Most office holiday parties are announced by email, and most of those emails get skimmed on a phone between meetings. A good holiday party invitation email gets the date into the subject line, the essentials into the first three lines, and the RSVP into one click.
Below are subject lines, full email templates for employees, small teams, clients and remote staff, a send schedule, and reminder emails. If you are looking for the wording of the invitation itself rather than the email around it, see our office Christmas party invitations guide.
What Every Holiday Party Email Needs
- Date, start and end time. End times matter at work: people plan childcare and trains around them.
- Place and how to get there. Address, floor or room, parking or transit notes.
- Who is invited. Whole company, a department, partners or plus-ones, families.
- What it is. Lunch, dinner, drinks, an activity, a gift exchange.
- Dress code, if there is one.
- RSVP deadline and link. One place to answer, with a date.
- Who to ask about dietary needs or access requirements.
Subject Lines That Get Opened
- “Holiday Party: Friday, Dec 12, 6 pm – RSVP by Dec 3”
- “You’re invited: Team holiday lunch on Dec 17”
- “Save your seat: Year-end celebration at The Harbor Room”
- “Holiday party details + RSVP (2 minutes)”
- “Join us: Client holiday reception, Thursday Dec 11”
Put the date in the subject. Many people search their inbox for “holiday party” the week of the event, and a subject with the date shows up first.
Holiday Party Invitation Email Templates
To all employees
Subject: Holiday Party: Friday, December 12, 6–10 pm – RSVP by December 3
Hi everyone,
You’re invited to our holiday party to celebrate the year together.
When: Friday, December 12, 6:00–10:00 pm
Where: The Harbor Room, 200 Pier Street (parking in the garage on Front Street)
What: Dinner, drinks, music and a few short thank-yous. Partners are welcome.
Dress: Festive, but come as you are if you’re heading over from the office.
Please RSVP by Wednesday, December 3, at this link: [invitation link]. Add your guest when you reply so we can give the venue an accurate number. Let [name] know about dietary or access needs.
Looking forward to celebrating with you,
[Name]
To a small team
Subject: Team holiday lunch on Wednesday, Dec 17
Hi team,
To wrap up the year, we’re taking a long lunch together on Wednesday, December 17, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm at Lucia’s on Main Street. Lunch is on the company.
Can you let me know by Friday, December 12, if you can join? Here’s the RSVP link: [invitation link]. It takes a few seconds and you don’t need an account.
Thanks for a great year,
[Name]
To clients and partners
Subject: Join us for a holiday reception, Thursday, December 11
Dear [Name],
As the year comes to a close, we would be glad to welcome you to our holiday reception.
Thursday, December 11, 5:30–8:00 pm
Our offices, 14th floor, 500 Market Street
Drinks and light bites
Kindly reply by December 4: [invitation link]. You are welcome to bring a guest; just add them when you respond.
With thanks for your partnership,
[Name, title]
For more formal events, our business event invitation wording guide has longer examples.
To remote and hybrid staff
Subject: Holiday celebration: in person in Austin or online, Dec 16
Hi all,
We’re celebrating on Tuesday, December 16. Join us in person at the Austin office from 4 to 7 pm, or online from 4 to 5 pm for the toast and the year-in-review. The video link will go out the morning of.
Please RSVP by December 9 and tell us which you’ll join: [invitation link].
See you there,
[Name]
When to Send the Email (and the Reminders)
- Save-the-date: six to eight weeks before for an evening party, especially in December. One line is enough: date, time, “details to follow.”
- Invitation: three to four weeks before, with the RSVP link and deadline.
- Reminder: two or three days before the RSVP deadline, only to people who haven’t answered if your tool shows that.
- Final details: two days before the party: address, parking, start time, anything that changed.
Our when to send party invitations guide explains the timing for other kinds of parties, too.
