diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5abc197e7..30d3f7d2a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Languages needed
 - [Node](https://nodejs.org/) 5.0.0 or greater
 - [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/) 3.0.0 or greater
 ```shell
-    brew install node
+    brew install node imagemagick ghostscript cairo pango
 ```
 
 [NPM](npmjs.org) is Node's package management tool. `n` is a tool for managing
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/components/letter.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/components/letter.scss
index 009c53286..6af2a50cf 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/components/letter.scss
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/components/letter.scss
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 $outline-width: 5px;
 
 .letter {
+
   font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
   box-shadow:
   1px 1px 0 0 $panel-colour,
@@ -8,6 +9,16 @@ $outline-width: 5px;
   -1px 1px 0 0 $panel-colour,
   -2px 2px 0 0 rgba($panel-colour, 0.5);
   outline: $outline-width solid rgba($text-colour, 0.1);
-  padding: 20px;
+  padding: 0;
   margin: $outline-width $outline-width $gutter;
+
+  a {
+    display: block;
+  }
+
+  img {
+    display: block;
+    max-width: 100%;
+  }
+
 }
diff --git a/app/main/views/index.py b/app/main/views/index.py
index ca9cbe9cd..642876962 100644
--- a/app/main/views/index.py
+++ b/app/main/views/index.py
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ from app.main import main
 from app import convert_to_boolean
 from flask_login import (login_required, current_user)
 
-
-from notifications_utils.renderers import HTMLEmail
+from notifications_utils.template import HTMLEmailTemplate
 
 
 @main.route('/')
@@ -57,9 +56,7 @@ def terms():
 
 @main.route('/_email')
 def email_template():
-    return HTMLEmail(
-        govuk_banner=convert_to_boolean(request.args.get('govuk_banner', True))
-    )(
+    return str(HTMLEmailTemplate({'subject': 'foo', 'content': (
         'Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting '
         'industry.\n\nLorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy '
         'text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley '
@@ -96,7 +93,8 @@ def email_template():
         'This is an example of an email sent using GOV.UK Notify.'
         '\n\n'
         'https://www.notifications.service.gov.uk'
-    )
+    )}, govuk_banner=convert_to_boolean(request.args.get('govuk_banner', True))
+    ))
 
 
 @main.route('/documentation')
diff --git a/app/main/views/jobs.py b/app/main/views/jobs.py
index eed140221..f20978e6e 100644
--- a/app/main/views/jobs.py
+++ b/app/main/views/jobs.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ from flask import (
 )
 from flask_login import login_required
 from werkzeug.datastructures import MultiDict
-from notifications_utils.template import Template
 
 from app import (
     job_api_client,
@@ -31,7 +30,8 @@ from app.utils import (
     generate_previous_dict,
     user_has_permissions,
     generate_notifications_csv,
-    get_help_argument
+    get_help_argument,
+    get_template,
 )
 from app.statistics_utils import add_rate_to_job
 
@@ -108,14 +108,13 @@ def view_job(service_id, job_id):
         'views/jobs/job.html',
         finished=(total_notifications == processed_notifications),
         uploaded_file_name=job['original_file_name'],
-        template=Template(
+        template=get_template(
             service_api_client.get_service_template(
                 service_id=service_id,
                 template_id=job['template'],
                 version=job['template_version']
             )['data'],
-            prefix=current_service['name'],
-            sms_sender=current_service['sms_sender']
+            current_service,
         ),
         status=request.args.get('status', ''),
         updates_url=url_for(
diff --git a/app/main/views/send.py b/app/main/views/send.py
index 281ce0d46..b2aa846be 100644
--- a/app/main/views/send.py
+++ b/app/main/views/send.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ from flask import (
 
 from flask_login import login_required, current_user
 from notifications_utils.columns import Columns
-from notifications_utils.template import Template
 from notifications_utils.recipients import RecipientCSV, first_column_headings, validate_and_format_phone_number
 
 from app.main import main
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ from app.main.uploader import (
     s3download
 )
 from app import job_api_client, service_api_client, current_service, user_api_client
-from app.utils import user_has_permissions, get_errors_for_csv, Spreadsheet, get_help_argument, get_renderer
+from app.utils import user_has_permissions, get_errors_for_csv, Spreadsheet, get_help_argument, get_template
 
