How do I address a couple or household in an email?

Address all members of a household in a single email, even when only one person has an email address.

Plan requirement: Standard or Pro plan

Short answer: Use the [guests] or [household] merge tags in your ecard text to address everyone in the household, not just the person receiving the email.

The situation

You have a household like "Michael and Sarah Smith" but only Michael has an email address. You want the ecard to address both of them, not just Michael.

Solution: Use household merge tags

Instead of using [firstname] (which would only show "Michael"), use one of these:

• [guests]: Lists all guest names in the household (e.g., "Michael and Sarah")
• [household]: Uses the household name (e.g., "The Smiths")

Example

Your ecard text:

Dear [guests], you are invited to celebrate with us!

What Michael receives:

Dear Michael and Sarah, you are invited to celebrate with us!

Or using the household name:

Dear [household], you are invited to celebrate with us!

What Michael receives:

Dear The Smiths, you are invited to celebrate with us!

How it works

Emails are sent to individual guests (the person with the email address), but merge tags can pull information from the entire household. The [guests] tag automatically lists all members of that guest's household, and [household] uses whatever household name you've set.

Setting up household names

1. Go to Guests
2. Click on a household
3. Set or edit the household name (e.g., "The Smiths", "The Johnson Family")
4. This name is what [household] will display

Which tag to use

Tips

• Set household names for all your households before sending
• Use [guests] for a warmer, personal tone
• Use [household] for a more formal tone
• Preview your ecard to verify the merge tags look right
• Add a fallback just in case: [guests fallback="Friends"]

Related articles

• Can I personalize emails with guest names
• How do I organize guests into households
• Sending test emails