![“[I Have To] Get A New Identity”: Mom Invites Nearly 500 Guests Instead Of 50 For Daughter’s B’Day](https://img.boredpanda.com/unsafe/rs:fit:3840:0/q:80/aHR0cHM6Ly9zdGF0aWMuYm9yZWRwYW5kYS5jb20vYmxvZy93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvMjAyNC8wNC9tb20tc3BlYWtzLW91dC1hZnRlci1hY2NpZGVudGFsbHktaW52aXRpbmctNDg3LWd1ZXN0cy1kYXVnaHRlcnMtYmlydGhkYXktcGFydHktZmIyMC1wbmdfXzcwMC5qcGc.webp)
A California mother, who accidentally invited hundreds of people to her daughter’s birthday party, learned the hard way to always double-check who she’s shooting messages to before tapping the send button.
Emily King was planning a party and had designed a Lord of the Rings-themed invitation to invite about 50 guests to her daughter Ivy’s first birthday bash.
The 30-year-old mother thought at the time that only about 35 guests would show up. But things took a drastic turn after Emily realized she invited 487 guests, including random acquaintances and strangers, to the party in June.
Emily King was planning a party for her daughter, Ivy, when an unexpected birthday blunder took place
Image credits: twodachshundkings
Image credits: Morgan Lane
Image credits: Rodrigo Souza
After being left mortified by the incident, the teacher living in San Jose concluded a very important lesson: "Always double check before you select anything that looks like it could be a 'Select All' button," she joked in an interview with Good Morning America (GMA).
The mother shared her invitation fiasco in a TikTok video that went viral and climbed up to reach more than 14 million views.
"I just made an Evite for my daughter's first birthday party, and on Evite, it says, 'Import contacts,' and I thought it meant import to select through (the names)," said Emily, who shares a daughter with husband, Oscar, and is expecting her second child later this year.
The 30-year-old teacher learned a lesson the hard way about double-checking before hitting the send button
Image credits: twodachshundkings
To her bewilderment, the invite not only went to every single contact ever saved in her phone but also addressed the receivers of the invitation using the labels that Emily used to save their contact details in her phone.
"It imported all 487 of my contacts and invited them to this birthday party," said the teacher. "Not only did it invite my boss, all of my coworkers, (and) all of the people that have ever been stored in my phone, but it sent invitations based (on) how they are stored in my phone."
So the “old man neighbor” and the “cute boy from the bar” saved in her phone got to know exactly what Emily thought of them after they opened their phones to find the invite to the toddler’s birthday party.
The California resident said she accidentally sent the invite to her entire contact list, and the message was addressed using the labels she used to save their contact details on her phone
Image credits: twodachshundkings
"I want you to just take a second and think about everyone stored in your phone and how they're stored in your phone," Emily continued. "And then imagine someone receiving an invitation ... 'Derek Eye Roll.' He received an invitation. 'Jess Hit Her Car In Parking Lot.'"
“Anyways, I have to quit or get a new identity,” she added. “I don’t even know.”
Many people commented on Emily’s conundrum and admitted they would be “SPIRALING” if this happened to them.
The invitation was addressed to "Derek Eye Roll" and "cute boy from the bar," just like Emily had the contacts saved in her phone
Image credits: twodachshundkings
"I would die if 'Mark STILL OWES ME $100' came to my son's birthday," one said, while another quipped, "I wonder if 'Blocked & Dead to me' would make it?"
"'Possible stalker' would definitely show up," one said.
"'DO NOT ANSWER!' Regrets to inform you he will not be able to attend," said another.
"I wonder if 'Table on FB Marketplace' will attend?" another wondered.
Emily shared the invitation fiasco online in a TikTok video that garnered more than 14 million views
Although it was absolutely humiliating at first, Emily was eventually able to laugh about it and also make the rest of the internet chuckle along with her.
"It was hilarious and terrifying," Emily told TODAY.com about the Evite blunder. "I was mortified and in shock."
The teacher, about 20 weeks pregnant with her second child, explained that she was excited about Ivy’s birthday and “wanted the day to be all about [her] daughter.” But she did not anticipate that an unexpected twist in the birthday prep would spread joy to the corners of the internet.
After the video went viral, Evite got in touch with her and offered $500 on DoorDash
Image credits: twodachshundkings
"I have a pretty good sense of humor ... I’m glad I could bring joy to people," she told the outlet.
After her video went viral, Evite got in touch with Emily and reportedly offered her $500 on DoorDash, the mother said.
Evite also released a statement to GMA and said Emily’s invitation spiral had inspired them to make changes to their app.
Evite also released a new update called "Emily Hotfix," which was added to the app after Emily's story made the internet laugh
Image credits: twodachshundkings
"We immediately reached out to Em as soon as we saw her post! While we have several steps in place so that things like this don't occur for guests, Em's journey inspired something we call the 'Emily Hotfix' that removes the 'select all' function on iOS apps. We're always learning from our users, and hope this update is a help for other users too!" the company said in their statement.
Olivia Pollock, Evite’s senior director of brand marketing, spoke about the app’s new “Emily Hotfix” update, which was created in honor of the San Jose’s mother’s tale.
A senior employee at Evite said they hope the new update would be "a help for other users too"
Emily, who is now busy preparing for Ivy’s June party, can’t wait to tell her daughter about how a story related to her first birthday bash went viral and became the subject of headlines.
"It's going to be definitely a first birthday for the books. I'm really excited when [Ivy's] older to be able to tell her the story," the mother told GMA.
People wondered whether their contacts, saved as "restraining order" and "Mark STILL OWES ME 100," would have shown up in such a situation
