Wabi Template — Complete Guide

Wabi is a quiet, Japanese-minimal invitation. The page is a sheet of handmade washi paper with its fibres showing, mostly left empty on purpose. Its only ornament is one mark brushed in the ink you choose — an ensō circle, a single plum branch or one mountain ridge — and, if you like, a small vermilion seal carved with your initials.

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

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

Wabi 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 Wabi different

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

Signature design elements

• One ink — pick it from the suggested inks or from the colour picker. Wabi uses it for the event name, the titles, the brushed mark and the buttons
• Handmade paper — bright washi, warm unbleached kinari, or sumi, a dark ground for an evening, always with a faint texture of long fibres
• One brushed mark — an ensō circle left open at its end, a single plum branch with a few blossoms, or one mountain ridge, brushed with a dry tail. Or no mark at all
• An optional seal — up to two characters, exactly as you type them, carved into a small vermilion seal pressed slightly askew on the cover and the reply card
• Asymmetric, generous space — the name and the words hang from one side of the page, with a narrow margin for the small labels and plenty of empty paper around them. On wide screens a short cover line stands vertically beside the name
• Calm type — Shippori Mincho, a serene serif, for the name, the titles and the message, with Zen Kaku Gothic New for the small labels and reading text
• Always readable — whatever ink you pick, even a pale yellow or a near-black on the dark paper, the text and the buttons are deepened (or lightened) until they read clearly

When to choose Wabi

Wabi suits occasions where less is more:

• Intimate weddings and elopements — a small gathering, a garden or a tea house, your initials on the seal
• Tea ceremonies and quiet gatherings — a programme set out unhurried along one fine line
• Art openings and studio evenings — a page that leaves room for the work
• Quiet dinners and anniversaries — one ink, one mark, the reply card
• Minimal corporate evenings — a calm launch, a client dinner or a design-studio event in your brand colour, with the mark set to No mark for a purely typographic page

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 and corporate events.

For a printed menu card on a linen tablecloth, try Supper. For a soft cotton page with a fine sprig, try Keepsake.

Applying Wabi 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 Wabi under Designs (it is listed under the Minimal filter, and under Elegant, Wedding and Corporate too)
3. Optional: press Try it on to see Wabi with your own invitation details in the live preview — nothing is saved until you press Use this design
4. Or click the Wabi card to apply it straight away
5. Open Wabi options below the gallery to pick your ink and the other options described below. Changes save automatically

Wabi 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 Wabi options are kept in case you switch back.

Wabi options

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

1. Ink

The one ink the page is brushed with. Pick it two ways:

• A suggested swatch — Sumi black (default), Indigo, Moss, Vermilion or Plum
• Pick any color — the last chip opens your device's colour picker, so you can match a brand colour, the flowers or the venue exactly. The colour's code is shown beside the chips

Any colour works. Wabi never paints your pick as it is where it would hurt legibility: the event name, the titles and the buttons use the shade of your ink that reads clearly on the paper, and the brushed mark the shade that stands out from it.

2. Paper

• Washi (default) — a bright, slightly warm handmade paper
• Kinari (unbleached) — a warmer, natural tone
• Sumi (dark) — a dark ground that turns the whole page into an evening; a dark ink becomes a pale ink of the same hue (a sumi black turns warm silver, an indigo a misty blue), the way light ink reads on dark paper

Every paper shows a faint texture of long fibres, never strong enough to get in the way of the text.

3. Brushed mark

The one ornament on the page, brushed in your ink beside the event name and again, smaller, at the close:

• Ensō circle (default) — a single brushed circle, left open, with a dry tail
• Plum branch — one bough with two twigs, a few blossoms and buds
• Mountain ridge — one brushed ridge line
• No mark — a purely typographic page

4. Seal

Up to 2 characters, carved exactly as you type them into a small vermilion seal on the cover and on the reply card — typically your initials, like "AR". Leave it blank and no seal is shown. Wabi never makes initials from your event name. The seal stays vermilion whatever ink you pick.

5. Cover line

The short line beside the event name on the cover (up to 80 characters). Leave it blank to use the default ("You are invited"). Try "A tea ceremony", "Together with our families" or "An evening at the studio". On wide screens a short line (up to about 28 characters) stands vertically in the margin beside the name; a longer one, and every line on a phone, sits above the name instead.

6. Closing line

The line at the end of the page (up to 80 characters). Leave it blank to use the default ("We hope to share this moment with you").

