Punchbowl Blog

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

This summer Anne-Marie hosted a surprise birthday party for her boyfriend Jason. If you’ve ever thrown a surprise party, you know it can be a lot of work — especially trying to keep the surprise from the guest of honor. For Anne-Marie, she had the added stress of planning a destination birthday party! Here’s how she did it…

Anne-Marie rented a house in Lake Placid that was big enough to accommodate all of her guests. Her tip: work with a realtor to find the right rental property. As you can imagine, anytime you have overnight guests it makes collecting RSVPs all the more important!

In addition to providing basic party details and lodging info on the birthday invitations, Anne-Marie offered guests the option to contribute to Jason’s gift via PayPal (she used the “Contributions” feature to do this). She also included personal notes for guests and sent frequent updates to guests as details of the event were confirmed.

Throw in fabulous catering, amazing guests, and you’ve got a milestone birthday party! Oh, and Anne-Marie’s terrific idea to use the Contributions feature for the gift had a great payoff. Anne-Marie says, “The absolute best moment was when we offered Jason his BIG present: a Les Paul electric guitar he has wanted for years!”

Great idea, Anne-Marie! Thanks for sharing your tips.

Do you want to share your Punchbowl experience? Get in touch with us via Facebook or Twitter. You can also send us an email.

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Maria from Greenbelt, Maryland, recently planned a pool party to celebrate her twin sons’ 8th birthday. She was aware of Punchbowl because she had received invitations from a friend and from a neighbor who had both used the site earlier in the year. However, she didn’t have a reason to try Punchbowl herself until her sons’ birthday party.

Maria is a self-proclaimed “paper crafter and invitation snob” so when she found herself short on time she was pleased to be able to quickly and easily create a beautiful, personalized invitation on Punchbowl. Once Maria began to design the boys’ birthday party invitation, she says, “I fell in love with the clean look of the invitations, the design options and of course the cool opening envelope!”

Additionally, Maria loved the message board functionality and special additions to the invitation such as the map and directions.

Maria’s guests also liked Punchbowl. She received feedback from guests that they “loved the creativity and the ease with which they could respond.” Several even remarked that they plan to use the site for their own events!

Maria says, “I think my mom put it best when she said the invitation was so me! It helped to put my mind at ease for not sending my usual handcrafted embellished invitations by snail mail!”

Thanks Maria! Glad we could help put your mind at ease so you could focus on the boys’ party!

Do you have a story to share about your Punchbowl experience? We’d love to hear it — maybe you’ll get featured in our Customer Spotlight! Simply email us or get in touch via our Facebook or Twitter pages.

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Krystal J. from Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania considers herself a highly organized individual. This spring she was thrilled to plan a bridal shower for a dear friend and loved that Punchbowl was able to help her coordinate all of the details of the shower.

She says, “I am an extremely organized person and Punchbowl was perfect for me. You can create a potluck list, a gift registry, post messages on the message board, etc…Punchbowl is a blessing!”

Krystal took advantage of these great features for her bridal shower planning. She created a beautiful invitation and included a potluck list so guests could sign up to bring menu items to the event. Here’s a peek at Krystal’s potluck list:

Krystal received terrific feedback from her guests as well. She was so pleased with her experience on Punchbowl that she followed up the bridal shower with a Memorial Day cookout! Another plus about using Punchbowl, Krystal says, “It saves on paper, postage, and especially time!”

Do you want to be featured in our Customer Spotlight? Share your Punchbowl experience with us! Email us or get in touch via our Facebook or Twitter pages.

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Jennifer H. of Portland, OR, recently used Punchbowl to plan her son Hunter’s 7th birthday. This was Jennifer’s first experience using Punchbowl to plan a party and she was very impressed. She especially liked the ability to customize the envelope. Here’s the envelope that Jennifer created for Hunter’s pizza party birthday:

Additionally, she appreciated that Punchbowl allowed her to update and edit guests’ responses. For example, if a guest called to verbally RSVP, she was able to update her Manage Guests page to keep her guest list up-to-date. Likewise, she was impressed that Punchbowl allowed guests to add the names of guests that they planned to bring to the party. All of these features allowed Jennifer to have an accurate guest count for the party. After all, when you host a pizza party you need to know how many pies to get!

Here’s a picture of Jennifer and Hunter:

Want to share your Punchbowl experience? Email us or get in touch via our Facebook or Twitter pages.

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Milestone birthday parties are some of the most popular events planned on Punchbowl, especially for 30th, 40th, and 50th birthdays. And, they’re often a surprise.

Nancy S. from British Columbia recently used Punchbowl to plan her best friend’s 50th birthday party — a “Gal’s Getaway Weekend” — and found the site to be a tremendous help as she coordinated this milestone event.

Of the utmost importance to Nancy was the ability to send invites, track RSVPs, and organize her potluck all while keeping the party a surprise from the guest of honor. Additionally, with nearly 60 guests invited from all over British Columbia, Nancy was happy that Punchbowl gave her the ability to include trip details with her invitation so that guests could make informed decisions about travel arrangements.

Nancy isn’t the only one who likes Punchbowl — she says her guests found the site “very intuitive and easy to navigate.” In fact, they used the message board to discuss car pool options and Nancy’s potluck list filled up fast!

Overall, Nancy says, “I appreciate the flexibility of the site…and I intend to use Punchbowl for all of my upcoming party needs.” Nancy knows what it’s like to plan a larger party using Punchbowl but can see the value in using Punchbowl to plan smaller events too and says it will be perfect for planning her neighborhood BBQs!

Thanks for your feedback, Nancy!

Do you have stories about your experience planning a party on Punchbowl? Send us an email or post a comment on our Facebook page.

This post was written by Stephanie Fader, Sr. Marketing Manager

Every day Punchbowl users share feedback with us about their experience using the site, often for the first time. They send emails, post to our Facebook page, and tweet about us. We love hearing from our users and thought others might be interested in what they have to say about Punchbowl.

Today the spotlight is on Lori V. from Vancouver Island. Lori had heard about Punchbowl from a few teachers at the elementary school where she works. She thought it would be the perfect solution for planning her daughter’s wedding shower!

Of the utmost importance to Lori was the ability to keep her guest list and RSVPs organized and to receive responses from as many guests as possible. Not to mention, she wanted to make sure her daughter’s special day went off without a hitch.

Lori found Punchbowl to be “very easy to navigate” and also says it was fun and easy to “create a beautiful and professional looking invitation.” She loved finding out which guests viewed the invitation as well as when they viewed it. And, she appreciated the ability to send reminders to guests who did not respond in a timely fashion.

Ultimately, Lori’s guests thought the invitation was beautiful and they had fun making comments on the message board leading up to the shower. Most importantly, Lori’s daughter was “very impressed” that she used Punchbowl to plan the event.

Thanks for your feedback, Lori!

Do you have stories about your experience planning a party on Punchbowl? Send us an email!