The QR code on a wedding invitation is most useful when it opens your RSVP, because a reply is the one thing you need from every guest. Make it a dynamic code that you can redirect after printing, and print the reply-by date and a short typed address next to it for guests who won't scan.
Digily Link is our product, and we say below which parts of a wedding set-up its free plan covers and which it doesn't. Plan details were checked in Digily's settings on 29 October 2026.
What should the QR code on a wedding invitation open?
Point the code at the RSVP, either directly or through a short page where the RSVP button comes first. Which of the two depends on what else guests need from the card.
- Only replies. If the venue, times and dress code are printed on the details card, link straight to your RSVP form. Google Forms and Microsoft Forms both work, and so does the form on a wedding website.
- Replies plus practical details. If you want guests to find hotels near the venue, the gift list and the order of the day, link to one short page with the RSVP button at the top and everything else underneath.
- You already pay for a wedding website. Link to its RSVP page. Check whether your website builder keeps the same address if you rename the site or change plan. If the address does change, a dynamic code lets you point the short link at the new one without reprinting, but only once you notice and update it.
Leave the shared photo album off the invitation. It belongs on the day, on table cards or a welcome sign, and it raises its own privacy questions (covered further down).
One invitation from proof to post, a worked example
Here is how a couple in Harrogate, whom we'll call Priya and Tom, might add a code to invitations ordered from a local printer. The names are made up. The order of the steps is what matters, because the code has to exist before the printer's proof does.
- Build the RSVP form first. Priya makes a Google Form with name, attending yes or no, dietary needs and a song request. Because some invitations go to a whole household, the form asks for each guest's name and dietary needs separately. She publishes it, checks that anyone with the link can respond, and opens it in a private browser window to make sure guests won't be asked to sign in. Google's Forms help page says sign-in is required if you turn on 'Limit to 1 response', and file upload questions need it too.
- Make a dynamic QR code. In Digily Link she creates a URL QR code, pastes the form address and ticks 'Dynamic QR code'. Digily creates a short link (digily.link followed by 8 characters) and the code holds that short link, not the long form address. Fewer characters usually give a less dense pattern, which helps on a small card.
- Download for the printer. She downloads an SVG for the printer's artwork and keeps the squares dark green on cream card, so the contrast stays high. Gold foil squares would need a test print first.
- Send the artwork with a note. She asks for the code to sit on the details card, with 'Scan to RSVP by 1 May' above it and the short address printed underneath.
- Check the proof. The printer sends a paper proof. Tom scans it on his iPhone and Priya on her Android phone, both on mobile data.
- Approve and post. Once the invitations are out, the short link's alias is never touched again. The panel warns about this, because the printed squares point to that exact address.
The short link counts towards Digily's limits. The free plan includes 20 QR codes and 50 short links as of 29 October 2026, which leaves room for a separate code on the welcome sign.
What to check on the printer's proof
As a starting point, print the code at least 2 cm wide with a clear border, then scan the paper proof rather than trusting the screen. Our guide to QR code sizes for print explains where that figure comes from and when to go bigger. Wedding stationery adds a few risks of its own.
- Textured and handmade papers. Deckled or cotton card can blur the edges of the small squares. If the proof is on smooth paper, ask for one on the real stock.
- Foil and metallic inks. These reflect light back at the camera. Dark flat ink on a pale card is the safe choice for the code itself, even if the rest of the design is foiled. Letterpress and other textured finishes are a different risk, so test those on the real stock too.
- Borders and florals. Artwork that touches the code causes misreads. DENSO WAVE, which created the QR code, says the code needs a clear margin four modules wide on all sides, a module being one of the small squares.
- A monogram in the middle. Raise the 'Error correction capability' setting before you add one. That makes the pattern denser and still doesn't guarantee the code reads, so scan the proof again afterwards.
Scan a paper proof at full size with two different phones before you approve the print run. Then submit a test reply through the form and delete it from your responses, and from the linked spreadsheet if you use one, so the first real reply isn't yours. Your Digily statistics will show these test opens, and on the free plan they keep that detail for 30 days. They count how many times the short link was opened, not how many guests replied. The form's response list is your real RSVP count.
What happens if the venue, date or time changes after posting?
With a dynamic code you edit where the short link goes, and every invitation already posted follows, as long as the short link stays active. With a static code the address is fixed in the print, so a deleted form or a renamed website leaves guests at an error page, unless the website redirects the old address itself. We explain the difference, and what happens when a QR company switches a code off, in do QR codes expire.
A dynamic code can't fix the card itself. If the old date or venue is printed on it, guests will still read it there, so send a message to everyone as well as updating the page.
Can you build the wedding page on Digily's free plan?
Yes, for most of what guests need, but three blocks a wedding page might use are paid features. The free plan allows 5 bio link pages with up to 15 blocks each, as of 29 October 2026. A link in bio page is built for this kind of list of buttons.
| Block | On a wedding page | Free plan |
|---|---|---|
| Big link | The RSVP button, with the reply-by date in its text | Yes |
| Heading and paragraph | Names, date, ceremony and reception times, venue postcode | Yes |
| Image | A photo of the two of you or the venue | Yes |
| Link | Directions in Google Maps, gift list, nearby hotels, taxi numbers | Yes |
| Spotify | The evening playlist | Yes |
| Google Form (embedded) | The RSVP form inside the page | No, on Pro and higher |
| Countdown | Days left until the wedding | No, on Starter and Pro |
| FAQ | Dress code, children, parking | No, on Starter and Pro |
Without the Google Form block, link to the form with a big link button, so the form opens as its own page rather than in a small embedded frame. Answers to common questions fit in a paragraph block.
Guests who won't scan a QR code
Give guests who can't or would rather not scan a way to reply that doesn't involve a camera. A full reply card with a stamped envelope is one option, but not the only one. A printed line such as 'Prefer to reply by phone? Call Sam on' followed by a mobile number covers it, and so does the short address under the code, which anyone can type.
Print the reply-by date on the card as well as on the page. A guest who scans, reads and closes the form can forget it, but the card stays on the fridge.
Keeping RSVP answers private
Dietary needs can say something about a guest's health, so ask only what the caterer needs and keep the answers to yourselves. In Google Forms, leave 'View results summary' switched off. The Forms help page says that when it's on, a summary of responses, including full text answers, is visible to anyone who can respond to the form.
Photo sharing QR codes and guests' privacy
A photo sharing code works best on the day, on table cards or a sign. Before you print it, check in the album's sharing settings whether anyone with the link can view every upload. A code on a sign can be photographed and passed on beyond your guests. If children will be in the photos, or some guests prefer not to appear online, choose an album that lets you approve uploads or limit who can view, and say on the sign where the photos will go.
Wedding QR code questions
Do wedding QR codes expire?
The printed pattern doesn't expire. A dynamic code works as long as the short link behind it stays active, so check what your QR provider does after any free trial before you print. On Digily Link, dynamic QR codes are part of the free plan.
Can I add the code to an invitation I designed in Canva?
Yes. Download the code from Digily as a large PNG and place it in your design. Keep the plain border around it and don't stretch it out of square.
Should the code go on the invitation or the details card?
Either works. A separate details card keeps the invitation itself clean and puts the code next to the information guests use it for.
Make an RSVP QR code you can redirect after posting with Digily Link.
