Wedding RSVP Cards
RSVP cards are small, printed in volume, and get written on — which makes the surface a functional decision rather than an aesthetic one. A heavily coated or soft-touch sheet resists ink and smears; uncoated cotton takes a pen cleanly. If the suite has a QR RSVP, the code must be printed flat at real size, because a code that is foiled or debossed frequently will not scan.
What people actually ask
- What paper works for a card guests write on?
- Uncoated — cotton or a plain uncoated sheet. Coated and soft-touch surfaces repel ballpoint and fountain pen ink and smudge for hours.
- Can an RSVP QR code be foiled?
- We advise against it. Scanners rely on flat contrast, and a stamped or debossed code introduces shadow and reflection that breaks recognition. Print it flat in a dark ink.
Keep looking
By style
By material
By technique
RSVP cards are the one piece in the suite your guests hold a pen against. Everything else gets read; this one gets written on, mailed back, and read again by you at a kitchen table three weeks later. So we treat the surface as a functional decision before an aesthetic one. Pick the sheet that takes ink cleanly, keep any QR code flat and full size, and the rest of the design choices get easy. Here's how we think through a reply card.
A soft-touch sheet will smear your guests' handwriting
Heavy coatings and soft-touch films sit on top of the paper as a sealed skin. Ballpoint skates. Gel and rollerball ink beads up instead of soaking in, then transfers to whatever it touches in the mail. You get cards back with a smudged M in "Mr." and a meal choice you have to guess at.
Uncoated cotton does the opposite. The fiber is open, so ink wicks in and dries where it lands. Names stay legible. Check marks stay crisp.
Save the soft-touch and the gloss for pieces nobody writes on. The reply card wants a sheet with tooth.
Print the QR code flat, at full size, in the darkest ink on the card
A phone camera reads a QR code by contrast between light and dark squares. Foil breaks that. It throws specular glare straight back at the lens, and depending on the angle the scanner sees a bright blur instead of a pattern. Deboss and letterpress cause a different failure: the impression bends the code out of plane and softens the module edges.
So we print the code flat, in a solid dark ink, at real scanning size with clear quiet space around it. Foil and impression are still available for the rest of the card. Just not under the code.
Small card, large quantity, so proof the wording twice
Reply cards run in volume and they run small, which means one typo multiplies fast and there's no graceful place to hide a correction. Read the return-by date out loud. Confirm the meal options match what your caterer actually committed to. Check that the blank line for names is long enough for two names plus "and family."
On size: line count drives the card, not the other way around. Meal selections, a song request, and a plus-one line need more room than a single yes or no. Give us the copy and we'll set the writing space around it.
Common questions
Uncoated cotton. The open fiber absorbs pen ink so it dries in place instead of sitting on the surface and transferring in transit. Coated and soft-touch sheets resist ink and smear. If you want the tactile feel of soft-touch somewhere in the suite, put it on the invitation and keep the reply card uncoated.
Need the entire invitation suite drawn?
Invitation, RSVP, details and envelope composed for this stock and finish, with press-ready files for each piece.