iPartyGram - Independent Just-Released Review - iPhone/iPad Party App

Click here for just-released link to iTunes.
 
iPartyGram is a new party-planning app from TECHtionary. It’s a useful tool for planning parties, sending out invitations to guests, and uploading photos. Inviting guests usually takes so much time, it’s a relief to find an app that can make the process quicker, simpler, and, best of all, lets you send invitations for free.  

Hosts When you open up iPartyGram, you’ll see a log on screen for hosts and guests. Hosts can create their own account, from which they can input party details and invite guests. Each party has its own separate “folder” with details and pictures, and you can create as many parties as you like. Once you’ve entered all the party details into your host account, you can send out invitations to guests. Usually this is something that can take hours or, if you get professional invitations printed, can be very costly. 

With iPartyGram, however, you can create professional-looking invitations for a fraction of the price, and send them out to guests for free via email. When you tap “Invite Guests” the app automatically compiles all the party information into an invitation. You can then choose a background to suit the party, which makes it look professional, and then email it to as many people as you like. The invitation shows up in the email as a PDF. Partygoers can then respond to your email to RSVP, and keep the PDF for reference later. When I’ve used iPartyGram, this feature has been really helpful, as you can include information about dress code and what guests need to bring on the invitation, which reduces the amount of questions you get from attendees later! When inviting people to your party, you can select individuals to be “VIP” guests. These guests have special privileges in iPartyGram, including the ability to add their own photos. This feature is lovely, as it means I can share pictures with my closest friends.  

Guests At the top of each iPartyGram invitation, guests receive their own unique log-in number. They can use this to log in to the iPartyGram app or website to view details of the party and any pictures the host and VIP guests have uploaded. As the invitation is a PDF, guests can download this and save it to their computer, or print it out, so they have the details with them when traveling to the party venue.  

iPartyCal iPartyCal is the newest feature in iPartyGram is really useful whether you’re a guest or a host. I find it really helpful when scheduling parties, as I can take a quick look and see when other people have already arranged events, without leaving the app. It's a great way of keeping track of your own events, and friends’ parties too. iPartyGram is an easy-to-use and intuitive party-planning system that makes life easier for hosts and guests. Having used the app both as a party organizer and an attendee, it’s really helpful to be able to view all the party details in one place, straight from my phone. iPartyGram helps you get the practical arrangements out of the way quickly so you can focus on more fun aspects of planning - and enjoying - the event!

Party Planning Apps for iPhone & iPad

Party Planning Apps Whether you’re celebrating a milestone in life, such as a wedding or graduation, or simply want to plan a fun time together with family and friends, a party can be the ideal way to celebrate most any occasion. As technology progresses and becomes more highly integrated into everyday life, it provides us with better methods for planning and preparation. Smartphone and computer apps can be used to help you plan your next party. By streamlining the time and effort you put into planning and preparation you can provide yourself with the opportunity to enjoy your party as much as your guests do. Use one or more of these apps the next time you’ve got a shindig to plan.

• Evite. People have been using Evite on their computers for years. This handy application allows you to create customized party invitations and send them to people on your contact list. Now you can use Evite Mobile to create and send your party invitations on-the-go. This app provides you with a few convenient ways to invite people to your party, including sending the invitations from your mobile app to their email, phone or via text message.
• The Cocktails App. You don’t have to be a trained bartender to delight your adult guests with delicious cocktails. The Cocktails App helps you determine which mixed drinks would be best for your party. It also provides you with a list of necessary ingredients and simple directions to make the drinks. The additional tips provided with this app help you add delicious variations to your drinks and explain the benefits of using certain bartending tools and supplies.
• Dinner Party Food Street. If you’ve planned a party but have no idea what to serve your guests to eat, this useful app can assist you in creating and planning the entire spread. Look through countless meal and appetizer suggestions and click on each to obtain a necessary ingredients list and recipe. When you’re not using this app for party planning, you’ll enjoy using it to plan your regular meals, as well.
• Let’s Party! After enjoying the delicious dinner spread you’ve created with the Dinner Part Food Street app, your guests might be too full to dance but they’ll enjoy the party games you come up with Let’s Party! This party game-lover’s app has games for all kind of occasions, from children’s parties to holiday parties. Search through the app’s database to find several games that fit with your theme or occasion.
• iPartygram Organizing, planning and having a great party experience is the concept behind iPartyGram. With more than hundred different background photos and images available through the app, you can choose an image that suits the theme or occasion of your party. You can add all the information you need to the party invitation, and it’s the perfect opportunity to let guests know if the party has a certain dress code, theme, or whether they should bring their own drinks. You can also use the “Notes” and “Reminders” sections to give guests a date by which they should RSVP, saving you the hassle of having to chase people up later. When sending invitations to guests, you can select the box marked “VIP” if you want that guest to be able to upload their own photos to the party section within iPartyGram. You can either send the invitation to each guest individually with your own customized message, or send the same graphic file to multiple people. iPartyGram is a versatile app that makes the party planning process simple, quick, and cost-effective. It allows you to spend less time on practical tasks, like sending invitations, leaving you with more time to focus on the big event.

