There are some mistakes so mortifying and painful, it’s guaranteed you’ll only make them once.
A California mom will likely exercise a lot more caution in the future, after she accidentally invited all 487 contacts saved in her phone to her daughter’s first birthday party.
Emily King, 30, was planning a small get-together at a San Jose park to mark the first year of her daughter’s life, when something went horribly, embarrassingly wrong.
“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),” Emily King said in a viral TikTok video, which has amassed tens of millions of views.
“No — it imported all 487 of my contacts and invited them to this birthday party,” continued King, a 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.”
King explained that some contacts are saved in her phone under dubious monikers, including “Derek Eye Roll” and “Jess Hit Her Car In Parking Lot.”
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“I want you to just take a second and think about everyone stored in your phone and how they’re stored in your phone,” King added. “And then imagine someone receiving an invitation (under that name.)”
“Anyways, I have to quit or get a new identity,” she joked. “I don’t even know.”
King told Today.com that she got a head start on planning her daughter’s birthday because she’s currently pregnant with another baby.
“I was really excited — because I am 20 weeks pregnant, I wanted the day to be all about my daughter,” she said.
Her plan was to send out about 50 invitations, knowing not everyone would attend.
But, instead, she sent out an email blast to almost everyone she’s known in her adult life.
“All the blood drained from my body,” she said of the moment she realized her mistake, telling Today.com that romantic connections from her past, including “Justin Delta Sky Lounge” and “Cute guy from bar,” also received invitations.
She said she had to uninvite some of her colleagues, too, including “New science teacher I think?” and “David parking lot attendant.”
King’s story clearly resonated with people, judging by the more than 24,000 comments on her video where people shared the wonderful and wacky ways they, too, label their contacts.
“I wonder if ‘Blocked & Dead to me’ would make it?” wrote one person.
“I would die if ‘Mark STILL OWES ME $100’ came to my son’s birthday,” joked another.
For her troubles, King said Evite gave her a US$250 gift certificate to DoorDash to help cover the cost of food for the party. Evite also confirmed to Today.com that they’ve added a fix to their platform in response to King’s video.
“Emily’s journey inspired something we call the ‘Emily Hotfix’ that removes the ‘Select All’ function on iOS apps,” a spokesperson said.
“We’re always learning from our users, and hope this update is a help for other users too.”
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