 
 def get_page_headings(template_type):
@@ -88,10 +87,8 @@ def choose_template(service_id, template_type):
     return render_template(
         'views/templates/choose.html',
         templates=[
-            Template(
-                template,
-                renderer=get_renderer(template_type, current_service, show_recipient=False)
-            ) for template in service_api_client.get_service_templates(service_id)['data']
+            get_template(template, current_service)
+            for template in service_api_client.get_service_templates(service_id)['data']
             if template['template_type'] == template_type
         ],
         template_type=template_type,
@@ -103,10 +100,12 @@ def choose_template(service_id, template_type):
 @login_required
 @user_has_permissions('send_texts', 'send_emails', 'send_letters')
 def send_messages(service_id, template_id):
-    template = Template(
-        service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id)['data']
+
+    template = get_template(
+        service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id)['data'],
+        current_service,
+        show_recipient=True
     )
-    template.renderer = get_renderer(template.template_type, current_service, show_recipient=True)
 
     form = CsvUploadForm()
     if form.validate_on_submit():
@@ -144,7 +143,9 @@ def send_messages(service_id, template_id):
 @login_required
 @user_has_permissions('send_texts', 'send_emails', 'send_letters', 'manage_templates', any_=True)
 def get_example_csv(service_id, template_id):
-    template = Template(service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id)['data'])
+    template = get_template(
+        service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id)['data'], current_service
+    )
     return Spreadsheet.from_rows([
         first_column_headings[template.template_type] + list(template.placeholders),
         get_example_csv_rows(template)
@@ -161,14 +162,12 @@ def send_test(service_id, template_id):
 
     file_name = current_app.config['TEST_MESSAGE_FILENAME']
 
-    template = Template(
+    template = get_template(
         service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id)['data'],
-        prefix=current_service['name'],
-        sms_sender=current_service['sms_sender']
+        current_service,
+        show_recipient=True
     )
 
-    template.renderer = get_renderer(template.template_type, current_service, show_recipient=True)
-
     if len(template.placeholders) == 0 or request.method == 'POST':
         upload_id = s3upload(
             service_id,
@@ -208,10 +207,8 @@ def send_test(service_id, template_id):
 def send_from_api(service_id, template_id):
     return render_template(
         'views/send-from-api.html',
-        template=Template(
-            service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id)['data'],
-            prefix=current_service['name'],
-            sms_sender=current_service['sms_sender']
+        template=get_template(
+            service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id)['data'], current_service
         )
     )
 
@@ -233,15 +230,15 @@ def check_messages(service_id, template_type, upload_id):
     if not contents:
         flash('There was a problem reading your upload file')
 
-    template = Template(
+    template = get_template(
         service_api_client.get_service_template(
             service_id,
             session['upload_data'].get('template_id')
-        )['data']
+        )['data'],
+        current_service,
+        show_recipient=True
     )
 
-    template.renderer = get_renderer(template_type, current_service, show_recipient=True)
-
     recipients = RecipientCSV(
         contents,
         template_type=template.template_type,
diff --git a/app/main/views/templates.py b/app/main/views/templates.py
index 3146cbec0..626ebf93e 100644
--- a/app/main/views/templates.py
+++ b/app/main/views/templates.py
@@ -1,16 +1,19 @@
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+from io import BytesIO
 from string import ascii_uppercase
 
-from flask import request, render_template, redirect, url_for, flash, abort
+from flask import request, render_template, redirect, url_for, flash, abort, send_file
 from flask_login import login_required
+from flask_weasyprint import HTML, render_pdf
 from dateutil.parser import parse
+from wand.image import Image
 