Using apps to create, invitation and drastically reduce your party preparation time and your stress level by taking advantage of party planning apps that give ideas and instructions for creating the perfect party. Whether your occasion is casual or formal, in the backyard or at the local club, these party planning apps can take the stress out of “being the host or the hostess with the mostest.” When all is said and done and the last guest has said “goodnight”, you’ll be able to look back on a party that was easy to plan and fun to enjoy with your guests.

iPartyGram Independent Review - Pre Release First Look - By Hannah B

iPartyGram is a new party-planning app for the iPhone and iPad from TECHtionary. It enables you to upload party details and photos, share information with friends, and create customized invitations to send via email. You can use iPartyGram when planning variety of parties, from large-scale events like weddings, to smaller events like house-warming parties. You can also use the app in combination with other software, such as Microsoft Excel, to keep track of your guest list and RSVPs. Party hosts can sign up to a special account on the app, which allows them to create new parties, add details, such as time, place, and other notes and instructions, and share these details with guests. As a party host, you can also upload photos that your guests will see when they log in using the details in their invitation. These could be photos of the party venue, costume ideas for a themed party, or photos of previous parties. One of the app’s most useful features is the ability to create and send invitations to guests.

Using iPartyGram, you can create customized invitations and send them to others for free via email. Not only does this save you the time it takes to write out and mail physical invitations, but it also saves you money - particularly if you intend to send invitations to a lot of people. To send an invitation, simply enter the correct details in the boxes provided, choose a background image, then enter your guests’ email addresses. The app transforms the invitation into a graphic file that guests can view in the body of the email. With a variety of different background photos and images available through the app, you can choose an image that suits the theme or occasion of your party. You can add all the information you need to the invitation, and it’s the perfect opportunity to let guests know if the party has a certain dress code, theme, or whether they should bring their own drinks. You can also use the “Notes” and “Reminders” sections to give guests a date by which they should RSVP, saving you the hassle of having to chase people up later. When sending invitations to guests, you can select the box marked “VIP” if you want that guest to be able to upload their own photos to the party section within iPartyGram. Guests can only view party pics/snaps

You can either send the invitation to each guest individually with your own customized message, or send the same graphic file to multiple people. To keep each individual’s email address private, enter your own email address in the “To:” field, then enter the other recipients’ addresses in the “BCC:” field. That way, when guests receive the invitations, they only see your email address, and other guests’ emails stay hidden. The graphic format means that guests can easily print out and take the invitation with them to the party, so they have all the details on hand. When guests receive their invitations, it contains a unique ID number. To access the party details, all they have to do is download the iPartyGram app or log on to the website, and enter the ID number in the Guest Login section, then they can access the party details and, if they are VIP guests, upload their own photos.

iPartyGram is an extraordinary, simple and versatile app that makes the party planning process simple, quick, and cost-effective. It allows you to spend less time on practical tasks, like sending invitations, leaving you with more time to focus on the big event. Speaking of planning, the iPartygram website has a growing list of cool ideas on all kinds of party planning ideas, tips, checklists and more.
click on graphics for website.

Party Invitations and Guest Lists Using iPartyGram

iPartyGram is a new app from TECHtionary that enables you to create events and send stylish, digital invitations to guests for free. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars designing and printing professional invitations, then taking the time to mail them all, iPartyGram lets you create beautiful customized invites, and send them to multiple guests at the same time via email. Perfect for weddings of all budgets, iPartyGram is an easy and fun way to complete one of the most important steps involved in your wedding planning.

The iPartyGram app is also perfect for managing your guest list, as you can use the app to select VIP guests. This could be special members of the groom and bride’s families, the best man, the bridal party, and whoever else you’d like to include. When VIPs log in to iPartyGram, they can add their own photos to the event for other guests to see.

