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The best Christmas invitations do one thing a group text never manages: they make someone feel genuinely wanted at your table. This guide gives you more than forty pieces of Christmas party invitation wording you can copy straight into WhatsApp, iMessage or an email — for friends, for a family Christmas dinner, for Christmas Eve, for Secret Santa, for the office party, and a handful of funny ones for the friends who would never forgive you for being earnest. It also covers what every Christmas invitation needs to say, when to send it, and how to turn it into a digital Christmas invitation your guests open like a front door — knock, the door swings open, and they step into your living room.
What to include in a Christmas party invitation
Whatever the tone, a Christmas invitation has to answer the questions your guests will otherwise text you about. Before you worry about wording, make sure yours covers:
- Who is hosting — your names, or the family name ("Christmas at the Hendersons'")
- The date and start time, and an end time if it matters ("Christmas Eve, 6 pm until the midnight walk to church")
- The address, with a map link and anything about parking, gates or stairs
- What kind of party it is — dinner, drinks, a potluck, an open house, a Christmas jumper party
- Food and drink — whether you are cooking, whether they should bring a dish, and any "bring a bottle" expectation
- Secret Santa or gift rules, including the budget and when names are drawn
- The dress code, even if it is "your worst Christmas jumper"
- Who is invited — partners, children, the dog
- How and by when to reply
The wording below slots into any of these. If you are sending a digital invitation, most of the practical details live on the page itself, so the message you send can be short and warm.
Christmas party invitation wording for friends
Copy any of these, swap the bits in brackets and add your link below.
Cosy and warm
Christmas is better with you in it. 🎄 Come round on [Day, Date] from [Time] — there will be a fire, far too much food and a playlist we refuse to apologise for. [Address]. Tell us you're coming!
Friendsmas
Friendsmas is on! 🎁 [Day, Date], [Time] at ours. We're doing the turkey; you're doing a side, a bottle or a dessert. Secret Santa budget is [Budget]. Details and who's bringing what are in the link.
Christmas jumper party
Dust off your most questionable Christmas jumper. 🧶 We're having a jumper party on [Day, Date] from [Time]. There will be a prize for the worst one, mulled wine for everyone, and absolutely no judgement. [Address]
Potluck Christmas
Potluck Christmas! 🍽️ [Day, Date] at [Time], [Address]. We've got the main and the mulled wine — could you bring a side or a pudding? Pop what you're bringing in your reply so we don't end up with six trifles.
Small and intimate
Just a few of us this year, and we wanted you to be one of them. 🕯️ Dinner on [Day, Date] at [Time]. Come hungry, stay late. [Address]
Open house
Our door is open on [Day, Date] from [Time] to [Time]. ✨ Drop in for a mince pie and a mulled wine, stay for one or for five. Bring whoever's with you. [Address]
Christmas dinner invitation wording for family
Family invitations can be warmer and more sentimental — this is the one time of year nobody minds.
Christmas Day lunch
We'd love to have the whole family together for Christmas lunch this year. 🎄 Join us on Friday, 25 December at [Time] at [Address]. The table's big, the turkey's bigger. Let us know who's coming so we can set enough places.
Christmas Eve dinner
Christmas Eve at ours! ✨ Dinner at [Time] on Thursday, 24 December, then crackers, pudding and carols by the fire. Bring the children in their pyjamas — they can sleep on the way home. [Address]
Our first Christmas in the new house
It's our first Christmas in the new house, and it won't feel like home until you've all been round. 🏡 Come for dinner on [Day, Date] at [Time]. [Address] — just look for the wreath.
For grandparents
Dear Mum and Dad, the children have already made you a place card each. 🎁 Please come and spend Christmas Day with us — we'll pick you up at [Time]. We love you.
For family who can't be there
We'll miss you at the table this year. 🎄 Everything about our Christmas — the menu, photos of the tree, the time we'll raise a glass to you — is in this link. Open it on the day and leave us a Christmas card on the page.
Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year wording
Christmas Eve drinks
Christmas Eve drinks at ours, [Time] until the last carol. 🥂 Nibbles, mulled wine and the good chocolates. [Address]
Boxing Day leftovers party
Boxing Day leftovers party! 🥪 [Time] onwards on Saturday, 26 December. Bring your appetite and your board games; we'll bring the cold turkey and the cheese. [Address]
Christmas and New Year combined
Can't decide between a Christmas party and a New Year's do? Neither can we. 🎆 Join us on [Day, Date] from [Time] for both. [Address]
If you are planning New Year's Eve too, our guide to New Year party invitation messages has forty more ideas, and a design that counts down to midnight.
Christmas party invitation wording for work and staff
Office invitations need to be clear and inclusive: say whether partners are invited, what is provided, and how people get home. Many workplaces use "holiday party" to include everyone — use what fits your team.
Office Christmas party
You're invited to the [Company] Christmas party! 🎄 Join us on [Day, Date] from [Time] at [Venue]. Dinner, drinks and a few awards nobody will admit to wanting. Partners are welcome. Please RSVP by [Date] so we can confirm numbers.
Team Christmas lunch
Team Christmas lunch on [Day, Date] at [Time], [Restaurant]. 🍽️ It's on us — just tell us your menu choice by [Date]. Out-of-office replies optional.
Staff holiday party (inclusive wording)
Thank you for everything this year. ✨ Please join us for our end-of-year holiday party on [Day, Date] from [Time] at [Venue]. There will be food for every diet, non-alcoholic drinks and transport home from [Time].
Remote team
Our first in-person get-together of the year: Christmas drinks on [Day, Date], [Time] at [Venue]. 🎁 Travel is covered — reply by [Date] and we'll book it.
Secret Santa invitation message
Secret Santa works only if everyone knows the budget, the deadline and the rules. Put all three in the invitation.