-from notifications_utils.template import Template
+from notifications_utils.template import LetterPreviewTemplate
 from notifications_utils.recipients import first_column_headings
 from notifications_python_client.errors import HTTPError
 
 from app.main import main
-from app.utils import user_has_permissions, get_renderer
+from app.utils import user_has_permissions, get_template
 from app.main.forms import SMSTemplateForm, EmailTemplateForm, LetterTemplateForm
 from app.main.views.send import get_example_csv_rows
 from app import service_api_client, current_service, template_statistics_client
@@ -39,18 +42,41 @@ page_headings = {
     admin_override=True, any_=True
 )
 def view_template(service_id, template_id):
-    template = Template(
-        service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id)['data']
-    )
-    template.renderer = get_renderer(
-        template.template_type, current_service, show_recipient=False, expand_emails=True
-    )
     return render_template(
         'views/templates/template.html',
-        template=template
+        template=get_template(
+            service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id)['data'],
+            current_service,
+            expand_emails=True
+        )
     )
 
 
+@main.route("/services/<service_id>/templates/<template_id>.pdf")
+@login_required
+@user_has_permissions('view_activity', admin_override=True)
+def view_letter_template_as_pdf(service_id, template_id):
+    return render_pdf(HTML(string=str(
+        LetterPreviewTemplate(
+            service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id)['data'],
+        )
+    )))
+
+
+@main.route("/services/<service_id>/templates/<template_id>.png")
+@login_required
+@user_has_permissions('view_activity', admin_override=True)
+def view_letter_template_as_image(service_id, template_id):
+    output = BytesIO()
+    with Image(
+        blob=view_letter_template_as_pdf(service_id, template_id).get_data()
+    ) as image:
+        with image.convert('png') as converted:
+            converted.save(file=output)
+    output.seek(0)
+    return send_file(output, mimetype='image/png')
+
+
 @main.route("/services/<service_id>/templates/<template_id>/version/<int:version>")
 @login_required
 @user_has_permissions(
@@ -63,15 +89,13 @@ def view_template(service_id, template_id):
     any_=True
 )
 def view_template_version(service_id, template_id, version):
-    template = Template(
-        service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id, version)['data']
-    )
-    template.renderer = get_renderer(
-        template.template_type, current_service, show_recipient=False, expand_emails=True
-    )
     return render_template(
         'views/templates/template_history.html',
-        template=template
+        template=get_template(
+            service_api_client.get_service_template(service_id, template_id, version)['data'],
+            current_service,
+            expand_emails=True
+        )
     )
 
 
@@ -125,19 +149,23 @@ def edit_service_template(service_id, template_id):
 
     if form.validate_on_submit():
         subject = form.subject.data if hasattr(form, 'subject') else None
-        new_template = Template({
+        new_template = get_template({
             'name': form.name.data,
             'content': form.template_content.data,
             'subject': subject,
             'template_type': template['template_type'],
             'id': template['id']
-        })
-        template_change = Template(template).compare_to(new_template)
+        }, current_service)
+        template_change = get_template(template, current_service).compare_to(new_template)
         if template_change.has_different_placeholders and not request.form.get('confirm'):
             return render_template(
                 'views/templates/breaking-change.html',
                 template_change=template_change,
-                new_template=new_template,
+                new_template={
+                    'name': form.name.data,
+                    'subject': subject,
+                    'content': form.template_content.data,
+                },
                 column_headings=list(ascii_uppercase[:len(new_template.placeholders) + 1]),
                 example_rows=[
                     first_column_headings[new_template.template_type] + list(new_template.placeholders),
@@ -231,18 +259,12 @@ def delete_service_template(service_id, template_id):
     any_=True
 )
 def view_template_versions(service_id, template_id):
-
-    versions = []
-    for template in service_api_client.get_service_template_versions(service_id, template_id)['data']:
-        template = Template(template)
-        template.renderer = get_renderer(
-            template.template_type, current_service, show_recipient=False, expand_emails=True
-        )
-        versions.append(template)
-
     return render_template(
         'views/templates/choose_history.html',
-        versions=versions
+        versions=[
+            get_template(template, current_service, expand_emails=True)
+            for template in service_api_client.get_service_template_versions(service_id, template_id)['data']
+        ]
     )
 
 
diff --git a/app/templates/views/check.html b/app/templates/views/check.html
index 79b9527ca..0d013a4a2 100644
--- a/app/templates/views/check.html
+++ b/app/templates/views/check.html
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@
 
