WhatsApp shows a link preview for your wedding invitation, the card with a picture, a bold title and a line of text, when the invitation page carries Open Graph tags and your phone has time to read them before you press send. If you see a bare blue link, a tiny thumbnail or out-of-date details instead, check five things: the tags on the page, the image, the moment you pressed send, your own preview setting, and whether WhatsApp is showing an older copy of the card.
The checks apply whether you paste the link yourself or send it through WhatsApp invitation delivery. Below is how the card is put together, what each line of it comes from, a table that matches each symptom to its fix, and a checklist to run before the real guests get their link.
How WhatsApp builds the card
When you paste a link into a chat, your phone visits the page, reads a few tags in its code and draws a card above the text box. When you press send, the card travels with the message as part of it. Your guest’s phone shows the card it received. It does not go back to the page to draw a new one.
Three things follow from that:
- What you see before sending is what your guest gets. If no card appears above the text box, your guest will not see one either.
- The card is frozen at the moment you send. Change the date or photo on your invitation tomorrow and the card in today’s message still shows the old version. The link itself opens the current page.
- Only the first link gets a card. If your message holds a map link and then the invitation link, WhatsApp builds the card from the map.
What each part of the card comes from
The card has a picture, a bold title and a short line of text. Each one comes from an Open Graph tag, a standard way for a web page to describe itself to apps that share links.
| Part of the card | Tag it comes from | How WhatsApp shows it | What to put there for a wedding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bold title | og:title | Bold, up to two lines | Your names and the occasion: “Maya and Daniel are getting married”. Leave the website or brand name out. |
| Line under the title | og:description | Smaller text, one or two lines; about 80 characters is enough | Date and place: “Saturday, June 12, 2027, in Austin. Tap for details and to reply.” |
| Picture | og:image | A large image across the card when it meets WhatsApp’s image rules, a small thumbnail when it does not | A photo or design with your names large enough to read on a phone |
| Page address | og:url | Not a visible line. It names the page’s main address | The clean address of the invitation, with no tracking codes on the end |
WhatsApp needs og:title, og:description and og:url to be present and filled in, inside the page’s head section, and that head section has to sit within the first 300KB of the page’s HTML. If any of those is missing or empty, you may get a plain link instead of a card.
The preview image: size and format
For the large card, WhatsApp asks for an image that is:
- under 600KB,
- at least 300 pixels wide,
- no more than four times as wide as it is tall (an aspect ratio of 4:1 or less),
- linked with its full web address, not a short path.
A size that clears all four is 1200 x 630 pixels, the minimum Meta recommends for shared-link images on Facebook, a ratio of about 1.91:1. Save it as a JPG or PNG and check the file size after exporting. If it is over 600KB, lower the quality setting and export again. Skip SVG and GIF files, which WhatsApp does not use for the card, and serve the image from an https:// address.
Design for the thumbnail, not the poster. Put your names and the date large, on a plain area of the picture, and leave fine script and small print for the invitation itself.
Your own page, or an invitation service?
If you used an invitation service or a website builder, it may write these tags for you. Look in its settings for anything labeled social sharing, link preview or SEO: that is where a title, description or image for the card is set, if the service lets you change them. If it does not, the test in the checklist below still shows you exactly what guests will see.
If you built the page yourself, put these tags in the head section:
<meta property="og:title" content="Maya and Daniel are getting married" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Saturday, June 12, 2027, in Austin. Tap for details and to reply." />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/images/invitation-card.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image:width" content="1200" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/wedding/" />
<meta property="og:type" content="website" />Put them in the HTML your server sends, near the top of the head section. WhatsApp reads the page with a plain request, so tags that a script adds after the page loads may be missed.
Where the link goes in your message
How you send matters as much as the page:
- One link, or the invitation link first. Only the first link in a message gets a card. The invitation can carry the map, so you rarely need a second link.
- Paste, wait, then send. The card appears above the text box. WhatsApp tells site owners to recheck their tags if nothing shows within 10 seconds, so give it that long. If you press send before the card appears, the message goes out as a plain clickable link.
- Paste the full address as copied, starting with https://, rather than typing it from memory.
- Check your own preview setting. Some versions of WhatsApp have a Disable link previews switch under Settings, Privacy, Advanced. If yours has it and it is on, links you send go out without a card.
Changed a detail after sending?
Two separate things happen, and they need different fixes.
Messages you have already sent keep their old card. Nothing you change on the page reaches them, although the link opens the updated invitation. Tell guests in words, in a new message: “Quick update: the ceremony now starts at 4 pm. Same link, updated details.”
New messages can still show the old card. WhatsApp can keep a copy of a preview it has already built, and it has no public button to refresh one. One workaround is to make the address new: adding a version tag such as ?v=2 to the end of a link you control makes WhatsApp treat it as a new link and read the page again. If your link was created for one guest by an invitation service, do not edit the address by hand. Ask the service how to refresh it.
