August 15, 2007

• respondez s'il vous plait!

  Technology is awesome. Living in the heart of Silicon Valley, our friends and family can really appreciate a convenient option of doing things via the internet, including responding online for a wedding. Yesterday I blogged about our invitations, and today I'm following up with an entry about our online RSVP system.

  As mentioned previously, each invited party was given a unique pass code which was written on the RSVP card in their invitation. The card also directed guests to our wed-site. 

  

   

  When guests arrived at the URL for our RSVP page, they were greeted with a welcome message and brief instructions.

  

   

  Once guests entered their pass code and selected "submit," their party's information populated in the fields, along with a personalized message. I had fun creating unique welcome messages for everyone. Each guest's name also populated in the name fields. For the "plus one" folks, I inputted the guest name as "Guest (please complete name)" so that a party member could fill in the blanks themselves.

  It's not shown, but for the OOT guests, a field populated requesting their arrival date and hotel name.

  

   

  If guests neglected to fill out the RSVP form completely, Brother Eggplant coded error messages.

  

   

  Once the "submit" button was selected, guests were presented with a "thank you" confirmation message along with the details of their selection. They were also informed that an email would be sent to us notifying us of their response.

  

   

  A different confirmation message was populated for guests that declined our invitation.

  

   

  A screenshot of our email account. We've already received several responses and we only sent the invites out on Friday! I think the web option is really convenient for folks.

  

   

  Here is a screenshot of the confirmation email that Brother Eggplant coded. We can also access the data in spreadsheet form via an admin login page.

  

  And that's our RSVP system in a nutshell!

  I'd have to say that things became a little complicated when we started combining RSVPs for both our Saturday and Sunday events online (we're hosting two events: a Saturday wedding and reception plus a Sunday Chinese banquet). The guest list for each event is different with some crossover guests, so Brother Eggplant had to figure out how to code the system to accommodate all scenarios.

  Some have inquired about what we're doing for our older guests who are less familiar with computers. Since we're close to our family members and there are only a handful of older guests, my parents or Mr. Eggplant's parents can easily call them up to retrieve their responses.

  I know a web option is not for everyone and there is definitely something charming about receiving the traditional mailed RSVP cards. But for those who are on a short timeline or want to give guests a convenient option, we've received tons of positive feedback on our online system. Also we've received the "decline" responses to our wedding more quickly, which allows us to invite other guests without making them feel like they were on the "B" list.

  Did anyone else opt for a web RSVP option? How did it work out?

  • 2:22 pm
  • 3 Comments