What exactly can I change in a booking email?

The subject line and the entire HTML body. You are editing the real template the system sends, so the layout, structure, inline CSS, wording and footer are all yours. Your store logo and store name are injected automatically.

Is there a drag-and-drop email builder?

No — it is a code editor for HTML with Handlebars variables, with a live preview beside it. That is a deliberate trade: you get complete control over the markup instead of being limited to a set of blocks.

How do I put booking details into the email?

With Handlebars tags such as customer.firstName, product.title and a formatDate helper for appointment times. The editor's Payload tab shows the exact data object your template is compiled against for that notification type.

Can I see what the email will actually look like?

Yes. The preview compiles as you type and shows the sender, the rendered subject and the HTML. You can load a real appointment into the payload so the preview uses genuine booking data, and send a test email to yourself before saving.

Can I have different emails per language?

Yes. Templates are stored per notification type and per language, and you switch languages in the editor. Built-in defaults ship translated in 17 languages; any other language starts from the English default.

Which emails can I customize?

Ten types: appointment confirmation, reminder, rescheduled, updated, canceled and feedback request; guest invitation, guest rescheduled and guest removal; and the invoice email.

Which plans include email customization?

Saving custom templates is available on the Ultimate and Elastic plans. On other plans the built-in branded templates send as normal.

What exactly can I change in a booking email?

The subject line and the entire HTML body. You are editing the real template the system sends, so the layout, structure, inline CSS, wording and footer are all yours. Your store logo and store name are injected automatically.

Is there a drag-and-drop email builder?

No — it's a code editor for HTML with Handlebars variables, with a live preview beside it. That's a deliberate trade: you get complete control over the markup instead of being limited to a set of blocks.

How do I put booking details into the email?

With Handlebars tags such as {{customer.firstName}}, {{product.title}} and {{formatDate appointment.from "DD MMMM YYYY"}}. The editor's Payload tab shows the exact data object your template is compiled against for that notification type.

Can I see what the email will actually look like?

Yes. The preview compiles as you type and shows the sender, the rendered subject and the HTML. You can load a real appointment into the payload so the preview uses genuine booking data, and send a test email to yourself before saving.

Can I have different emails per language?

Yes. Templates are stored per notification type and per language, and you switch languages in the editor. Built-in defaults ship translated in 17 languages; any other language starts from the English default.

What if I break a template?

Handlebars errors appear inline in the preview rather than being sent. And every template has a Reset that restores the built-in localized default, so nothing you try is permanent.

Which emails can I customize?

Ten types: appointment confirmation, reminder, rescheduled, updated, canceled and feedback request; guest invitation, guest rescheduled and guest removal; and the invoice email.

Which plans include email customization?

Saving custom templates is available on the Ultimate and Elastic plans. On other plans the built-in branded templates send as normal.

Custom Booking Email Templates - Subject & HTML Control

Templates You Own, Not a Theme You Tint

Most booking tools give you a logo upload and a brand colour, then send their email. Opencals gives you the template itself. Open Look & Feel → Emails, pick a notification, and you are editing the real subject line and the real HTML that goes out — the same template the system sends from.

Your store logo and store name are injected for you, so a default template is already on-brand on day one. Everything beyond that is yours to rewrite.

Editable email types

Subject + HTML

What you control

Per language

Template scope

Live

Preview while editing

This is the email half of Look & Feel

The colours, fonts, radius and shadows you set under Storefront & Branding style your booking storefront. They are not applied to emails — emails are their own templates, which is exactly what makes them fully editable.

