The Mystery of the Diner en Blanc Okanagan Invitation

The Mystery of the Diner en Blanc Okanagan invitation
 
Firstly, there really is no mystery.   Diner en Blanc works like no other event so there is a bit of a learning curve, but definitely no mystery.  There are 3 Phases of invitations that are issued on different days…and if you follow the instructions in your email invite, it’s all quite easy.  We’ve tried to explain the 3 Phase system below:
 
If you attended Diner en Blanc at the Point in City Park last year you are in what we call Phase 1.  As a past guest you are at the front of the line to get your invitation to register to attend in 2014 at our secret location.  Around June 9^th you will get an email inviting you to register with a code.  You will go to the website address in your letter and using your code, log in to be a 2014 guest.  You and 1 guest (a couple) are included in your email invitation.  When you log in you will be asked to select your bus location, select your wine, order a picnic basket if you’d like, confirm your order, process payment and then you will get your official ‘YES ..you are joining us for 2014’ notice. 
 
Did you come as a guest of someone last year?  Are you coming with them this year? If you are coming with them again this year, you just need to wait until they get their formal ‘you are joining us for 2014’ notice and then start planning your menu and wardrobe.  If you are NOT coming with them and want your own invitation…you need to register on the wait list at  https://okanagan.dinerenblanc.com/register and you will get an invite in Phase 3.  Only registered members get a Phase 1 invite and guests of registered members are not registered members. (Only 1 person per couple is a registered member).
 
If you have a friend who is in Phase 1 and they register to ATTEND in 2014 (they MUST attend in 2014), they will have the option to ‘sponsor’ someone and a guest (a couple).  These people are in what we call Phase 2.  Phase 2 invitations to register go out approximately June 16^th.  All Phase 2 people will get an email inviting you to register with a code.  You will go to the website address in your letter and using your code, log in to be a 2014 guest.  You and 1 guest (a couple) are included in your email invitation.  When you log in you will be asked to select your bus location, select your wine, order a picnic basket if you’d like, confirm your order, process payment and then you will get your official ‘YES ..you are joining us for 2014’ notice. 
 
Phase 3 is the last group – this is what we call our wait list.  These emails go out approximately June 18^th.  Because Phase 1 and Phase 2 have already had the opportunity to log in and book their space, the number of spaces left will be limited.  We encourage everyone on Phase 3 to register as soon as possible after they get their email inviting them to register with a code.  You will go to the website address in your letter and using your code, log in to be a 2014 guest.  You and 1 guest (a couple) are included in your email invitation.  When you log in you will be asked to select your bus location (some may be limited or already full as you are in the last group to have access to the website), select your wine, order a picnic basket if you’d like, confirm your order, process payment and then you will get your official ‘YES ..you are joining us for 2014’ notice. 
 
Want to be with friends? If you and your friends wish to sit together at the event, it is mandatory that you depart on the same bus.  When you get your email invitation it will list the departure bus locations and the names of bus leaders.  When you are in the system with your code, you will be selecting your bus…please pick the same depature bus location with the same bus leader or you will not be together.  When you get to the location, each bus is assigned a different area of the secret location to set up their tables so you must arrive together to sit together.  If the bus is full that you want, select another bus from the same departure location as you will still be close by when you are at the secret location 
 
No one - including those who joined us for 2013 are definitely attending UNTIL they get their email invite containing the code to formally register on the website and complete their formal 2014 registration.   We hope this solves the Mystery of the Diner en Blanc Okanagan invitation.  We can't wait to welcome our 700 guests on July 10th!