How to send automatic reminder emails before an event
By Kelsey Gilbert-Kreiling | Co-founder, Eventually
The short answer: Automatic reminders need two things: a system that knows each event's date and a list of who's coming. Squarespace Commerce sends order confirmations, but a service product doesn't have an event date, so it can't time a reminder on its own. Use a calendar invite, a scheduled email, or ticketing that sends reminders for every event.
Why reminders are worth setting up
Most no-shows aren't people who changed their minds. They forgot, double-booked, or couldn't find parking. A good reminder fixes all three, and it tells anyone who can't come to free up the seat for someone else.
Reminders also save you from the same questions every week: where to park, what to bring, whether there's a dress code.
What a good reminder includes
Date, time, and time zone, especially for online guests
Address and how to get in, including parking, entrance, and floor
What to bring or wear, such as an apron, a mat, or a laptop
The join link for virtual or hybrid events
How to cancel or transfer, so the seat can go to someone else
How to reach you if something comes up that day
When to send them
A day before covers logistics and gives people time to plan around it.
An hour before helps online guests find the link and catches anyone running late.
A week before works for multi-day events, retreats, or anything that needs preparation.
After the event, a thank-you with the next date keeps people coming back.
Ways to automate reminders on Squarespace
Option 1: Calendar invites
Include an add-to-calendar link in your confirmation so the guest's own calendar reminds them.
What works: It's free, and the reminder shows up on the guest's phone.
What breaks: You can't update logistics after they've saved it, and some guests never click it.
Option 2: Scheduled emails from your email platform
Build a list of guests for each date and schedule a campaign for the day before.
What works: Full control over design and wording.
What breaks: It's manual for every date. Guests who book after you schedule it get missed, and group buyers' guests usually aren't on the list.
Option 3: Reminders built into your ticketing
Use event ticketing that knows every event's date and every guest's email, and sends reminders on a set schedule.
What works: Set it once and every event gets reminders, including late registrations.
What breaks: You'll need a tool built for events rather than Commerce alone.
Tips for reminders people actually read
Put the date and time in the subject line.
Lead with the one thing guests need most, usually the address or the link.
Write it the way you'd text a friend who's coming.
Send a test to yourself on your phone before the first real send.
How reminders work in Eventually
Eventually is event ticketing for calendar-centric businesses, built as a Squarespace-first extension, with checkout through your Squarespace Payments or Stripe account.
Automated reminders send 24 hours and 1 hour before each event. Each one has its own toggle per event, so you can use one or both. Thank-you emails send automatically after the event ends. You can customize the email templates, including whether the event image appears as a banner. See Setting up automated emails and Customize your event emails
For anything off-schedule, like a weather update the night before, you can write a broadcast to the event's guests and schedule it for later. See Scheduling an email
What to do right now
If you don't send reminders at all: Start with a day-before email for your next event. That one does most of the work.
If you send them by hand: Write one template you can reuse, then look for a way to stop scheduling it per date.
If you run online events: Add an hour-before reminder with the link at the top.
If no-shows are hurting you: Add a cancel or transfer line, and pair it with a waitlist.
The bottom line
People want to come. A reminder at the right moment helps them follow through.
Set it up once, write it in your voice, and let every guest arrive knowing where to go.
Keep reading:
→ How to check guests in with a QR code
→ How to add a waitlist to a sold-out event
See it in action:
Reminders that send themselves
Automatic 24-hour and 1-hour reminders for every event on your Squarespace site. Get started at eventuallyticketing.com.