When sending invitations through iPartyGram, you can include detailed information about the venue, and separate notes and instructions. This is the perfect time-saving opportunity, as you can provide your guests with information about the dress code, menu and any gift requests in one go. Doing so helps you save time sending further messages or answering multiple questions later. As you can create as many invitations as you want per event, and send each invitation to multiple people at a time, you can send out separate invites to separate groups of guests. For example, the invitations you send to the groom or bride’s main parties might also include details of the bachelor or bachelorette parties, while invitations you send to friend and family who have volunteered to help out on the day might include different instructions.

As well as choosing the information you want to include in your invitations, you can also customize their appearance, choosing the background that you think suits your wedding the most. Whether you want a traditional-style invitation, or would like to do something a bit different, the wide range of styles available with iPartyGram means you’ll be able to find the image that’s right for you.

Once you’ve sent the invitations, you need to find a way to keep track of your guests’ RSVPs. To do this, you can use one of TECHtionary’s other apps, iFlipTips, which enables you to store information on digital flashcards. Simply create one folder for confirmed, one for declined, and another for outstanding, and you can easily view which guests you still need to chase. Alternatively, you can also try creating a spreadsheet and color-coding it according to whether a guest has said yes, no, or you’re still waiting to hear.

Finally, you can use iPartyGram as a record of the build-up to your wedding. Guests marked as VIPs can add photos, so you can show guests the edited highlights of your bachelor and bachelorette parties, as well as images of your wedding preparations. It’s a lovely way to keep the whole wedding party involved in the run up to the big day, and set the tone for a fun event with friends, family and each other.

Party Planning: Venue, Food and Drink from iPartyGrams

Planning a venue, food and drink for the correct number of guests is one of the big hurdles facing a party planner - especially if not all guests have RSVPed. Figuring out the numbers can be stressful, however you can take steps to reduce the chance that you’ll end up with too many people to cram into a venue, or the wrong amount of food and drink on the day. The planning process will depend on the type of party you’re throwing, and how long you expect the party to last. Guests attending a cocktail party will expect different amounts of food and drink than guests attending a dinner party will. With informal events, you can also ask guests to bring a drink and a food item, such as a dessert. If you’re feeling confused about planning for the right number of people, you can use the tips below to help solve your dilemmas.  
 

Venue If you decide not to hold your party at home, planning a suitable venue can be tricky. You need to book a venue in advance to make sure the location you want is available, however when you book you might not know the final guest numbers. As an estimate, assume that 75% of your invited guests will come to your party, however when you invite people you can ask them to RSVP by a certain date so you have a better idea of who’s coming and who’s not.

Food When planning food, it’s important to think about the type of party you’re having. You don’t need a full food menu for a cocktail party, but at the same time you need to decide whether you’re going to offer guests meal choices if you’re planning a sit-down dinner party. If you decide to provide food at your party, you might want to check whether your guests have any dietary requirements. It’s a good idea to provide a mixture of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, but you will need to think about what kind of food you’re providing if some of your guests
have other dietary requirements (or ask them to bring their own food). As a general rule, plan for each guest to eat five small snacks during the first hour of the party, then three snacks per hour for each hour afterwards. Remember to make room in your fridge beforehand for any leftovers!  

Drinks You should consider several factors when planning the type and volume of drinks to purchase for your party. Questions to think about include whether the guests are heavy drinkers, or whether they drink less than most people. As a general rule, plan for each guest to consume one drink per hour, then purchase 25-50% more drinks than that to account for people who might drink more. If you’re serving food at your party, the type of food you offer will affect the amount of drinks guests might consume: spicy or salty food could cause people to drink more. When hosting a drinks party, you could create a drinks menu. This limits guests’ choices and helps you predict how much of each item you need to purchase. Providing a drinks menu can be easier to plan than offering a full bar, as in this case, guests will have more choice, but you will need to stock up well. Alternatively, if you want to limit the amount of drinks you buy, you could reduce the options to beer and wine. At any event, you need to have a choice of non-alcoholic drinks, in addition to cocktails and other beverages, especially if children are coming. Canned soft drinks are easier to budget and serve than bottled drinks; however they can also cost more. You can usually get around 12 regular-sized servings from a 2 liter bottle of soft drink, although it’s wise to purchase slightly more than you think you’ll need to avoid running out.

Party Planning on a Budget via iPartygrams

Planning a part on a budget can be a challenge, but there’s no reason you should have to forgo festivities just because you can’t spend a lot of money on an event. If you’re planning a budget-friendly party and want to save cash, you can take several steps to have a successful event without breaking the bank.  





