Creating a full-featured Birthday & Event Reminder CMS with SMS and WhatsApp messaging using Laravel is a great project idea! Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of how you can build it, including the architecture, features, and key implementation steps.

🎯 SMS and WhatsApp messaging using Laravel

App Name: EventPulse
Stack: Laravel (Backend), MySQL (Database), Vue.js or Blade (Frontend), Twilio/Msg91 (SMS), WhatsApp Cloud API

🧩 Core Features

1. 🎂 Birthday & Event Management

Add, edit, delete birthdays and custom events
Recurring events (e.g., yearly birthdays)
Event categories (Birthday, Anniversary, Meeting, etc.)

2. ⏰ Reminder System

Schedule reminders (e.g., 1 day before, same day)
Email, SMS, and WhatsApp notification options
Daily cron job to check and dispatch reminders

3. 💬 Messaging System

Send SMS via Twilio or Msg91
Send WhatsApp messages via WhatsApp Cloud API
Message templates with placeholders (e.g., {{name}}, {{event}})

4. 📇 Contact Management

Import contacts via CSV
Group contacts (e.g., Family, Friends, Work)
Store phone numbers, WhatsApp numbers, email

5. 📊 Dashboard & Logs

Upcoming events
Sent message logs
Delivery status (if supported by API)

🏗️ System Architecture

Laravel (API + Backend Logic)

│
├── Models: User, Contact, Event, Reminder, MessageLog
├── Controllers: EventController, ReminderController, MessageController
├── Jobs: SendReminderJob
├── Services: SmsService, WhatsAppService
├── Notifications: EventReminderNotification
├── Scheduler: Kernel.php (for daily reminders)
└── Frontend: Blade or Vue.js

🛠️ Implementation Steps

1. 🔧 Set Up Laravel Project

composer create-project laravel/laravel eventpulse
cd eventpulse
php artisan migrate

2. 📁 Create Models & Migrations

php artisan make:model Contact -m
php artisan make:model Event -m
php artisan make:model Reminder -m
php artisan make:model MessageLog -m

Define relationships:

Contact hasMany Events
Event hasOne Reminder

3. 📤 Messaging Services

Create services for SMS and WhatsApp:

php artisan make:service SmsService
php artisan make:service WhatsAppService

Use APIs like:

Twilio — SMS Provider
WappBiz — WhatsApp Business API provider

4. 🧠 Schedule Reminders

In App\Console\Kernel.php:

protected function schedule(Schedule $schedule)
{
$schedule->job(new SendReminderJob)->daily();
}

Create the job:

php artisan make:job SendReminderJob

Inside the job, fetch reminders due today and dispatch messages.

5. 📬 Notifications

Use Laravel Notifications for email/SMS/WhatsApp:

php artisan make:notification EventReminderNotification

Customize channels and message formatting.

6. 🖼️ Frontend (Optional Vue.js or Blade)

Dashboard with upcoming events
Forms to add/edit contacts and events
Logs of sent messages

🔐 Security & Permissions

User authentication (Laravel Breeze or Jetstream)
Role-based access (Admin, User)
Rate limiting for message sending

📦 Bonus Features

🎨 Message template editor
📅 Calendar view of events
📈 Analytics on message delivery
🔁 Auto-repeat for recurring events

🚀 Deployment Tips

Use Laravel Forge or Vapor for deployment
Set up cron jobs on server for reminders
Secure API keys in .env

Now, start building your own Birthday and Event reminder system using Laravel.

Birthday & Event Reminder CMS with SMS and WhatsApp messaging using Laravel