How Festa works

Setting up your event

Festa answers your guests from your event details, so the more they cover, the more questions Festa handles without you. For a wedding, the easiest way is Sync website on your event page: paste your wedding website's address (Zola, The Knot, Joy or any other site) and Festa reads it into your event details, then texts you when it's done.

• Your website must be published and not password protected while it syncs. You can turn the password back on after.
• Sync again any time you change your website. Each sync replaces your event's location and description, so redo any edits you made by hand.
• No website, or not a wedding? Open Event details and write the details yourself.

What to include

Think about what guests will ask you, and make sure the answer is there:

• Schedule: ceremony and reception times, when to arrive, welcome parties, after-parties and brunches.
• Locations: venue names, addresses, entrances, parking, and where to go for each part of the day.
• Dress code: what to wear, indoors or outdoors, the weather, and anything to bring.
• Travel: airports, shuttles, pickup times and places, and driving directions.
• Hotels: room blocks, how and when to book.
• RSVPs: the deadline, plus-ones, kids and meal choices.
• Who's invited to what: rehearsal dinners, welcome parties or anything only some guests attend.
• Anything else: the registry, accessibility, venue rules and special instructions.

It doesn't need to be polished. Complete and accurate beats well written. For example:

Ceremony at 4:30 PM at Meadowbrook Estate, 123 Main Street, Napa. Arrive by 4:00. Cocktails right after, then dinner and dancing until 11:00 PM. Formal attire; the ceremony is outdoors on grass.

Shuttles leave the Archer Hotel at 3:30 and 3:45, and return at 9:30, 10:30 and 11:15. Room block at the Archer under “Jane & John Wedding”, book by May 1. RSVP by May 10. Adults only.

Texting Festa

You and your guests text the same Festa number, by SMS or iMessage. Festa knows you're the host and answers you differently. Ask it about your event any time: who's coming, your guests, your text blasts and who got them, what guests have been asking, and questions waiting on you.

Festa can't change anything by text. When you want to do something, it texts you a link to the right page, and can fill in a text blast for you with the message, the guests and a time. Nothing goes to guests until you press Send or Schedule. Details you text Festa aren't saved to your event, so add them on Event details.

Festa works on one event at a time, your active event. To switch, tap Switch to another event under the title on your event page, or open Other events on your profile.

Guests and the contact card

Guests don't download anything or sign up. When you add a guest on SMS, Festa introduces itself, sends its contact card and asks them to save it and reply “saved”. Phones filter texts from unsaved numbers, so this keeps Festa's texts out of spam. Once they reply, Festa sends your welcome message. Guests on iMessage get the welcome message right away.

Until a guest saves the card, Festa still records their RSVP, passes their questions to you and delivers your text blasts. Guests shows who has saved it. To nudge the rest, send the reminder from Guests, or share the QR code on QR code in your own email or group chat.

What guests can do

Once they're on your list, guests can text Festa to:

• Ask about the event. Festa answers from your event details and your recent text blasts.
• RSVP yes, no or maybe, or change their RSVP.
• Ask something Festa can't answer, or tell you something, like running late. Festa passes it to you.

Festa never shares your phone number or email, never tells guests who else is coming, and only replies to numbers on your guest list. You can read every conversation on Conversations.

Text blasts

A text blast is a message you send through Festa to all your guests, to guests by RSVP, to guests who haven't saved the contact card, or to guests you pick. Festa texts you a delivery summary when it's done, and answers replies using the blast.

• Add one photo (up to 10 MB) or video (up to 25 MB). iMessage guests get the full file; SMS guests get a smaller photo, or a link to a video.
• Send now, or schedule it on the hour or half hour, in your event's time zone. You can edit or cancel a scheduled blast until it starts sending.
• Two templates help: Contact Card reminds guests who haven't saved Festa's card, and RSVP asks guests who haven't answered.
• Open a sent blast to see who got it, who replied, and to reuse it.

A blast doesn't change your event details, so update Event details too when something changes for good.

Importing a guest list

On Guests, tap Import a list to add up to 500 guests at once. Paste your list, or choose a CSV, TSV, text or Excel file, including a guest list exported from your wedding website.

Festa reads the names, numbers and RSVPs and flags duplicates, numbers that look wrong, and guests past your plan's limit. You review and fix every guest before anything is sent. Each guest is texted as if you'd added them by hand, and Festa texts you a summary when it's done.

Daily updates and alerts

Each evening at 9 PM in your event's time zone, Festa texts you an update, but only when something happened: new guests and RSVP changes, what guests asked most, questions still waiting on you, and up to two things worth adding to your event details.

Festa texts you right away only when a message can't wait: a guest who is late or lost on the day, a safety, health or access problem, a cancellation on the day, or a change to plus-ones, headcount or meals within 48 hours of the event. Everything else waits for the evening update. You can reread all of it on History.

Plans and refunds

Every plan is a one-time payment, not a subscription, and includes unlimited texting. Your plan covers all your active events, and a guest on two of your events counts once.

• Free: 1 guest.
• 10 guests: $5.
• 100 guests: $50.
• Unlimited guests: $150.

Upgrade from your profile and you only pay the difference, so going from 10 to 100 guests costs $45. Within 7 days of your first purchase you can request a full refund from your profile, which moves you back to the free plan.