Secret Santa for friends
Secret Santa time! 🎅 Names come out of the hat on [Date] — we'll message you yours. Budget is [Budget], gifts open at the party on [Day, Date]. Not a word to anyone.
Secret Santa for family
Family Secret Santa is back 🎁 One present each, [Budget] maximum, and Granny is in charge of the hat. We'll draw names on [Date] and open the presents after Christmas lunch.
Secret Santa for colleagues
Fancy a Secret Santa? 🎄 Reply by [Date] to join. Budget is [Budget], names drawn on [Date], and presents swapped at the team lunch on [Date]. Please keep it office-friendly!
In our Christmas design, the Secret Santa details hide inside a wrapped present that guests tap to unwrap — budget and rules pop out on a little card. It is a small thing, and everyone does it twice.
Funny Christmas party invitation wording
For the friends who would roll their eyes at anything sincere:
Fair warning
Warning: there will be carols, and you will be expected to know the second verse. 🎤 Christmas party, [Day, Date], [Time], [Address].
Honest host
We've bought too much food, too much wine and a tree that doesn't fit through the door. Please come and help with all three. 🎄 [Day, Date], [Time].
Elf on the shelf
The elf has reported that you've been mostly good this year. 🧝 Party at ours on [Day, Date] — attendance is being monitored.
Sprouts
There will be sprouts. There will also be cheese, so it evens out. 🧀 Christmas dinner, [Day, Date], [Time].
Short one-liners for a group chat or an Instagram story:
- Mulled wine, mince pies and your favourite people. You in?
- Our tree is up, our oven is on, and our door is open.
- Jingle all the way to ours on [Date].
- Bring your appetite and your worst jumper.
- Home is wherever the mince pies are.
When to send Christmas party invitations
December fills up faster than any other month, so earlier is kinder.
- Office and large parties: four to six weeks before — invitations by mid-November for a mid-December party
- Friends' Christmas parties: three to four weeks before, ideally by the last week of November
- Family Christmas Day or Christmas Eve: a month ahead, especially if anyone is travelling
- Secret Santa: send the invitation at least a week before you draw names
- Reminders: a short nudge a week before and again the day before
With a digital invitation, a reminder is simply the same link sent again — no reprinting, and any change to the time or the menu is already on it.
A digital Christmas invitation that opens like a front door
We designed Evergreen to feel like arriving at your house on a snowy night.
Your guest opens the link and they are on your doorstep: a green front door under a glowing fanlight, lanterns on either side, snow falling, and a fat wreath with a kraft gift tag written out to them. They tap "Knock on the door", the brass knocker raps twice, the door swings open on warm golden light — and they step through it into your living room, where the fire is crackling, there is a stocking on the mantel for everyone in your family with their names on, and the tree is twinkling.
Then, as they scroll:
- "12 more sleeps" — a countdown in sleeps, the way children count to Christmas
- Your letter, in a handwritten style, on paper with a postage stamp and a postmark from your town
- The evening, each moment hung on a ribbon as a bauble
- At the table — a menu card showing who is making what; anything marked "You?" invites the guest to bring it
- Secret Santa, inside a present they tap to unwrap
- Your year in photos, hung on a garland as baubles they can tap to see larger
- What to wear, on a knitted Fair Isle band
- Directions, a calendar button and an RSVP that asks how many are coming, what they will bring and anything the kitchen should know — it reaches you as one WhatsApp message, text or email
- A Christmas card wall where everyone can leave a message
Every guest can have their own gift tag. Add ?to= and their name to the end of your link — …?to=The+Thompsons — and the tag on the door reads "For The Thompsons".
Evergreen is a one-time ₹499 to publish, for as many guests as you like, and you can preview before you pay. It works for a Christmas party, a family Christmas dinner, Christmas Eve, a Friendsmas or an office celebration.
Quick checklist
- Decide the type of party first — dinner, drinks, potluck or open house — and say it in the first line.
- Include the date, start time, full address and a map link.
- State the dress code, even if it is "your worst Christmas jumper".
- Put the Secret Santa budget and the date names are drawn in the invitation.
- Say clearly whether partners, children and dogs are invited.
- Ask guests to reply by a specific date, and tell them what to bring if it is a potluck.
- Send invitations three to six weeks ahead, with a reminder a week before.
Frequently asked questions
Say who is hosting, what kind of party it is, the date, time and address, the dress code, whether to bring food, drink or a Secret Santa gift, who is invited, and how and by when to reply. A warm opening line — "Christmas is better with you in it" — makes it feel personal.
Send office and large party invitations four to six weeks ahead, friends' parties three to four weeks ahead, and family Christmas Day invitations about a month before. December fills up quickly, so earlier is better, with a reminder a week before.
Say you are hosting a potluck, what you are providing, and what you would like guests to bring — a side, a pudding or a bottle. Ask them to say what they are bringing when they reply so you avoid duplicates. The Evergreen menu card marks dishes with "You?" for exactly this.
Include the budget, the date names will be drawn, how people will find out who they are buying for, and when presents will be opened. Add a line asking everyone to keep it secret.
Yes. A digital Christmas invitation is a single link that opens on any phone from WhatsApp, iMessage, SMS, Instagram or email. Guests do not need an app or an account.
Yes. Add ?to= and the guest's name to the end of your invitation link, and the gift tag on the front door shows their name — "For The Thompsons" — before they knock.
It is a one-time ₹499 to publish, with no subscription and no charge per guest. You can fill in every detail and preview the whole invitation before you pay.
Guests tap "Wouldn't miss it" or "Sadly not", say how many of them are coming, what they will bring and any dietary needs, and the reply reaches you as one WhatsApp message, text or email.
