For a UK wedding with day guests and evening guests, The Private Wedding App is the closer fit: each guest group gets its own invitation link, evening guests see only the evening and skip the meal question, and every reply is counted per event and flows into the seating plan, the caterer's numbers and the budget. Pay once, lifetime access, or pick a subscription: £159 once for lifetime access, or £17.99 a month. The monthly plan starts with a 3-day free trial. Hitched is free and supported by its supplier directory, where featured suppliers are marked "Premium": its pages cover menu choices, guest groups and a drag-and-drop seating chart, without describing a separate RSVP or invitation for the evening reception.
Hitched is one of the oldest names in British wedding planning: a free website, a guest list, a budget, a checklist, a seating chart and a directory of more than 34,000 wedding suppliers, owned by The Knot Worldwide. The Private Wedding App is a full wedding planning platform with the invitation built in, made around the shape of a British wedding: a ceremony at the registry office or the church, a wedding breakfast for day guests, an evening reception for a bigger crowd, and replies that have to come back as numbers the caterer can use. Published by The Private Wedding App: every Hitched fact below comes from Hitched's own pages, read on 1 November 2026 and linked at the end.
A note on method: every Hitched cell below was read on 1 November 2026 on hitched.co.uk, its UK App Store listing and The Knot Worldwide's brand page. Where Hitched's pages do not describe something, the table says "Not stated" rather than guessing. Both were judged on the British question: can evening guests get their own invitation, reply only for the evening, and be counted apart from the wedding breakfast?
At a glanceSide-by-side comparison
| Feature | Hitched | Private Wedding App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free for couples | £159 once (lifetime) or £17.99/mo |
| How it is paid for | Supplier directory with Premium listings | Couples' plans only, no supplier listings |
| Evening guests as their own group | Guest groups by category | Own group with its own invitation link |
| Separate RSVP for the evening reception | Not stated | RSVP per event, with a total per event |
| Ceremony details kept from evening guests | Not stated | Schedule, info sections and cover venue chosen per group |
| Menu choices | Menu choices and dietary restrictions | Per event, one dish per course, severe-allergy flag |
| Seating chart | Drag and drop from the guest list | Per event, confirmed guests only, caterer day sheet |
| Privacy | Welcome Form or password | Private access checks each email or phone against your list |
| App tracking (App Store) | Third-Party Advertising listed as a purpose | No ads or analytics trackers on guest pages |
Every Hitched cell was checked on 1 November 2026 on Hitched's homepage, wedding website page, guest list manager page and UK App Store listing, and on The Knot Worldwide's brand page; the linked sources are listed at the end of this article. "Not stated" means Hitched's pages do not describe it, not that it is missing inside the planner. Features change, so check before you commit your guest list.
Review 01Hitched
Review 02The Private Wedding App
The invitation below is live. Click around and see exactly what your guests will experience:
VerdictWhich app should you use?
It depends on what you're optimising for:
Hitched gives UK couples free menus, guest groups and a seating chart, while its pages describe no separate RSVP or invitation for the evening reception.
Hitched sits inside a supplier directory with Premium listings, and its App Store listing names Third-Party Advertising as a purpose, which matters if you want your guests' replies kept private.
The Private Wedding App counts day and evening guests apart inside one planner, gives each group its own link, and turns every reply into the seating plan and the caterer's numbers. Open the live demo invitation, then start your own: £159 once for lifetime access, or £17.99 a month. The monthly plan starts with a 3-day free trial.
01Is Hitched free?
Yes: Hitched's wedding website page says all of its planning tools are free, the website included. The directory is the centre of the site, with more than 34,000 suppliers on its homepage, featured suppliers marked "Premium", and supplier deals shown on the listings. Hitched is part of The Knot Worldwide, which describes its business as wedding planning and advertising services across its markets.
Its UK App Store listing lists Contact Info, User Content, Identifiers, Usage Data and Diagnostics under Data Used to Track You, and names Third-Party Advertising as a purpose for user and device identifiers.
The Private Wedding App is paid for by couples, £159 once for lifetime access, or £17.99 a month, with no supplier listings and no advertising or analytics trackers on the pages your guests open. See how the guest list works.
02Can evening guests RSVP separately?
Hitched lets you arrange guests into groups by category, which can mark who is all-day and who is evening, and collects RSVPs through the wedding website. Its pages do not describe a separate reply for the evening reception, so a total for the evening alone is not something they promise.
