For the host who is done chasing
A Birthday e-Invitation That Answers for You
The best version of a digital invitation is opened twice: once to read the details, once to say yes. Everything after that is a list that fills itself in.
An invitation that only carries details is half a message
Picture invites and typed paragraphs answer the first question and none of the second. The guest reads them, feels properly informed, and then does nothing, because nothing in the message asks. The reply is left to a separate act, in a separate place, which is where your headcount disappears to.
An e-invitation that works puts the ask in the same page as the information. Guests open it for the time and the address, and while they are there they tap yes, name the person coming with them, and add a dietary note. Two minutes of their evening, and your list has a number in it.
The order a guest meets it in
The details first
Date, time, address, what you are serving, and the schedule if the day has more than one part. On a phone, in type big enough to read in a doorway.
The yes, immediately after
One button, one screen, no account to create. This is the whole reason a reply rate changes when an invitation goes digital.
Plus-ones inside your limit
A guest says who is coming with them, up to the number you allowed, so a yes arrives with names against it rather than a vague message later.
Meal choices and allergies
Taken at the same moment as the reply, which is the only reliable way to learn about the shellfish before you have ordered for it.
A list that fills as they answer
The live guest list is the number you book the tables for, and it shows who has come, not just who promised.
What to write in the two minutes of reading time
Keep it to the things a guest decides on.
- Whose birthday it is, and what the evening is for, in the first sentence.
- Arrival time and the time things actually start, since they are not the same.
- The address, directions, and where to stand when they cannot find the door.
- What you are serving, and what to tell you about allergies.
- The reply-by date, written plainly, and where to reply.
- Anything about gifts, only if you intend it, and at the end.
Three openers, three tones
We are invited to spend Marta's fortieth in the long room at Kvarnbacken. Half past six for a drink, dinner at eight, and the dancing is somebody else's problem.
Tom is turning forty and has asked for exactly one thing: everyone he likes in one room at once. Saturday, from seven, food on the table, replies on the page.
Birthday, Saturday, seven o'clock, our place. Tell the page if you are coming and whether you eat fish.
Send it where your guests already are
Every event gets a live link, and one link travels everywhere: the WhatsApp thread, an SMS, an email, or printed as a code on paper cards for the relatives who read post. All of them open the same page, so there is one version of the truth rather than three.
And when plans move, which they do, you edit the page instead of issuing corrections. Somebody opening a link from a message three weeks old reads what is true now. If the party is a surprise, a password keeps the page to the guests you handed it to.
How it works
Write it once and let the replies stack up
Draft the invitation
Sign up and start a birthday event, or send Jitabi a line: forty people, Saturday at seven, dinner after, plus-ones allowed, need meal choices. The page comes back drafted and you fix the wording yourself.
Publish before you share anything
A draft is invisible to guests, so check the times, the address and the reply section, then publish and take the link. Nothing on the page is live until you decide it is.
Send the link once, anywhere
Paste it into the group message, the email, or print it as a code on paper cards. The same link and, if you set one, the same password goes to everyone you invited.
Read the list and remind the quiet ones
Yeses, plus-ones and allergies arrive on the live guest list. A couple of days out, send the reminder to the people who have not answered from the same page, and stop thinking about the number.
Questions
Common questions about birthday e-invitation
Do guests need an account to say yes?
No. They open the link on their phone, tap the reply, and put their name and whoever is coming with them. Anything you asked about food or plus-ones arrives in the same reply, and you see it on the list as it lands.
Can I limit how many plus-ones are allowed?
Yes, and the limit is yours to set. Two per couple at a dinner, none at a sixteen-year-old's party, one for the friends who flew in: whatever you decide is what the reply page will accept.
What happens if the date or venue moves after sending?
You change the page and the link everybody already has shows the new details. There is nothing to reprint and no correction message to write, which is the main reason to send an invitation as a link.
Can people reply early, before I send the full invitation?
If you want the numbers first and the details later, publish with the date and reply button in place and add the rest when you have it. Just note on the page what is still to come, so nobody assumes you forgot.
Is there a limit to how many people can reply?
You start free and upgrade as your guest list grows, so a small dinner and a party of a hundred are both handled the same way. The plans and what they include are on the pricing page.
Get Started
Send it once, then read the list
Build the invitation, put the reply on the same page as the details, and let the plus-ones count themselves.