with a torn top — with the title in small capitals, the details under a dotted rule and ink plaques for the actions. Payment details sit in a chip that wraps cleanly, even for long wallet addresses, with a Copy plaque beside them. Group labels only appear when you offer more than one kind of gift.

Event Details

The house rules:

• Dress code on a gold-framed placard crowned with a fan: your dress code title in large Deco capitals, your description, suggested and avoided colours as gold-rimmed tokens, and notes
• Where to stay as lacquer cards with a hotel key-fob mark: hotel name, address, distance from the venue, price range, promo code, notes, a Book plaque and a tap-to-call phone number
• Getting there as rows with a gold medallion for each kind of transport, the cost as a fare tag and a Details plaque
• FAQs as a two-column list of questions and answers

Save the Date (Calendar)

A "Reserved" card on your table: the weekday, date and time, the event title, place and your calendar note, with Google, Apple (downloads the calendar file) and Outlook plaques along the bottom.

RSVP

The door itself: a fluted lacquer panel in a stepped gold frame. At the top, tonight's password (option 6) shows through the peephole slot. Then the title, your RSVP deadline, and the reply form: fields underlined in gold, the attend / decline choices as two Deco tiles with a diamond tick, and a gold send plaque. On a save-the-date, the panel holds the save-the-date note instead of the form.

Closing

A rising gold sunburst, your closing title (option 8) in gilded capitals, the event name, date and place, a Back to the door plaque, and a stepped Deco frieze to finish.

Sections without a bespoke layout

These sections use Fotify's standard layout, restyled to match Speakeasy:

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

They get the same Deco divider above them, gold Deco titles, lacquer panels with a gold line and gold plaque buttons. Custom HTML sections are printed on ivory paper in a gold frame, photos in custom sections get a gold frame, and seat badges in table assignment are small gold plaques.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do my guests need the password to reply? A: No. Tonight's password is decoration, like the brass plate on the door. Guests reply with the normal RSVP form and are never asked for it. Change it with the Tonight's password option, or leave the default.

Q: Where does the name on the door come from? A: Only from the Name on the door option. If you leave it blank, the plate says "Members only". Speakeasy never makes up a name from your event details.

Q: Will the door animation hide my invitation? A: No. The doors only cover your cover photo for a moment; your event name, date, place and the RSVP button are beside the door the whole time. Turn the doors off with the Secret door option, and guests who have reduced motion turned on always see the doorway open.

Q: I don't have a cover photo. Will the cover look empty? A: No. Without a photo, the door opens onto an illustrated bar in fine gold line: bottles on the shelves, pendant lamps and a champagne tower.

Q: Is Speakeasy only for Gatsby parties? A: No. Pick the room and metal that suit your evening — emerald and gold for a gala, onyx and silver for New Year's Eve, oxblood and rose gold for an anniversary — and rewrite the cover line, closing title and password.

Q: Does Speakeasy work in right-to-left languages? A: Yes. In Hebrew and Arabic the layout mirrors: the doors, the menu leaders, the countdown plaques and the gilded initial all move to the other side.

Q: Can I use custom RSVP fields with Speakeasy? A: Yes. Custom fields (dropdowns, dates, checkboxes, file uploads and so on) pick up Speakeasy's gold-underlined fields and small capital labels automatically.

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 designs: Cinematic for a film-poster feel, Aurora for a dark, glowing modern look, Atelier for foil-stamped formality, or Studio to compose your own design with the AI Design Studio
• Planning a party? Read about Fotify for parties and digital invitations with RSVP

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