Plan a party on WhatsApp with Emcee

Start a party in one message

Say it however it comes out. "Birthday for Ava, she's turning 7, Saturday afternoon, about 15 kids, at our place" is enough, and so is a voice note recorded while you walk the dog: Emcee transcribes it and opens its reply with the words it heard, so you can see it understood.

Only two things are required: what the party is, and when it is. If you have not picked a date, "not sure yet" is an answer. Every question comes with tap-to-answer chips, and dates on them are real dates, like "Sat, Oct 10", never "this Saturday", which half of people read differently.

1. Message Emcee on WhatsApp, typing or with a voice note, and say what the party is and when.
2. Answer anything it asks with a chip or a few words. If you change your mind about a detail, just say the new one; it replaces the old.
3. Read the card: the party as Emcee understood it, with anything not set yet shown as not set, and what creating it uses from your account.
4. Tap the create button on the card, or Change something. Nothing is created until you tap create.
5. If this is your first time, Emcee sends a sign-in link to connect your number to your PartyPal account before it saves anything; after that, the party is in the app too.

The invitation is a card to forward

Ask for the invite and Emcee sends one message: the cover picture with the party's name, when and where, and the RSVP link as the caption. Long-press it and forward it to the family group, and it arrives looking like an invitation rather than a bare link.

Under the card you can ask for new artwork, rename the party, or move on to the guest list. Guests reply on the link in their browser, with no account and no app.

Guests and RSVPs from the chat

The guest list is a message away. "Add guests: Sam, Priya and Leo" adds three names, and sharing a contact card adds that person. "Who's coming?" gives you the headcount, who said yes, who said no and who has not answered.

Ask Emcee to remind the guests who have not replied and it names them, then offers to write a friendly reminder. You see the draft before anything goes. It also handles the bring list ("what's on the bring list?", "add chips"), quick polls, and the thank-you after the party.

The checklist, one task at a time

Emcee does not send you a count of everything left to do. It brings up the next task, the first overdue one or else the soonest due, and offers what fits: to draft it, if it is something it can write; or, if it is yours to do, to remind you, to mark it done, or to leave it for now. Say "I've got it" and the next task takes its place.

Ask for a reminder and it arrives the evening before the task is due, in the party's time zone: on WhatsApp if you have messaged Emcee recently, and as an app notification otherwise. You can also say "mark the cake as done", "add task buy plates", or "add expense DJ $400" at any time.

Short replies, and a Monday update if you want one

A quick update like "we're up to 20 guests" gets a tick on your message rather than a paragraph back, plus one line if a number changed. Replies are short, with first names and one emoji at most.

After your first party is set up, Emcee asks once whether you want a Monday update. Say yes and every Monday at 9am, in the party's time zone, you get that week in a few lines: new yeses, who still has not answered, tasks ticked off, overdue or left, and a button for the obvious next step. Say "pause updates" to stop it, or "weekly updates on" to start it later; STOP turns off reminders and updates altogether.

Planning with others in a group

Emcee works in group chats too: tag it with @Emcee and it answers there, so co-planners can check who is coming without asking you. You can also invite a co-host by email from the chat, and they plan the same party in the app.

Anything that leaves the chat to reach guests or vendors is a draft you approve, and destructive commands, like removing a guest, ask you to confirm first.

Common questions