From Donna Pilato,
Your Guide to Entertaining.
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The process of receiving RSVPs to an invitation seems to be getting more difficult with time. With our ever increasing busy schedules, it seems that many people just don't find the time to let hostesses know in a timely fashion whether or not they can attend a party. And no matter how explicitly the request for an RSVP is written on an invitation, there always seems to be a few people who don't respond at all.

Luckily there's a new approach that can be taken by the hostess who would like to make the process of responding to her invitations easier for guests. There are now several online services that will allow you to send out your invitations and will collect the RSVPs for you. With everyone spending increasing time on computers at both home and work, this may well become the solution to catching the attention of potential guests, and making it simple for them to respond to you.

Here are several of the services that aim to make your hosting life easier.

Evite is one of the oldest services on the web that allows you to send customized online invitations to your friends and track their responses. In a recent effort to expand their product offerings, Evite now includes a section devoted to regional restaurant, bar and nightclub reviews by users of the site, as well as event listings in major cities. All of these services are free.

Waitrose is a chain of supermarket and department stores located in the UK. The main function of Waitrose.com is to sell all things surrounding the needs of entertaining including food, wine, flowers and gifts. However, in an effort to increase sales of these products, this website offers a simple online invitation and RSVP response service. You can send a customized invitation and request a response with dietary needs and number of attendees. The invitation service is free.

Sendomatic offers an online invitation and response service. You can use the service to track your RSVPs and send follow-ups, maps, directions, and weather information. When you invite more than four guests there is a small charge for the service, but this site is free of advertising.

RsvpHQ.com helps you track you to send invitations and track RSVPs in one online location. You can customize it with your own logos, photos, maps, etc.

MyPunchbowl is the newest service to help with online party management. Founded by a group of software professionals, their goal is to create a simplified user interface. Some of their features include the ability to import your address book, upload and share photos, a party message board, and party store locator. There is no charge for using this site.