Troubleshooting table: symptom, cause, fix
| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A plain blue link, no card | og:title, og:description or og:url is missing or empty | Add the three tags, or fill in the service’s sharing settings, then test again |
| A plain blue link, but the tags are in place | You pressed send before the card loaded | Paste, wait up to 10 seconds for the card above the text box, then send |
| No card on any link you send, from any site | Disable link previews is on in your WhatsApp, if your version has it | Switch it off under Settings, Privacy, Advanced, then paste the link again |
| No card on a heavy page | The head section starts beyond the first 300KB of HTML, or a script adds the tags after loading | Move the tags near the top of the head section in the HTML the server sends |
| A small thumbnail instead of a large picture | The image breaks a rule: over 600KB, under 300 pixels wide, or wider than 4:1 | Export at 1200 x 630 as a JPG or PNG under 600KB |
| A title and text but no picture | og:image is missing, is not a full https:// address, or points to an SVG or GIF | Point og:image to the full https:// address of a JPG or PNG |
| The site’s name or a stock picture instead of your names | The tags still hold the site’s default title and image | Set your own title, description and image, publish, then test again |
| The old date, photo or wording | The message went out before your edit, or WhatsApp is reusing a saved card | For sent messages, send a short update. For new ones, use a fresh address such as ?v=2 on a link you control |
| A title cut off mid-name | og:title runs past two lines | Shorten it to your names and the occasion |
| A card for your map or registry link | That link comes before the invitation link | Put the invitation link first, or send one link per message |
Pre-send checklist
Run this once on your phone, with your real invitation link, before the first guest gets theirs.
- ☐ Open the link in your phone’s browser. It loads, it is the published version, and the date, times and venue are right.
- ☐ Paste the link into a chat with someone who is in on the plans, such as a sibling or your partner.
- ☐ Wait up to 10 seconds. A card appears above the text box.
- ☐ The card has a large picture, not a small square thumbnail.
- ☐ The title reads as your names and the occasion, in two lines or fewer.
- ☐ The line under it gives the date and the place.
- ☐ Your names and the date are readable in the picture at phone size.
- ☐ Send it, and look at it on their phone too.
- ☐ If each guest gets their own link, test one real guest link as well as the general one.
- ☐ Your message names you, the occasion and the date in words, with the invitation as the first link.
- ☐ If your WhatsApp has a Disable link previews switch, it is off.
- ☐ You know what you will do if a detail changes: a short new message, not a hope that the card updates.
Guests who will not see a card
The card is a welcome extra, not the invitation. A setting on your phone, a link sent before the card loaded, or a guest who gets the link by email or reads it aloud to a partner can all leave someone with plain text. So write the message to work without it: your names, the occasion and the date in your own words, then the link. Here is what to write in the message around your link, with wording for elders, friends and colleagues.
Sending one invitation link per guest helps here too: a guest who sees their own name knows the message was meant for them, card or no card.
Send your invitation with Link Invitation
Link Invitation gives each guest their own invitation link with their name on it, and the preview card in the chat shows their name above your names, date and venue before they tap.
- Your message, written once. Each guest’s name fills in, and you send it on WhatsApp one tap per guest.
- See who has opened it. Check which guests have opened their invitation, and when.
- Replies in one place. A live RSVP dashboard shows who is coming, replies per event and dietary needs, and you set a reply-by date and choose whether replies close on that date or stay open for late answers.
- Edit after sending. Guests keep the same link and see the update when they open it. Send a short note for anything important, since cards already sent keep the old details.
Essential is $29 if you build it yourself, free to build and preview before you pay, and Excellence is $99 if you want it designed for you. Both are a one-time payment with unlimited guests and no subscription. See plans and pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Why is there no preview when I send my invitation link on WhatsApp?
The page may be missing its og:title, og:description or og:url tags, or they may be empty. If the tags are fine, you probably pressed send before the card loaded, or Disable link previews is switched on under Settings, Privacy, Advanced, if your WhatsApp has that switch. Paste the link, wait up to 10 seconds for the card above the text box, and send only once it appears.
What size should a WhatsApp preview image be?
Use 1200 x 630 pixels, saved as a JPG or PNG under 600KB. For the large card, WhatsApp asks for images at least 300 pixels wide, under 600KB and no wider than 4:1, and 1200 x 630 clears all three. If you get a small thumbnail instead, the image is breaking one of those rules. Keep your names and date large enough to read on a phone.
How do I update a WhatsApp preview that shows old details?
Messages already sent keep the card they went out with, so send guests a short note saying what changed. For new messages, WhatsApp may reuse a card it saved earlier and offers no refresh button. On a link you control, add a version tag such as ?v=2 to make it a new address. On a personal guest link from an invitation service, ask the service instead.
Does a link preview tell the website anything about me?
Building the card means your phone visits the page, so the site’s server sees that visit, including your phone’s IP address, just as it would if you opened the link in a browser. WhatsApp’s Disable link previews setting, where your version has it, stops that visit, but your links then go out without a card.
Related: Sending invitations on WhatsApp