Reminder and Follow-Up Emails
Subject: Reminder: RSVP for the holiday party by Wednesday
Hi everyone, a quick reminder to RSVP for the holiday party on Friday, December 12, by this Wednesday: [invitation link]. If you can’t make it, please reply anyway so we can release your seat. Thanks!
Subject: Holiday party Friday: what to know
Hi all, we’re looking forward to Friday! Doors open at 6 pm at The Harbor Room, 200 Pier Street. Parking is free in the Front Street garage after 5. Dinner starts at 7. See you there.
More reminder lines for different tones are in our RSVP reminder wording guide.
Adding an RSVP Link to the Email
Asking people to “reply to this email” works for ten people. For fifty, the answers end up spread across reply-alls, chat messages and hallway conversations. A single RSVP link keeps them together.
With TwistInvite, you make the invitation in the app with your own photos, a short video message or music, then share the link by WhatsApp or SMS, or paste the same link into your email. Colleagues open it in their browser and answer Going, Can’t make it or Maybe. No download, no account. The RSVP can ask for each guest’s email and the number of people in their party, and you see the replies in the app.
Two practical tips: put the link on its own line so it is easy to tap on a phone, and repeat the RSVP deadline right next to it.
Remote and Hybrid Teams
If part of the team works remotely, say so in the first lines: is this an in-person party, a video call, or both? Give remote colleagues their own plan instead of a footnote. For example: “Remote team members: we’ll mail a snack box to everyone who RSVPs by December 1 and join the toast on a video call at 7:15 pm.” If you are paying for travel for people who live nearby, give the booking deadline and who to contact. For teams spread across time zones, write the time with the zone (“6 pm ET / 3 pm PT”) and keep the RSVP deadline a few days earlier than usual, since anything shipped or booked takes time.
Personal and Family Christmas Email Invitations
Not every Christmas email goes to a team. When you are inviting family or friends by email, drop the corporate structure and write the way you talk. Keep the subject line specific (“Christmas Eve at our place, 6 pm?”), put the date, time and address in the first two lines, and add the one thing people always ask: what to bring, whether kids are welcome, or if there is a gift exchange and its budget.
- Subject: Christmas dinner at Grandma’s, Friday the 25th
“Hi all, dinner is at 2 pm this year so the drivers can be home before dark. We’re making the ham; please reply with the side you’ll bring.” - Subject: Our first Christmas in the new house
“We’d love to have you on Saturday, December 19, from 5 pm. Nothing fancy, just the tree, a big pot of chili and everyone we missed this year.”
Many families now skip email entirely and send the link in a group chat; Christmas WhatsApp invitations has wording for that. If you are deciding between mailing a card and sending an invitation, see Christmas card vs. Christmas invitation.
Common Mistakes
- Burying the date in the third paragraph. Put it in the subject and the first lines.
- No end time. People with families or long commutes want to know when it wraps up.
- Unclear plus-one rules. Say “partners welcome” or “team only.”
- No deadline. Without one, half the replies come the day before.
- Too many reply channels. Pick one: a link, a form or an email reply.
To make the invitation itself, open the TwistInvite app and start with a holiday design. See our corporate event invitations and holiday party invitation templates, the company year-end party invitations guide, and all our Christmas invitation guides.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you write a holiday party invitation email to employees?
Put the date and RSVP deadline in the subject line, then give the date, time, place, who is invited, dress code and one RSVP link in the first few lines.
What is a good subject line for a holiday party email?
Include the event and the date, for example “Holiday Party: Friday, Dec 12, 6 pm – RSVP by Dec 3.”
When should I send the holiday party invitation email?
About three to four weeks before the party, after a save-the-date six to eight weeks out for evening events in December.
Can I add an RSVP link to an email invitation?
Yes. Paste the link to your invitation on its own line. With TwistInvite, guests open it in their browser and reply without an app or account.
Should the email say whether partners are invited?
Yes. State it plainly, such as “Partners welcome” or “Team only,” and ask guests to include their plus-one when they reply.
Create it in the TwistInvite app
Download free on iPhone or Android, then share one link with your guests.