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Collaborative Gifting & Contribution Platform

Built a group-gifting and RSVP platform for life's big events — from invitation and RSVP through pooled contributions to payout and thank-you cards, in one product.

Client: Digital Gifting Startup

Duration: 10 weeks

React.jsNode.jsExpress.jsMySQLStripeAWS S3

Key results achieved

Measurable outcomes that demonstrate the success and impact of this project.

100+

screens

data Models

integrations

The challenge

Hosting an event meant stitching together an invitation app, a spreadsheet for RSVPs, a registry on someone else's site, and a separate way to collect money for the gift. The client needed one platform where a host could build an event and gift registry, invite guests, collect RSVPs and pooled contributions, and get paid out — without a hand-off to another tool.

Our solution

We built a single platform spanning a React front end and a layered Node/Express API backed by MySQL, with Stripe handling multi-contributor payments and payouts, AWS S3 powering the media pipeline for albums and card art, and a real-time layer combining Socket.io and Firebase Cloud Messaging so RSVPs and contributions update live.

The impact

The result is a single product covering the full event lifecycle — onboarding, registry creation, invitations, branching RSVPs, group contributions, payouts, and thank-you cards — across 100+ screens on one versioned API, rather than a set of disconnected features.

User Experience & Platform Architecture Design

Comprehensive planning and analysis phase that laid the foundation for project success.

User Journey & Flow Design

2 weeks

Collaborative gifting workflow design and user story mapping
Invitation system design with personalized messaging capabilities
Real-time contribution tracking and progress visualization planning
Branching RSVP design for attending-with-gift, attending-without, and can't-attend paths

Technical Architecture

2 weeks

Layered API architecture (routes, controllers, services, models) with real-time data sync
Multi-contributor payment processing design and security protocols
Event and gift registry data model for themed occasions
Bank-linking and payout flow planning for hosts

Security & Payment Strategy

1 week

Secure transaction handling for multiple contributors
Guarded flows for editing or removing a linked payout account
Privacy protection for gift details and contributor information
Compliance with payment processing regulations and standards

Platform Development & Feature Implementation

Systematic implementation approach using User-centered agile development with rapid prototyping to ensure quality delivery.

Core Platform & User System

2 weeks

React front end with intuitive event and gift creation workflows

Node.js backend with Express API and MySQL via Sequelize

JWT + Passport authentication with social login and profile management

Responsive design across guest and host experiences

Gift Registry & Contribution Engine

3 weeks

Event and gift registry builder with per-gift funding goals

Group contribution tracking recorded per contributor, not just a running total

Branching RSVP flows for attending-with-gift, attending-without, and can't-attend

Personalized invitation links with custom messaging

Payments & Payouts

2 weeks

Stripe integration for secure multi-contributor payments

Bank account linking with a guarded confirmation flow for edits and removal

Contribution-to-payout reconciliation against Stripe charges

Card payment collection on the guest side

Notifications & Thank-You Flow

3 weeks

Socket.io live updates paired with Firebase Cloud Messaging push notifications

In-app notification center for RSVPs, contributions, and funding milestones

Thank-you card creation and sending to contributors

Direct-to-S3 media pipeline for event albums and card art

Platform Scope & Delivery Highlights

Comprehensive analysis of the project's impact across multiple business dimensions.

Product Scope

100+ screens spanning the guest and host apps
Eight functional areas, from registry and RSVP to payments and thank-you cards
Branching RSVP flows instead of one generic response form
Linked family/child profiles for occasions like baby showers

Engineering & Architecture

42 Sequelize models covering events, gifts, contributions, and payments
Layered API: routes, controllers, services, and models kept separate
JWT + Passport authentication with social login support
Swagger-documented API surface

Payments & Real-Time Layer

Stripe-based multi-contributor payments with per-contributor tracking
Guarded bank-linking and payout flows for hosts
Socket.io live updates paired with Firebase Cloud Messaging push
Direct-to-S3 media pipeline decoupled from the request path

Guest Experience

Distinct paths for attending-with-gift, attending-without, and can't-attend
Contacts, invitations, and custom invitation designs in one flow
Live notifications for RSVPs and funding progress
Thank-you cards sent back once a gift is funded

Long-term benefits

Architecture supports adding new payment methods or regions without a rewrite

Modular service layer ready for additional integrations beyond the current set

Family profile model extends naturally to other multi-person occasions

Layered API and Swagger documentation make onboarding new engineers straightforward

Technologies & tools

Carefully selected technology stack optimized for performance, scalability, and maintainability.

React.js

Front end for interactive gift creation and RSVP management

Node.js

Backend runtime for the REST API and real-time processing

Express.js

Web framework for the layered API and route handling

MySQL

Relational database for events, gifts, and contribution tracking, via Sequelize

Stripe

Multi-contributor payment processing and host payouts

AWS S3

Media pipeline for event albums, gift photos, and card art

Firebase Cloud Messaging

Push notifications for guests who've stepped away from the app

One API, Two Real-Time Channels

A layered REST API sits behind the guest and host apps, with Socket.io and Firebase Cloud Messaging running alongside it — so a live update reaches whichever channel a person is actually listening to.

React SPA (Guest & Host)

REST API (Express)

MySQL via Sequelize

Layered ServicesJWT + Passport AuthSwagger-Documented API

StripeAWS S3Firebase Cloud MessagingSocket.ioSendGrid

Key engineering highlights

Split-contribution ledger

Contributions are recorded per contributor, not just as a running total, and reconciled against the Stripe charge behind each one.

RSVP as a branch, not a form

Attending-with-gift, attending-without, and can't-attend are separate flows with their own screens and state.

Guarded payout accounts

Editing or removing a linked bank account runs through a dedicated confirmation step before anything changes.

Decoupled media pipeline

Event albums, gift photos, thank-you card art, and avatars upload directly to S3 through a dedicated image service.

Live by two channels

A Socket.io channel keeps the open app current; Firebase Cloud Messaging reaches guests who've stepped away.

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