Email reaches everyone. SMS reaches almost everyone.
Email invitations and RSVP reminders go anywhere in the world. SMS works just about everywhere too, including Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe, South America, much of Africa and Asia, the Pacific, and most points in between. For the vast majority of guest lists, both channels work straight out of the box.
There's a short list of countries where we currently can't send SMS. The reasons are regulatory, not technical, and we'll explain them below.
Where SMS isn't available
We can't deliver SMS to mobile numbers in:
- New Zealand
- China
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Comoros
- Canada
- United States
If a guest's mobile number resolves to one of these countries, we'll automatically skip them when you send an SMS campaign. Your message still goes out to everyone else, and you can reach the excluded guests by email instead.
Why these countries?
SMS rules vary a lot from country to country. The places on our exclusion list each require something that doesn't fit a one-off event invitation:
- United States and Canada require senders to register a dedicated toll-free number or short code, with each guest tracked through a documented opt-in process. That works for ongoing marketing programs but doesn't suit the one-time nature of wedding and event invitations.
- China, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and New Zealand require pre-registered sender IDs and audited opt-in records that aren't a fit for guest lists you've assembled yourself.
- Comoros has limited international carrier support that prevents reliable delivery.
The common thread: SMS in these countries assumes the sender is a business with an ongoing relationship and explicit recipient consent. Event invitations don't fit that model, and we'd rather be upfront than have your messages silently fail.
What to do if your guest is in an excluded country
Use email. It works everywhere, and we make it just as easy to send as SMS, with the same template and the same one-click flow. You can mix and match: send by SMS where you can, by email where you can't, all from the same campaign.
Coverage can change as international SMS regulations evolve. If you have questions about a specific country, get in touch via our Support page.