   {% endif %}
 
-  {{ template.rendered }}
+  {{ template|string }}
 
   {% if errors %}
     {% if request.args.from_test %}
diff --git a/app/templates/views/jobs/job.html b/app/templates/views/jobs/job.html
index 70388542d..4c40370b8 100644
--- a/app/templates/views/jobs/job.html
+++ b/app/templates/views/jobs/job.html
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
       {{ uploaded_file_name }}
     </h1>
 
-    {{ template.rendered }}
+    {{ template|string }}
 
     {{ ajax_block(partials, updates_url, 'status', finished=finished) }}
     {{ ajax_block(partials, updates_url, 'counts', finished=finished) }}
diff --git a/app/templates/views/send-from-api.html b/app/templates/views/send-from-api.html
index 34bc0cd13..667316dcb 100644
--- a/app/templates/views/send-from-api.html
+++ b/app/templates/views/send-from-api.html
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
       API info
   </h1>
 
-  {{ template.rendered }}
+  {{ template|string }}
 
   <div class="bottom-gutter">
     {{ api_key(template.id, name="Template ID", thing='template ID') }}
diff --git a/app/templates/views/send-test.html b/app/templates/views/send-test.html
index 2c2820116..c801e08dc 100644
--- a/app/templates/views/send-test.html
+++ b/app/templates/views/send-test.html
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     <h1 class="heading-large">Send yourself a test</h1>
   {% endif %}
 
-  {{ template.rendered }}
+  {{ template|string }}
 
   <form method="post">
     {% call(item, row_number) list_table(
diff --git a/app/templates/views/send.html b/app/templates/views/send.html
index e0a2eb9ba..847be9b0a 100644
--- a/app/templates/views/send.html
+++ b/app/templates/views/send.html
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
   <h1 class="heading-large">Upload recipients</h1>
 
-  {{ template.rendered }}
+  {{ template|string }}
 
   <div class="page-footer bottom-gutter">
     {{file_upload(
diff --git a/app/templates/views/templates/_template.html b/app/templates/views/templates/_template.html
index bd1355c7c..9b3126ec0 100644
--- a/app/templates/views/templates/_template.html
+++ b/app/templates/views/templates/_template.html
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <div class="column-two-thirds">
-  {{ template.rendered }}
+  {{ template|string }}
 </div>
 <div class="column-one-third">
   {% if template._template.archived %}
diff --git a/app/templates/views/templates/_template_history.html b/app/templates/views/templates/_template_history.html
index ec90b46f7..ddf5ed391 100644
--- a/app/templates/views/templates/_template_history.html
+++ b/app/templates/views/templates/_template_history.html
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 </div>
 
 <div class="column-two-thirds">
-  {{ template.rendered }}
+  {{ template|string }}
 </div>
 
 <div class="column-one-third">
diff --git a/app/utils.py b/app/utils.py
index 367d09cfc..80f8ad9ec 100644
--- a/app/utils.py
+++ b/app/utils.py
@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@ import unicodedata
 from flask import (abort, current_app, session, request, redirect, url_for)
 from flask_login import current_user
 
-from notifications_utils.renderers import SMSPreview, EmailPreview, LetterPreview
+from notifications_utils.template import (
+    SMSPreviewTemplate,
+    EmailPreviewTemplate,
+    LetterPDFLinkTemplate,
+)
 
 import pyexcel
 import pyexcel.ext.io
@@ -220,18 +224,24 @@ def is_gov_user(email_address):
     return bool(re.search(email_regex, email_address.lower()))
 
