Scenario 1:
So it’s your child’s birthday and you send them to school with the invitations to give out… 3 weeks later you’ve heard nothing from over half of them which probably means that they’ve either lost them or never received them and you are going to have to try and find everyone’s numbers and do a ring round!
or
Scenario 2:Â
Your hosting a dinner party, you have texted and rung everyone to invite them. Then repeated the same process to confirm. Then a horror thought flashes through your brain – does anyone have any dietary requirements? In this day and age half of them are probably fruitarians and the other half pescatarians on Mondays and gluten free at the weekend. Do you really want to have to ring round everyone and check again?!
Well what if I told you there was no need… that there was in fact a service you could use that would make hosting any type of party or function ten times easier thanks to the fact that nearly everyone in the world has gone digital in some sense of the world! Well, STOP THE PRESS… because hosting and inviting just gold a whole lot easier – I give you Envytations!
 So I stumbled upon ‘Envytations’ on our beloved Twitter (you can check out their Twitter page here) and when the lovely Emily said I could try it out I was instantly on board. So, the concept is, you sign up, buy a package that you can use how and when you like. Choose a design, enter your specifics, pop in your guest emails and BING instant sent invitations… but it doesn’t end there!! Guests can then respond via this invitation and have a private chat platform to discuss the event too – how awesome is that?!?! So let’s have a look at the process…
First of all, for any technophobes… DON’T PANIC! There is an amazing ‘How It Works’ page with a video demo too!
So many different and gorgeous designs to choose from…
Design chosen? Then it’s time to customise the invite with all the details of your shindig – there is even a box at the bottom where you can add extra details – want to set a dress code? Then pop it in there!
Pop in the details of everyone you want to invite – or you can make a guest list before hand and then just select which list of friends you are inviting…
Then as the host, you get this event homepage where you can see who will be coming, who can’t make it and who has yet to respond. On the right there you can see the events own private chat box where people can make comments, ask questions and all sorts – such a bonus feature!!
So, from a hosts perspective I thought this service was absolutely brilliant. Let’s face it – most people have email and it’s linked to their phones or tablets or home computers and it is a lot more difficult to lose a digital invitation than it is to lose a paper one that is for sure.
Couple of things I will say is that make sure you enter both first name and surname when writing your list of recipients as otherwise it does not register the entry! The only other minor problem I found, is that I sent the invitation to myself as well and it went straight into my spam folder which could be a problem for people who don’t check their spam folders. However, not everyone I sent the invitation to had the same problem so it may vary.
I used the private chat feature on my trial invitation to get some feedback from fellow bloggers on what they thought of the service…
*@OccupationMother said: ” Sooo easy to use, love it. I was a bit double clicky and envelope wasn’t doing anything to begin with but on iPad. When it opened, it’s impressive. I like the fact it works a bit like a Facebook invitation but more private and definitely feels more special. The personalisation is great too. The group chat function is a nice addition as well. I would definitely be keen to use it for gatherings, birthday parties…etc. An invitation can really set a tone for the event as well…sometimes you want more than a text message/email but less than a posted one – this feels like a nice middle ground.”
* @animperfectmum said: ” It feels so exciting to receive an invite in your mail box and this didn’t disappoint! It looked great, opened well and was easy to follow the instructions. I would definitely use this!”
* @planthehappy said: “This is a great idea! It felt more personal than a regular Facebook event invitation, and I like the fact it had my name on it. I found the envelope a bit slow to respond on my phone – it took three attempts at double clicking to open it, but when it opened I loved the detail inside. Thank you! P.S. Also just to add, I think the chat facility is a fab idea, I arrange and discuss prior to the event.
As you can see the general feedback from us all is that Envytations… YOU ROCK! I can’t wait for my next party (I have to have one regardless now!!) so that I am able to use this great service!
**Envytations allowed me a free-trial of their service in exchange for my review. All opinions are honest and my own.**
Now… How would you like to WIN the Envytations Let’s Party Package?
 That’s right! Envytations are offering one lucky winner their luxury package for FREE! The Let’s Party package allows you 4 event invitations with all the features I have shown you including response and private chat for a whole year!
Got the kiddies birthdays coming up? Want to have a summer BBQ? Is it THAT anniversary THIS year? Well then this is the competition for you!
The Competition will be running from 30th March – 3rd April!
To enter simply find a post over @MummyinaTutu Follow & Retweet!
Enter as many times as you like – a winner will be drawn at random at 9pm on Sunday 3rd April!
There is no exchange – the prize is as stated.
The winner chosen will have 24 hours to claim their prize or a new random winner will be drawn.
All decisions by host of the giveaway are final and non-negotiable.