Every piece of text Wabi prints on the invitation — the cover line, the Reply 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

An asymmetric cover replaces the standard header:

• The cover line (option 5) in small, widely spaced capitals — standing vertically in the margin on wide screens when it is short
• Your event name in Shippori Mincho, set from the start of the page. Long names step down a size so they never break mid-word
• The date, the time and the place under a short hairline — 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
• Reply — 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
• Your seal (option 4) beside the button, when you typed its characters
• The brushed mark (option 3), standing apart on the other side of the page
• Your cover photo, when you have one, mounted low and off-centre beneath, like a print laid on the paper, keeping the horizontal crop you set

Section heads

Each section opens off-centre: a short hairline and the section's label in small spaced capitals, then its title in the serif and, for the story and gifts, your subtitle or gift message. On wide screens the label stands in a narrow margin column with the title beside it.

Message

Your message on a sheet of washi laid on the page, in the serif with generous line spacing, starting in line with the section titles so the rest of the sheet stays empty, with a short hairline under it. A long message switches to the reading face, which is easier to read over many lines.

Countdown

The remaining time in large, light numerals, each with a short brushed stroke under it — four slightly different pulls of the brush — and its unit in small capitals. 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)

Every photo the same upright print with a fine mount, two to a row on a phone and three on wider screens (two for two photos, and a single print for one). One column steps down a little, so the photos never line up like tiles.

Story

Every milestone is set the same way: its photo as a small print, beside its date in small capitals, its title in the serif and its text. The moments are divided by space alone. A milestone without a photo lets its words take the whole width.

Itinerary — one fine line

A single vertical hairline runs down the whole programme, unbroken from the first day to the last, and every entry hangs from it at a small ink dot: its time, the moment in the serif, and the place and any note beneath. On wider screens the times stand in the margin before the line. A day heading appears only when the day has a date or a label. Entry icons are not shown.

RSVP — the reply card

"Will you join us?" with your RSVP deadline under it, and the reply form on a card of washi with one hairline down its edge and your seal pressed into its top corner (when you typed one). On a save-the-date page the card holds the save-the-date note instead of the form.

Location, Gifts, Event Details and Save the Date

These four sections share their structure with Fotify's other picker-coloured designs (Meridian, Thread, Prism and Duotone), dressed in Wabi's ink and paper: plain sheets with almost square corners, quiet buttons in your ink, and Shippori Mincho titles.

• 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

Closing

The brushed mark again, smaller, beside your closing line (option 6) in the serif, the date and place, and a Reply button.

Sections that use the shared layout

These sections keep Fotify's shared layout and are dressed in Wabi'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 plain sheet, with titles in Shippori Mincho and quiet 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: Where do the characters on the seal come from? A: Only from the Seal option, exactly as you type them (up to 2 characters). Leave it blank and the seal is not shown; Wabi never makes initials from your event name.

Q: Can I use Wabi for a corporate event? A: Yes. Set the ink to your brand colour with Pick any color, choose a paper, and pick No mark if you prefer a purely typographic page. Use the Cover line for something like "An evening with the studio".

Q: Does Wabi include Japanese text? A: No. Wabi prints only your own words and its short default lines in the language of the invitation. The mark is a brush stroke, not lettering.

Q: I picked a pale ink. Why are the name and buttons darker than my colour? A: Wabi keeps every label readable: the name, the titles and the buttons use a deeper shade of the same hue so they read clearly on the paper. On the dark sumi paper a dark ink is turned into a pale ink of the same hue instead.

Q: Why is my cover line horizontal instead of vertical? A: The cover line stands vertically only on wide screens and only when it is short (up to about 28 characters). A longer line, any line on a phone, and every line on a right-to-left page sit horizontally above the name.

Q: I don't have a cover photo. Will the cover look empty? A: No. Without a photo the cover is the name, the facts and the brushed mark on the paper — the empty space is part of the design.

Q: Does Wabi work in right-to-left languages? A: Yes. In Hebrew and Arabic the layout mirrors: the names hang from the right, the margin column and the itinerary line move to the right side, and the seal tilts the other way. The cover line stays horizontal, and the cover photo's crop stays as you set it.

Q: Does the page move? A: Only a gentle fade as the mark appears and the words settle on the cover. Guests whose device asks for reduced motion 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 quiet designs: Keepsake on soft cotton paper, or Supper, a printed menu card for a dinner
• 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.