Gather, in secret
You invite the people who love them to a private page, locked with one secret word that only your group knows.
a memory gift, made for one person
Encore
Give them the day they realise how loved they are.
Everyone who matters, gathered in secret into one letter-book they open on the day. Made by hand, with you.
Encore is the memory gift you make in secret with the people who love them: letters, photos and voice notes from friends and family, turned into one cinematic letter-book website they open for the first time on the day itself.
A group card fills up with signatures and says almost nothing. A video montage gets watched once and forgotten. The moment deserves more.
how it works
Three acts, one book
You start it in secret. Everyone gets gentle prompts, so nobody faces a blank page. We gather the letters, the photos and the voices, and build the reveal for the day.
They write, not perform
Storytellers answer a few gentle prompts, write a letter, add photos, and can record a voice note if they would rather speak than type. The prompts do the heavy lifting, so nobody stares at a blank page.
The reveal, on the day
They open a letter-book built from everything your Storytellers sent in. It is not a slideshow watched once. It is somewhere they can go back to.
Describe the first time you saw them laugh so hard they cried.
That is the kind of question everyone answers. Nobody faces a blank page.
the reveal
A book, not a slideshow
On the day, it opens like a book. The candles light and count the years. A globe turns to every place someone wrote from. Their name gathers into a constellation of the words people used. Then the letters open, one by one, in the writer's own voice.
6
fourteen letters. six countries. one voice they have not heard in years.
chapter i
The count
The book opens in candlelight and counts everyone who wrote in, before it says a single name.
chapter ii
The map
A pin for every Storyteller, dropped wherever they are in the world.
chapter iii
The words
Everyone answers the same question, and the words that repeat rise to the top.
chapter iv
The letters
Each letter opens like a real one, with its own photographs and, sometimes, a voice.
chapter v
The voices
A quiet room for listening, for when someone's voice says more than their writing.
chapter vi
The finale
The book closes exactly where it opened, in candlelight, with a few candles left to blow out.
occasions
What's the occasion?
Planning ahead? Read how Encore works for birthdays, weddings, farewells and milestones.
A 30th. A 70th. A wedding, a retirement, a leaving.
- 30thThe milestone when the stories start writing themselves.
- 40thA whole decade of people who still show up.
- 50thHalf a century, told by the people who were there for it.
- 60thEveryone who has watched them become who they are.
- 70thA lifetime, gathered by the people who lived it with them.
- WeddingsTwo families' worth of memories, opened together for the first time.
- RetirementsDecades of colleagues, finally saying what they meant.
birthdays, where we start
questions
Frequently asked questions
What is Encore?
Encore is a memory gift for a milestone birthday or wedding. An Organizer secretly invites the recipient's friends and family to write letters, share photos and record voice notes, then Encore turns everything into one cinematic letter-book website the recipient opens for the first time on the day.
How does the gathering stay secret?
The Organizer invites Storytellers to a private, secret-word-gated page. The recipient never sees it. Gentle prompts and nudges help each person write, so nobody faces a blank page.
What does the recipient actually receive?
A single cinematic letter-book website, opened once on the day. It includes a candlelit opening with count-up stats, a globe showing where every contributor wrote from, a word constellation built from how people described them, an envelope desk of letters with photos, a voice-note listening room, a gallery, and a finale.
Which occasions is Encore for?
30th, 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th birthdays, weddings and retirements. Birthdays are the current launch focus.
How much does Encore cost?
Four packages, from R899. You choose and pay for yours at the start, before anyone is invited. Storytellers write for free the whole way through, and if the reveal does not move them, we refund it in full. See the full pricing page for what is included at every level.
How do I start one?
Head to the start page, tell us who it is for and when, and we take it from there. Every founding Encore still gets personal, hands-on setup from us.
a note from the person who built it
I built the first Encore for my sister's 30th. Then I built a second one for my dad's 70th. Watching them open it is the whole reason this is becoming something other people can give too.
Every Encore is set up personally with you, start to finish
As the Organizer, you are not left to fill in a form and hope for the best. We set up the gathering with you, nudge your Storytellers while they write, and check the reveal before anyone else sees it.
It is priced like a gift you would give once, not a subscription you forget you have.
It opens once, in candlelight, and it never really closes.
Someone you love has a day coming.
Tell us who it is for and when. We will take it from there.
One email to start. No sign-up, nothing to pay yet.
Good ones take a little time to gather, so earlier is kinder to the day.