Understanding Messages
Dear organises your event communications into message types and sends. Understanding this structure helps you manage your invitations effectively.
Message Types vs Sends
Dear separates what you’re sending from when and to whom you send it:
Message Types
When you create an event, Dear automatically sets up different message types for you:
Invitation - The main message inviting guests to your event
Reminder - A follow-up for guests who haven’t responded
Thank You - A message to send after your event
Think of these as templates for different stages of your event communication. Each message type has its own email content and invitation design that you can customise.
Sends
A send is when you actually deliver a message type to your attendees. For each message type, you can create multiple sends:
Send the Invitation to your full guest list on Monday
Send the Invitation again to late additions on Friday
Send a Reminder to only those who haven’t responded
Each send tracks its own recipients, scheduled time, and delivery status.
How It Works in Practice
Example workflow:
You create an event - Dear sets up your message types (Invitation, Reminder, Thank You)
You customise the Invitation content and design
You schedule a send of the Invitation to all 50 attendees for next Monday
A week later, you add 10 more guests
You schedule another send of the same Invitation to just those 10 new guests
Both sends use the same Invitation message type, but go to different recipients at different times.
Message Type Components
Each message type has two parts:
The Email
The email is what arrives in your guest’s inbox:
Subject line - What appears in their inbox
Body text - A brief message with a link to view the full invitation
View Invitation button - Takes guests to your beautiful invitation
You can edit the subject and body text to personalise your message.
The Invitation
The invitation is the visual presentation your guests see when they click through:
Your event details (date, time, venue, etc.)
Custom imagery and styling from your template
RSVP buttons (if enabled for that message type)
You can customise the invitation by editing your event details and uploading a custom background image.
Message Variables
Messages support personalisation through variables (also called merge tags). These are placeholders that get replaced with actual values when each send goes out.
Common variables include:
{attendee_name}- The guest’s name{event_name}- Your event’s name{event_date}- When your event is happening{invitation_url}- Link to view the invitation
When you edit a message type, you’ll see all available variables listed. Click any variable to copy it, then paste it into your message.
Tracking Send Status
Each send tracks its own delivery status:
Scheduled - Queued to send at a future time
Sent - Successfully delivered to recipients
Sent with failures - Most delivered, but some had issues
Failed - Could not deliver
You can view detailed information for each send, including which attendees received it and any errors that occurred.
Draft Events and Messages
While your event is in draft status, you can freely edit your message types and preview exactly how they’ll look. No sends go out until you’re ready.
When you schedule your first send, Dear will prompt you to publish your event, making it accessible to attendees.
Sharing Invitations
Each message type has a shareable link you can send through other channels (text message, social media, etc.). This is useful when:
An attendee lost their original email
You want to share on social media
You need to send via a different method
Click Share Invite on any message type to copy its shareable link.
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