JQuery :: Php Form With Basic Popup Notification Message When Php Has Made A Successful MySQL Db Update?

I have very basic javascript skills, just started looking into jQuery and jQueryTools to enhance my websites. I have been coding PHP for about 1.5 years.I have a php form with which users can update their purchase order before making a final confirmation and payment.

Thought it would be nice if, instead of using php for redirecting to a success/fail message in a separate php file and redirecting again back to the form with a 3 second delay, I could get a jQuery script to pop up with a success/fail message, so avoiding all the clumsy php redirecting and page refreshing.I've searched for plugins, but they all act on event listeners attached to a submit button or other clickable html element.Ive searched the net for ages and can't find an easily understood explanation and complete example, where a jQuery pop up notification is displayed in response to a php script executing a db update.