You can organize a birthday dinner without a social media event or a group conversation. HeadOnOver sends individual invitations to the households you choose, with the event details and a way to RSVP. Guests don’t need Facebook, a HeadOnOver account, or an app download.

What “private” means here

  • Each household gets its own invitation link. The event isn’t listed in a public directory, and guest invitation pages are marked not to appear in search results.
  • Guests don’t see each other’s contact details. Your address book stays yours. Nobody is added to a thread with strangers; see why group texts fail as party invitations.
  • No guest accounts. Guests open the link, RSVP, and close it. They are not asked to sign up, download anything, or create a profile.
  • No public feed or ads on the invitation. Guests can focus on the event details and their reply.
  • Guests can opt out of texts. Replying STOP stops HeadOnOver texts to that number for every host.

Private links still need care: anyone a guest forwards their link to may be able to open the invitation. Ask households to keep their link to themselves. If you want to invite another household, add it separately rather than forwarding someone else’s invitation.

Who sends the messages

HeadOnOver sends emails and reminders on your behalf and identifies you as the host. Invitation texts come from your own phone; HeadOnOver texts a guest only if they ask for reminders on their invitation page. Wondering whether a text invitation suits the occasion? Read is it rude to send invitations by text? You can include your own contact details in the event note if you want guests to reach you directly. See how texting works for delivery and opt-out details.

What you still get

Guests submit Going, Maybe, or Can’t make it on their invitation page, with adult and child counts when they’re coming. An SMS reply such as “yes” doesn’t submit that RSVP form.

You see submitted answers and pending replies. Invitation delivery status is shown separately; delivery doesn’t prove a guest read the message or accepted the invitation.

You can trigger reminders for eligible households whose invitations were sent and whose replies are still pending. You can also notify invited households of an important change or cancellation. These actions are available in the host’s event controls; reminders aren’t automatic.

Good for

Family dinners, milestone birthdays, showers, book clubs, and other private gatherings with people you know personally. If you want to keep the invitation out of a social feed and collect household replies in one place, explore text message invitations and plan your event with HeadOnOver.