Plan a little togetherness
Plan a potluck without the spreadsheet — or the duplicate dishes.
Bring a dish, bring a friend, stay a while. One link coordinates who's bringing what, sends the invites with a calendar hold, and saves the photos after — no app, no accounts for your guests.
Free for your first gathering. No card. No app to download.
How it works
Three small steps. One good evening.
Make the sign-up sheet
Add the dishes you need. Guests pick what they're bringing — no group-chat math, no spreadsheets, no doubles.
Send a single link
Email invites in bulk, or share the link the way you already share things. Guests don't have to sign up — they tap, they're in.
Keep the moments
When the night winds down, Encore opens. Everyone invited can drop in photos — no extra setup, no feed for strangers.
Scenes from the table
Photos that helped me picture this.
What lands in your friend's inbox
A short, warm note signed by you.
Not a wall of buttons. One primary link. Save-the-date attached. Everything else is on the gathering page.
- Looks like it came from you. Sender shows your name, not a noreply address.
- One link to remember. Guests don't have to log in. They tap, they're in.
- Calendar invite attached. No “add to calendar” dance.
Glen via PitchInDish
to maya@example.com · 3:14 PM
Sunday potluck — save your seat
Hi Maya,
I'm putting together a small dinner this Saturday — would love to have you. Sign-up sheet's open if you want to bring something.
Sat, May 16 · 6 pm · Glen's place
xo,
Glen
The thesis
I'm building this more carefully than a productivity tool — because the meals it's for matter more.
No engagement loops. No streaks. No notifications to guilt you back into the app the morning after. Just the few things you need before Saturday and the photos that wait for you on Sunday.
What I will
Make it feel hospitable. Default to your warmest people.
What I won't
Notify you for the sake of it. Surface ads. Sell your photos.
What stays quiet
The product, mostly. Hosting is loud enough.
What stays with you
Encore — your photos, your people, after the table clears.
“The kind of dinner where someone brings the bread that disappears first.”
— my brief to myself
From the blog
Notes on hosting, gently.
Hosting
The Modern Potluck Playbook: How to Plan One Without the Group-Chat Chaos
A field-tested playbook for hosting a potluck that doesn't burn out the host.
10 min read
Hosting
Potluck for 50 People: How Much Food to Plan
Feeding fifty sounds like catering until you break it into categories and hand most of it out. Here's the math — and how to divide it so no one cooks all weekend.
3 min read
Stories
What Is a Jacob's Join?
A Northern English name for one of the oldest, warmest ideas there is: everyone brings a dish, and supper takes care of itself.
3 min read
Questions, answered
Potluck planning, minus the guesswork.
- What is a potluck sign-up sheet?
- A potluck sign-up sheet is a shared list where guests claim what they'll bring — mains, sides, desserts, drinks — so the table ends up balanced instead of holding five potato salads. PitchInDish turns it into a single link: guests tap, pick a dish, and everyone can see who's bringing what.
- How much food should each guest bring to a potluck?
- A good rule of thumb is one dish that serves 8 to 10 people per guest — roughly one and a half servings per person across the whole spread. For an exact count by headcount, our free potluck calculator does the math.
- What are good potluck categories?
- A balanced potluck usually covers six categories:
- Mains — a couple of hearty centerpieces
- Sides & salads — the easiest things to bring, and the biggest category
- Bread & appetizers
- Desserts
- Drinks, and ice
- Plates, cups & napkins — someone has to
- How do you avoid duplicate dishes at a potluck?
- The simplest fix is a sign-up sheet everyone can see before the event. When guests claim a dish from a shared list, nobody doubles up by accident — and PitchInDish updates in real time, so the moment someone claims the mac and cheese, it's off the table for everyone else.
- Do guests need an app or account to RSVP?
- No. Guests open your link, RSVP, and claim a dish without downloading anything or creating an account. Only the host needs a free account — everyone else just taps the link.
More in the FAQ, or try the potluck calculator.