Hi, I'm Anurag Reddy, a techie and a new dad in McKinney, Texas. I take care of our toddler with my wife, and I lead a team of data scientists at work.
I've always loved throwing parties and being a host. I usually enjoy organizing a party, but with everything happening in life and work, especially with a toddler, planning our 2-year-old's birthday party was overwhelming. What should have been a fun, memorable time turned into a stressful job, with a fair share of arguments and tension between my wife and me.
We had to take care of many things, including:
- entertaining guests
- hosting family from out of state
- a custom cake
- decor
- furniture rental
- catering
- a photographer
- kids' activities
- party favors
- and, unfortunately, the weather
We were constantly shopping on Amazon, Etsy and other stores for the party, which was very time-consuming. We did a lot of online research, tips and tricks included. It was a learning process; let's leave it at that.
While my wife took care of the birthday kid, I had to:
- juggle the baker who made the custom cake, the decorator and the balloon artist when it got windy and was about to rain
- pick up the chairs and tables from the rental place myself
- get my cousin's help to bring the food from the caterer on time, and have my sister help the photographer set up
I realized I was missing the beautiful moments because I was constantly trying to get everything right. And my friends, who understood, were busy helping me instead of having fun.
That's when I realized that while parents love celebrating their kids, they're often overwhelmed and exhausted and need all the help they can get. That's when the idea for Festidy was born. The name is a play on "fest" and "tidy." You keep it festive. We'll keep it tidy.
The goal is one place to plan the whole party, with everything you need, for free. And I mean EVERYTHING in one place:
- the invitations
- the RSVPs
- the reminders
- the shopping
- the activities, games and music
- the pros, vendors and services, whatever you call them
- a checklist for the day of the party itself
- and the after-party things we tend to put off, like sending thank-you notes, gathering all the photos in one place, and, hopefully, sharing feedback for the people who helped along the way
I want Festidy to make parents' lives easier. Along the way, I realized it could help other people too, with other kinds of parties.
I hope you feel all the love I put into Festidy and enjoy planning your party with it. Everything is free for the host. To keep the lights on, we earn a small commission through some store links and from local pros who subscribe to be listed. How Festidy earns