 
-def get_renderer(template_type, service, show_recipient, expand_emails=False):
-    return {
-        'email': EmailPreview(
+def get_template(template, service, show_recipient=False, expand_emails=False):
+    if 'email' == template['template_type']:
+        return EmailPreviewTemplate(
+            template,
             from_name=service['name'],
             from_address='{}@notifications.service.gov.uk'.format(service['email_from']),
             expanded=expand_emails,
             show_recipient=show_recipient
-        ),
-        'sms': SMSPreview(
+        )
+    if 'sms' == template['template_type']:
+        return SMSPreviewTemplate(
+            template,
             prefix=service['name'],
             sender=service['sms_sender'],
             show_recipient=show_recipient
-        ),
-        'letter': LetterPreview(),
-    }[template_type]
+        )
+    if 'letter' == template['template_type']:
+        return LetterPDFLinkTemplate(
+            template,
+            service_id=service['id'],
+        )
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile-build b/docker/Dockerfile-build
index 4c665c157..786737a10 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile-build
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile-build
@@ -26,6 +26,16 @@ RUN \
 		python-dev \
 		libffi-dev \
 		libssl-dev \
+		libexif-dev \
+		libfreetype6-dev \
+		libjpeg-dev \
+		liblcms2-2 \
+		libtiff5-dev \
+		zlib1g-dev \
+		libpango1.0-dev \
+		libcairo2-dev \
+		libmagickwand-dev \
+		ghostscript \
 
 	&& echo "Install nodejs" \
 	&& cd /tmp \
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index f430f8f6e..224f1698f 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ Flask==0.10.1
 Flask-Script==2.0.5
 Flask-WTF==0.11
 Flask-Login==0.3.2
+Flask-WeasyPrint==0.5
+git+https://github.com/quis/WeasyPrint.git@older-html5lib#egg=WeasyPrint==0.33
+html5lib==1.0b8
 credstash==1.8.0
 boto3==1.3.0
 Pygments==2.0.2
@@ -15,7 +18,8 @@ pyexcel-xls==0.1.0
 pyexcel-xlsx==0.1.0
 pyexcel-ods3==0.1.1
 pytz==2016.4
+wand==0.4.4
 
 git+https://github.com/alphagov/notifications-python-client.git@3.0.1#egg=notifications-python-client==3.0.1
 
-git+https://github.com/alphagov/notifications-utils.git@11.0.2#egg=notifications-utils==11.0.2
+git+https://github.com/alphagov/notifications-utils.git@12.1.1#egg=notifications-utils==12.1.1
diff --git a/tests/app/main/views/test_email_preview.py b/tests/app/main/views/test_email_preview.py
index b19d5e985..550503026 100644
--- a/tests/app/main/views/test_email_preview.py
+++ b/tests/app/main/views/test_email_preview.py
@@ -3,21 +3,19 @@ from flask import url_for
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    "query_args, params", [
-        ({}, {'govuk_banner': True}),
-        ({'govuk_banner': 'false'}, {'govuk_banner': False})
+    "query_args, result", [
+        ({}, True),
+        ({'govuk_banner': 'false'}, 'false')
     ]
 )
-def test_renders(app_, mocker, query_args, params):
+def test_renders(app_, mocker, query_args, result):
     with app_.test_request_context(), app_.test_client() as client:
 
-        mock_html_email = mocker.patch(
-            'app.main.views.index.HTMLEmail',
-            return_value=lambda x: 'rendered'
-        )
+        mock_convert_to_boolean = mocker.patch('app.main.views.index.convert_to_boolean')
+        mocker.patch('app.main.views.index.HTMLEmailTemplate.__str__', return_value='rendered')
 
         response = client.get(url_for('main.email_template', **query_args))
 
         assert response.status_code == 200
         assert response.get_data(as_text=True) == 'rendered'
-        mock_html_email.assert_called_once_with(**params)
+        mock_convert_to_boolean.assert_called_once_with(result)
diff --git a/tests/app/main/views/test_jobs.py b/tests/app/main/views/test_jobs.py
index 0e66c584c..eacc576b4 100644
--- a/tests/app/main/views/test_jobs.py
+++ b/tests/app/main/views/test_jobs.py
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ def test_should_show_scheduled_job(
 
         assert response.status_code == 200
         page = BeautifulSoup(response.data.decode('utf-8'), 'html.parser')
-        assert page.find('main').find_all('p')[2].text.strip() == 'Sending will start today at midnight'
+        assert page.find('main').find_all('p')[1].text.strip() == 'Sending will start today at midnight'
         assert page.find('input', {'type': 'submit', 'value': 'Cancel sending'})
 
