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Birthdays and family parties

No committee. No gate staff. Just you and your phone.

Every other page here assumes an organisation — a planner, a treasurer, marshals on a start line. A seventh birthday has none of that. It is one person, a list of about thirty-five families and schoolfriends, and an afternoon that has to work. That is a smaller problem, and it is the one most people actually have.

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No committee, no ledger, no staff rolesOne sitting, one count at the doorSend the invitations from your own WhatsApp
A birthday party guest list of about thirty-five entries, mixing families holding several places with single schoolfriends.

One count

One party. No sittings to keep track of.

A wedding splits into a ceremony, a send-off and a reception, and each has to be counted apart. A birthday does not. Leave the sittings off entirely and the door simply counts the party — everyone who has arrived, against everyone who said they would.

  • No sittings to set up, because there is only one
  • The door counts the whole event rather than a slice of it
  • Works on your phone at the gate, or on the sofa beforehand
The check-in screen on a phone for a birthday party, showing a single running count of who has arrived.

Who is coming

Chasing the replies is most of the work.

Friends and family are the worst repliers of anyone you will ever invite. A quarter of this list never answered at all, which is normal, and the only thing that helps is being able to see at a glance who is still silent so you can ask them directly.

  • Attending, declined and still silent, separated
  • Record a reply someone gave you in person or on the phone
  • Search by name or phone when somebody texts you back
The RSVP screen for a birthday party, with counts of attending, declined and pending replies above a searchable list.

How many children

"Five" does not tell you how many party bags to buy.

Waalikwa counts places, not ages — one entry for a family, five places against it. Which is fine for a wedding and not quite enough for a children's party, so write what it covers in the notes: two parents and three children. The seat count still adds up, and you still know what to buy.

  • One entry per family, with the places it admits
  • A note recording who those places actually are
  • Single entries for the schoolfriends who come alone
A birthday guest list showing family entries with notes recording how many of the places are children.

The card

An invitation that looks like a party.

Generated per guest with their name on it, and sent by you from your own number so it arrives from someone the parents recognise. The code on it is what the door reads, if you want to use the door at all.

  • The guest's name and places printed on the card
  • Sent from your WhatsApp, not from ours
  • Or just read the list off your phone at the gate
A birthday invitation as the guest sees it on their phone, brightly coloured with the child's party details and a scannable code.

A different kind of event

Weddings

Family blocks holding four, five and six seats, three sittings in a day, and a michango ledger behind it.

Weddings

Road races

Several hundred single entries arriving inside one hour, checked in at the gate from a phone.

Road races

Conferences

One delegate list across several days, an agenda for each, and turnout counted day by day.

Conferences

It is a party, not a project.

Put the list in, send the cards, and let the door keep the count. Everything else on this site can wait until you need it.

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