Budget and save The most important step you can take when planning a party is to decide on a budget, then stick to it. You might be tempted to spend more in order to host the perfect event; however you will regret the extra expenditure after the party is over. If you’re watching your bank balance, don’t buy anything you don’t need. Before you make any party-related purchase, stop and think “Is there a way I could do this for less money?” before you make a decision. Finally, if you’re planning a party in advance, start saving a few dollars every week in a designated “party fund” to minimize the impact the party will have on your finances closer to the time.  

Venue One of the major costs associated with large parties comes from hiring a private venue for the event. Hosting the party at home instead of at an external location could save you hundreds of dollars, and will save you a trip to and from the venue too. Of course, one of the reasons you might consider hiring a venue is because you have limited space, so you have two options: you can reduce the number of guests, or invite everyone to a restaurant, bar or other public location suitable for large groups.  

Food and drink Food and drink is another major cost associated with throwing a party, and it’s easy to spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on alcohol, soft drinks, and food, only to have most of it left over at the end of the evening. To limit the cost, try asking people to bring their own food and drinks instead of gifts. Alternatively, you can tell guests in advance that you’ll be providing one drink per person, and people can bring their own drinks if they’d like more.  

Entertainment You don’t have to spend anything on entertainment; instead, use your creativity to keep guests occupied. Introduce a theme for the party, and plan some fun party games in advance. You can also use services like Spotify and iTunes to create your own home-made playlists for free.  


Planning If you’re hosting a big event, ask family and friends in advance whether they can help out with greeting guests and serving food and drink on the day. Instead of posting physical invitations to guests, try using the iPartyGram app to send invitations for free via email. The app’s invitation feature also contains a section where you can remind guests to bring their own drinks, or to tell them about the party’s theme. Decorations are fun, but you’re likely to only use them for this one event, especially if it’s themed, so try sourcing them from discounted stores. If you’re feeling creative, you can also try making your own.

Party Planning Checklist Essentials via iPartygrams

Having a party planning checklist can make the difference between a party you’ll never forget, and a party you wish you could. If creating your own party planning checklist feels like too much hassle, or you’re worried you’ll forget a crucial detail; here is a list of essential party planning items that will make or break your event. Months before Months before the party, you need to get important details in place. These include how much money you can afford to spend on the party, whether you want to hire a venue and, if so, where it’s going to be, as well as who you’re going to invite.
1. Work out a budget
2. Decide on a date, a time, and a venue (and book the venue, if applicable).
3. Decide on the guest list.
4. Plan a theme, if you intend to have one.
5. Send out invitations, giving details of the date, time, and place of the party, as well as additional details like whether the party is themed, and whether guests should bring anything with them. You can do this using iPartyGram, which sends free email invitations to guests telling them everything they need to know about the party.

Month before The basics are in place, and it’s time to start paying attention to the details. 1. Decide what food you’re going to offer. 2. Ask friends/family for help during the event if necessary. 3. Make a shopping list of items, food and drink you will need to purchase for the party. 4. Purchase non-perishable items you need. This might include paper plates, plastic cutlery, soft drinks, and decorations. 5. Decide on what party games you want to play.

1. Start creating favors or party bags, if you plan to offer these to guests.

Week before The countdown to the big day has started, and the week before the party is one of the most important planning times. The more you get done earlier, the more relaxed you will feel about the preparations. 1. Confirm that the people who have offered to help can still volunteer. 2. Follow up with guests who haven’t RSVPed yet. 3. Create a music playlist for extra entertainment.

1. Organize the layout of the party room (this applies to events in homes and in professional venues).
2. Confirm catering and food choices.

6. Pick your outfit if the party is going to be formal.

1. Create an agenda. This is especially helpful if you are hosting a more formal party, as it gives you a structure to focus on during the evening. An example party agenda might look like this:

7-7.30: Guests arrive and drinks. 8-8.30: Guests seated at dinner table and first course served, etc.  

Day before The day of the party is nearly here, and you still have time to do a lot of preparations in advance to minimize the amount of stress you feel on the day of the event. 1. Clean your home (if the party is going to be at your home) and organize the layout of rooms guests will be using. 2. Put away any items you don’t want your guests to see, or things you want to keep safe, including in the bathroom. 3. Start putting up decorations. 4. Designate specific tasks to each of your volunteer helpers.

Day of Hopefully you’ve prepared enough in advance that you don’t have much to do on the day of the party. Your main tasks will involve ensuring that the food and venue are ready. 1. Finish any last-minute decorations. 2. Start preparing for the post-party clean-up by making space in the fridge, and readying trashbin liners. 3. Put out perishable food items and drinks about an hour before guests arrive.

In summary, great parties begin with great planning.