On The Private Wedding App, each event has its own reply. A guest invited to both answers yes or no to each, an evening guest answers only the evening, and the Guests page shows a running total per event: attending, pending and declined. Click the evening reception and every count switches to the evening, which is the number the bar, the evening food and the DJ need.
See RSVP per event.
- RSVP Settings tab: switch on "This wedding has multiple events" (off by default)
- Add the ceremony and wedding breakfast, then the evening reception, each with its venue
- Guests page: create a day group and an evening group and tick each group's events
- Paste your list with a Group column, or drop the spreadsheet into the assistant chat
- Watch the evening total on the Guests page as replies arrive
03Menus, dietary needs and the wedding breakfast
Hitched lets guests choose menus and dietary restrictions such as coeliac, vegan or a children's menu. The Private Wedding App asks the meal per event, so evening-only guests are not asked about a wedding breakfast they are not coming to, and with "Guests choose one dish per course" on, day guests pick a starter, a main and a dessert. A severe-allergy flag follows each guest to their table on the caterer day sheet.
With "Count children and infants separately" switched on (off by default), each companion is marked adult, child or infant, infants are not asked for a meal, and the caterer sees the three counts apart.
04Seating chart and caterer numbers
Both include a seating chart: Hitched's lets you drag guests from your guest list to seats. On The Private Wedding App only guests who said yes appear, per event when you have several, one card per party, and the caterer day sheet turns the plan into plates per dish, allergies by table and an alphabetical seating list for escort cards and the table plan sign.
See the seating chart.
05Posted invitations and replies by phone
If you post paper invitations to older relatives, the QR Print Card tab prints a 5x7 invitation and an insert card with a QR code for each guest group, so the evening card opens the evening link. Replies that come back by post or phone are set by hand from the status menu on the guest's row, with the meal and allergy added with the pencil.
See QR code RSVP cards.
SourcesEvery fact on this page, with the date it was checked
The Private Wedding App, checked 1 November 2026: pricing (£159 once for lifetime access or £17.99 a month in pounds, $189 or $19.99 a month in US dollars; on Lifetime nothing expires), RSVP per event and invite groups, meals and allergies, seating chart, printable QR cards and the privacy policy (personal information not sold or rented; no advertising or analytics trackers on guest invitation pages).
Hitched, checked 1 November 2026: homepage (free planning tools, over 34,000 wedding suppliers, featured suppliers marked PREMIUM, supplier deals); wedding website page (free templates, RSVPs synced with the guest list, guests choose menus, Welcome Form or password under Settings, personalised domain, drag-and-drop seating chart, all planning tools free); guest list manager page (groups by category, menu choices and dietary restrictions such as children's menu, RSVP tracking, table types, download or print; no RSVP per event described); UK App Store listing (free, seller Hitched Limited; Data Used to Track You: Contact Info, User Content, Identifiers, Usage Data, Diagnostics; Third-Party Advertising listed as a purpose); The Knot Worldwide brand page (Hitched is part of The Knot Worldwide, which provides wedding planning and advertising services).
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Try the full planner →Is Hitched free?
Yes. Hitched says all its planning tools are free, the wedding website included. It is supported by its supplier directory, where featured suppliers are marked "Premium", and its UK App Store listing names Third-Party Advertising as a purpose. The Private Wedding App is paid for by couples only: £159 once for lifetime access, or £17.99 a month.
Is The Private Wedding App better than Hitched for evening guests?
For a wedding with day guests and evening guests, yes. The Private Wedding App gives each group its own link, counts replies per event, keeps the meal question for the wedding breakfast only and feeds the seating plan and caterer's numbers, for £159 once for lifetime access, or £17.99 a month. Hitched has guest groups, menus and a seating chart, and its pages describe no separate RSVP for the evening reception.
Can evening guests RSVP separately on Hitched?
Hitched's pages checked on 1 November 2026 describe guest groups and RSVPs through the wedding website, not a separate reply per event. On The Private Wedding App each event has its own reply and its own total, so the evening count is always on the Guests page.
How do I keep ceremony details away from evening guests?
On The Private Wedding App, give the evening guests their own group: its link shows only the schedule moments and info sections you choose for it, with the evening venue alone on the cover, so the church time, the parking and the order of service stay with the day guests.
Can I move my guest list from Hitched?
Yes. Download your list from Hitched, then drop the file into The Private Wedding App's assistant chat, or paste the columns into "Import list" on the Guests page. A Group column sorts guests into day and evening straight away.
Do guests need to download the app?
No. Guests open the invitation link in their phone's browser and reply with no account and no download.