- Six columns: Name, Email, Phone, Guests, Notes, Group. The first five are imported; Group is yours for cutting and seating.
- One row per household, with the name of the person who will reply and the party size including them.
- Headers in your own language are recognised too: Gäste, Personen, Personas, Osoby, Kişi all read as the party size.
- Upload .xlsx or .csv on the web app, up to 500 rows; check the preview; import. A row that matches an existing guest by e-mail, or by name when there is no e-mail, is updated or skipped, your choice, never doubled.
- Planning is free without a time limit, so the import is free too.
The columns
The first row is the header. The import recognises the English words above and their equivalents in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish, with or without accents, so 'E-Mail Adresse', 'Téléphone' and 'Kişi sayısı' all land in the right place. If a header is not recognised, the preview lets you point each column at a field by hand.
| Column | Imported as | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Name | The guest's name | The person who replies; required; letters, spaces and hyphens, no links |
| E-mail address | One address; used to send the invitation link and the confirmation | |
| Phone | Phone number | With country code if guests are abroad; used for WhatsApp links you send yourself |
| Guests | Party size | People in the household including the named guest; 1 to the maximum you set |
| Notes | Private note | Who added them, relationship, anything the guest will never see |
| Group | Not imported | Family, friends, colleagues, evening: your column for cutting and seating |
How to fill it
- One row per household, not per person. 'Anna Weber' with Guests = 3 is Anna, her partner and their child; their names come later through the reply.
- Put the person who will actually reply in the Name column, in the form you would write on an envelope.
- Guests counts everyone in the row including the named person. A couple is 2, a single guest is 1.
- Use Notes for what only you should see: 'mum's colleague', 'seat away from uncle', 'needs a lift'.
- Use Group consistently: pick six or seven group names and reuse them, so sorting and cutting by group works.
- Leave Email or Phone empty if you do not have it yet; you can add it in the app before inviting.
- Do not add a header row twice, merged cells, or a total row at the bottom; the import treats every row as a guest.
How the import works
On the web app, open the event's guest list and choose import. Upload the file (.xlsx or .csv, up to 2 MB and 500 rows). The app reads the first rows, decides whether the first row is a header, guesses which column is which, and shows you the first twenty rows with that guess so you can correct a column before anything is written. Confirm, and the rows are validated the way a hand-typed guest is (a real-looking name, a valid e-mail, a party size within your maximum) and written into the event in batches. Rows that fail validation are reported, not silently dropped.
A row that matches an existing guest, by e-mail or, when neither has an address, by name, is either updated with the new non-empty fields or skipped; you choose which before the import runs, and the result tells you how many rows were added, updated, skipped and rejected. Imported guests are not invited automatically; each row is invited when you send the invitation, by e-mail from the app, or by a WhatsApp or copied link, and the row records which.
After the import
The spreadsheet has done its job; the guest list now lives in the event. Party sizes and notes are on each row, the count is people, and the reply form fills in the rest: names of companions, dietary needs, menu choice, accommodation. The seating plan reads the same list, and the export for the caterer reads the replies. Keep the spreadsheet as the record of who was considered; keep the app as the record of who is coming.
FAQ
- What columns should a wedding guest list have?
- Name, e-mail, phone, party size and notes cover the invitation and the count; a group column covers cutting and seating. Dietary needs and menu choices come back through the reply, and postal addresses are only for printed cards.
- Can I import an Excel file into Vowly Event?
- Yes, on the web app: .xlsx or .csv, up to 500 rows and 2 MB. The columns for name, e-mail, phone, party size and notes are recognised in nine languages, and a preview lets you correct the mapping before import.
- What happens to duplicate guests on import?
- A row that matches an existing guest by e-mail, or by name when there is no e-mail on either side, is updated with the new non-empty fields or skipped; you choose before the import runs. Nothing is added twice.
- Does the import send invitations?
- No. Imported guests are added as not yet invited. You invite each row when you are ready, by e-mail from the app or by a WhatsApp or copied link, and the row records how and when.