Event Invitation and Reminder Email Templates for Small Businesses

A small business event, whether it is a workshop, an open evening, a product launch or a webinar, is six emails: the invitation, the confirmation, two reminders, the thank-you and the sorry-you-missed-it. Most of the attendance comes from the reminders, not the invitation. The templates below are written to be sent from a real mailbox to a list of a few hundred, one recipient per email, which the free plan's 250 sends a day per mailbox covers for most local events.

Rules for every event email

• One recipient per email, or every address in Bcc. A guest list in the To field is a privacy breach and a reply-all disaster.
• The day, date, time and place in the subject line of every reminder. The invitation subject line sells; the reminder subject line informs.
• A real reply address. People reply to event emails with questions, dietary needs and plus-ones; the no-reply guide explains why that matters.
• One link, one action. Register, or add to calendar, or join; not all three in the same email.
• Attach a calendar file to the confirmation if your tool makes one. If not, write the date and time plainly and let people add it themselves.

1. Invitation

Subject: [Event name]: [Day, date] at [venue / online]

Hi [First name],

We are holding [event name] on [Day, date] from [start] to [end] at [venue / online]. [One or two sentences on what it is and who it is for.]

You will [learn / see / get: three concrete things].

Places are limited to [n]. To book, [reply to this email with "yes" / click: link]. There is [no charge / a charge of amount].

I hope you can make it.

[Name]
[Role], [Company]

2. Confirmation

Subject: You are booked: [Event name], [Day, date] at [time]

Hi [First name],

You have a place at [event name] on [Day, date] at [time].

Where: [address, entrance, parking] / [join link; it opens 10 minutes before].
Bring: [notebook / nothing / your questions about X].

If you can no longer come, reply to this email so we can offer the place to someone else.

See you there,
[Name]
[Company]

3. Reminder, one week before

Subject: Next week: [Event name], [Day, date] at [time]

Hi [First name],

[Event name] is a week away: [Day, date] at [time], [venue / online].

[One sentence of something new: a speaker confirmed, the agenda attached, a question to think about.]

If your plans have changed, reply and let us know. Otherwise, no need to do anything.

[Name]
[Company]

4. Reminder, the day before

Subject: Tomorrow: [Event name] at [time]

Hi [First name],

A quick reminder that [event name] is tomorrow, [Day, date], at [time].

[Venue, entrance and parking in one line] / [Join link; it opens at time].

Looking forward to seeing you.

[Name]
[Company], [phone]

5. Thank you, with the recording or photos

Subject: Thank you for coming to [Event name]

Hi [First name],

Thank you for joining us [yesterday / on date]. [One specific line: the question about X, the turnout, something that happened.]

[The recording / the slides / the photos] are here: [link]. [If you promised a follow-up, say what and when.]

If you have thoughts on what we should do next time, reply to this email; I read all of them.

[Name]
[Company]

6. Sorry you missed it

Subject: Sorry you could not make [Event name]

Hi [First name],

We missed you at [event name] [yesterday / on date]. [The recording / the slides / a short summary] are here: [link], so you have not lost anything.

The next one is [date / planned for month]; reply if you would like to be told first when booking opens.

[Name]
[Company]

Sending to a list

For up to a couple of hundred guests, send these one at a time from the event mailbox, or with everyone in Bcc in batches of around fifty. The free plan allows 250 sends a day per mailbox, so a day-before reminder to 200 people fits in one go from one address. For larger lists, or for recurring events with sign-ups and unsubscribes, use a newsletter tool with your domain authenticated in its settings, and keep the replies coming back to a mailbox a person reads.

Common questions

How many reminders is too many?

Two for a free event, three for a paid one with the extra on the morning of the day. More than that and the unsubscribes outweigh the attendance.

Should the invitation come from the owner or the company?

From a person, with the company in the signature. Invitations from a named host get more replies than invitations from events@, and the replies are what tell you how many to cater for.

What goes in the subject line?

For the invitation, the event name and the date. For every reminder, "Next week:" or "Tomorrow:" followed by the name and the time. The subject line guide has more examples.