 
diff --git a/tests/app/main/views/test_send.py b/tests/app/main/views/test_send.py
index f3a339cae..dcc19c64e 100644
--- a/tests/app/main/views/test_send.py
+++ b/tests/app/main/views/test_send.py
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ def test_send_test_email_message(
     api_user_active,
     mock_login,
     mock_get_service,
-    mock_get_service_email_template,
+    mock_get_service_email_template_without_placeholders,
     mock_s3_upload,
     mock_has_permissions,
     mock_get_users_by_service,
diff --git a/tests/app/main/views/test_templates.py b/tests/app/main/views/test_templates.py
index 7320b6e24..70b5d6b37 100644
--- a/tests/app/main/views/test_templates.py
+++ b/tests/app/main/views/test_templates.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
+from functools import partial
 from datetime import datetime
-from unittest.mock import Mock
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
 
 import pytest
 from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
@@ -39,6 +40,39 @@ def test_should_show_page_for_one_template(
         service_id, template_id)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    'view, expected_content_type',
+    [
+        ('.view_letter_template_as_pdf', 'application/pdf'),
+        ('.view_letter_template_as_image', 'image/png'),
+    ]
+)
+@patch("app.main.views.templates.LetterPreviewTemplate")
+def test_should_show_preview_letter_templates(
+    mock_letter_preview,
+    view,
+    expected_content_type,
+    client,
+    api_user_active,
+    mock_login,
+    mock_get_service,
+    mock_get_service_email_template,
+    mock_get_user,
+    mock_get_user_by_email,
+    mock_has_permissions,
+    fake_uuid
+):
+    client.login(api_user_active)
+    service_id = fake_uuid
+    template_id = fake_uuid
+    response = client.get(url_for(view, service_id=service_id, template_id=template_id))
+
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+    assert response.content_type == expected_content_type
+    mock_get_service_email_template.assert_called_with(service_id, template_id)
+    assert mock_letter_preview.call_args[0][0]['content'] == "Your vehicle tax expires on ((date))"
+
+
 def test_should_redirect_when_saving_a_template(app_,
                                                 api_user_active,
                                                 mock_login,
@@ -79,7 +113,7 @@ def test_should_show_interstitial_when_making_breaking_change(
         app_,
         api_user_active,
         mock_login,
-        mock_get_service_template,
+        mock_get_service_email_template,
         mock_update_service_template,
         mock_get_user,
         mock_get_service,
@@ -97,8 +131,9 @@ def test_should_show_interstitial_when_making_breaking_change(
                 data={
                     'id': template_id,
                     'name': "new name",
-                    'template_content': "hello ((name))",
-                    'template_type': 'sms',
+                    'template_content': "hello",
+                    'template_type': 'email',
+                    'subject': 'reminder',
                     'service': service_id
                 }
             )
@@ -109,8 +144,8 @@ def test_should_show_interstitial_when_making_breaking_change(
 
             for key, value in {
                 'name': 'new name',
-                'subject': '',
-                'template_content': 'hello ((name))',
+                'subject': 'reminder',
+                'template_content': 'hello',
                 'confirm': 'true'
             }.items():
                 assert page.find('input', {'name': key})['value'] == value
@@ -195,7 +230,7 @@ def test_should_redirect_when_saving_a_template_email(app_,
             service_id = fake_uuid
             template_id = fake_uuid
             name = "new name"
-            content = "template content"
+            content = "template content ((thing)) ((date))"
             subject = "subject"
             data = {
                 'id': template_id,
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 93a9c8813..39ddb2a78 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -322,7 +322,26 @@ def mock_get_service_email_template(mocker):
             template_id,
             "Two week reminder",
             "email",
-            "Your vehicle tax is about to expire", "Subject")
+            "Your vehicle tax expires on ((date))",
+            "Your ((thing)) is due soon"
+        )
+        return {'data': template}
+
+    return mocker.patch(
+        'app.service_api_client.get_service_template', side_effect=_create)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope='function')
+def mock_get_service_email_template_without_placeholders(mocker):
+    def _create(service_id, template_id):
+        template = template_json(
+            service_id,
+            template_id,
+            "Two week reminder",
+            "email",
+            "Your vehicle tax expires soon",
+            "Your thing is due soon"
+        )
         return {'data': template}
 
     return mocker.patch(