Every Email a Customer Can Receive

Each notification type has its own template. They are grouped the way you'd expect in the dashboard:

Customer

Appointment confirmation
Appointment reminder
Appointment rescheduled
Appointment updated
Appointment canceled
Appointment feedback request

Guests — for bookings where additional attendees are invited

Guest invitation
Guest rescheduled
Guest removal

Billing

Invoice

app.opencals.com/look-and-feel/emails

Open

Appointment Confirmation

Edit

Sent when an appointment is confirmed

ENES

Appointment Reminder

Edit

Sent before an appointment as a reminder

Appointment Feedback

Edit

Sent after an appointment to collect feedback

Appointment Rescheduled

Edit

Sent when an appointment is rescheduled

Appointment Canceled

Edit

Sent when an appointment is canceled

Look & Feel → Emails — one editable template per notification type.

Any template you haven't touched shows as Using default template and sends the built-in version. Edit one and only that one changes — there is no global theme to break.

Subject Line and HTML

The editor has two things in it, and that is the point: a Subject field and an HTML editor.

The HTML editor is a real code editor with syntax highlighting and autocomplete — not a drag-and-drop block builder. If you can write an HTML email, you can write exactly the email you want: your own layout, your own table structure, your own inline CSS, your own footer and legal text.

Templates are compiled with Handlebars, so you drop live booking data in with mustache tags:

html

<h1>Hi {{customer.firstName}},</h1>
<p>Your booking for <strong>{{product.title}}</strong> is confirmed.</p>
<p>When: {{formatDate appointment.from "dddd, DD MMMM YYYY, h:mm A"}}</p>
<p>With: {{staffMember.firstName}} at {{location.name}}</p>

Available alongside the data are five helpers — formatDate, formatDuration, dateDiff, ifEquals and ifNotEquals — plus Handlebars' own conditionals and loops, so you can show a meeting link for online bookings and a street address for in-person ones, or list every add-on the customer chose.

Preview Against a Real Booking

Guesswork is where email templates go wrong, so the editor compiles as you type.

A preview panel sits beside the code, styled like an inbox: the sender name, the rendered subject line, and the compiled HTML. Break a Handlebars tag and you get the error inline instead of a broken email in a customer's inbox.

The Payload tab is editable JSON, and it has a Load from appointment search — pick a real appointment by number and the preview renders with that booking's actual data. Long templates get a fullscreen split view with the code on one side and the preview on the other.

app.opencals.com/look-and-feel/emails

Open

Subject

You're confirmed for {{service.name}}

HTML

<h1>Hi {{customer.firstName}},</h1>

Your booking for {{service.name}} is confirmed.

When: {{appointment.date}} at {{appointment.time}}

With: {{staff.full_name}}

Where: {{location.name}}

<a href="{{reschedule_link}}">Reschedule</a>

TestResetSave

Preview

Subject

You're confirmed for Massage

Hi Stan,

Your booking for Massage is confirmed.

When: 12 May 2024 at 12:00

With: Anna C.

Editing a template — set the subject and HTML content, drop in variables, then send a test.

When you're happy, Test sends the email to yourself so you can see it in a real mail client. Reset puts the template back to the built-in default at any point, so experimenting is safe.

One Template per Language

Templates are stored per store, per notification type and per language. A language switcher at the top of the editor moves you between versions, and the template list shows which languages each notification already has.

Built-in defaults ship translated in 17 languages, so customers get a sensible email in their own language before you write anything. Add a language the defaults don't cover and it starts from the English default for you to replace.

Translate the one that matters first

Most stores customise the confirmation email in their primary language, leave the rest on defaults, and come back to the others when they see which emails customers actually reply to.

Where This Sits

Email template editing is included on the Ultimate and Elastic plans. On other plans you can open and preview the templates, and the built-in branded defaults send as normal.

Storefront & Branding

The other half of Look & Feel — colours, fonts, logo and theme for your booking storefront.

Customer Notifications

Which emails send automatically, when reminders fire, and how follow-ups work.

Orders & Payments

Invoices are an editable template too — bill in your own words.

Write your own booking emails — not ours with your logo on top

Templates You Own, Not a Theme You Tint

Every Email a Customer Can Receive

Subject Line and HTML

Preview Against a Real Booking

One Template per Language

Where This Sits

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to transform your service business?