For a birthday party, poll the two or three weekends around the actual date rather than assuming the nearest one. Attendance often differs sharply between adjacent weekends, and asking takes a day. Who can when? does it with one free link that needs no account, which matters when the guest list spans several friend groups who do not share a chat.
Do not default to the nearest weekend
It is the obvious choice and it is often the worst one. The weekend nearest a birthday is as likely as any other to collide with a wedding, a long weekend or half term, and you will not know until you ask.
Offer three: the one before, the one after, and the one after that. The gap between the best and worst is routinely half the guest list.
Getting a mixed guest list to answer
- One link, sent everywhere. Work friends, school friends and family are not in the same chat.
- Ask four to six weeks out for anything with a venue, more in December.
- Say roughly what it is - dinner, drinks, all afternoon with kids - because that changes people's answers.
- Do not require an email address if the list is mostly social.
- Keep comments on for the plus-ones and the dietary notes.
For a surprise party
Give the poll a title that gives nothing away, invite everyone except the obvious person, and be aware that names are visible on the grid to anyone with the link. It is a public link, not a secret, so treat it as something that could be forwarded.
Common questions
- Can I hide who is coming?
- You can hide the results until each person has answered, which stops people deciding based on who else is in. Names are visible after that.
- How many people can I invite?
- Up to 50 per date poll.
- Can guests add a date I did not think of?
- Yes, if you switch on participant-added dates.
Ready when you are
Friends, family and the weekend
The occasions where everyone is willing and nobody is free on the same evening.
Related
- A free scheduling poll A scheduling poll that is actually free: no trial, no paid tier, no feature held back, and no account needed to create one or to answer one.
- Scheduling a family gathering Get the family onto one date without a group chat meltdown. Propose a few weekends, share one link, and everyone marks when they can. No account, no app.
- Dinner party scheduling Six to ten people and one evening. Propose a few, share the link, and know your numbers before you write the shopping list.
Read next
- How to get people to actually answer your date poll Most people who do not answer a scheduling poll are not refusing - they hit friction. Here is where the drop-off happens and what removes it.
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