The world of wedding planning tools can be overwhelming.
Have you heard this before…
You just got engaged!! 🎉CONGRATULATIONS!!🎉
…then thought to yourself…
Now, what?
The answer doesn’t always come easy.
Whether you are a total type-A person who is ready to tackle anything that comes her way or a laid-back “whatever happens happens” bride, at SOME point you will have to make a decision on the wedding planning tools that fit your style and budget.
It’s no secret that your wedding day is the most important day of your life and it should be perfect.
And you and all your family and friends will be talking about your wedding day for years to come.
No pressure, right??
Right, because WedTexts has your back!
Every single day, our company focuses on making sure that the wedding planning process and your day-of coordination becomes easier for you so that you can spend your perfect wedding day absolutely stress-free.
Seems like it’s too good to be true? It’s not. Just keep reading to see how to design the stress-free wedding of your dreams.
There are lots of amazing wedding planning tools that can help you every step of the way. Rather than making you research all of them yourself, we’ve gone ahead and done it for you.
We have compiled this list of wedding planning tools so that you can use it to make the wedding planning process much easier.
Here’s how this post works.
Our post is divided into seven sections. Each of them represents a different portion of your wedding planning process.
Each of them shows you the best wedding planning tools and wedding technology available to help you along the way.
For instance, need a website to keep all your information in one place? There’s a tool for that.
Need an app that communicates plans or last-minute changes to all your guests? There’s a tool for that.
Need a service that lets you design and mail your save the dates and invites? You guessed it! There’s a tool for that, too.
Heads up, though…
We’re constantly researching and revising this post, which means that we will be updating it regularly with new and amazing wedding planning tools as they come out.
Finally, in order to make sure you don’t miss out on anything, go ahead and bookmark this page for later and use it as your go-to resource as you check off your wedding checklist!
Let’s Explore These Wedding Planning Tools!
It seems like you’ve found this page (and read this far) because you are newly engaged and embarking on the wedding planning journey…
If you’re not, you’d better be a wedding planner or a wedding nut, because otherwise, this post won’t do it for you.
Below you’ll find everything you need to know about picking the best wedding planning tools for your wedding.
You may have already dabbled around in your budget and created a must (and must NOT) invite guest list or maybe you haven’t spent any time thinking about it at all.
The following is a list of wedding planning categories that you will find in almost every wedding.
As you complete your wedding checklist, you can click on any of the links directly below and you’ll be taken straight to that section so you can peruse the wedding planning tools we have put together for you.
Happy planning!
Table of Contents
Wedding Planning Tool | Budget:
Even though we find the wedding budget to be one of the most important things when it comes to wedding planning, many people underestimate the number of things that you need to spend money on at your wedding.
I’m talking tips and gratuities, trial runs for hair and make-up, overage and cleaning charges…See?
Those are just a few expenses that you don’t think of until all the money is already allocated.
Also, keep the style of your wedding in mind. After all, the average wedding costs $33,931. If that seems like a lot to you just wait until you break it down item by item. Yikes!
We haven’t even talked about the dreaded discussion about who will be paying for all this…
Parents? Extended family? You and your fiancé?
Our advice: have an open conversation without expectations. What matters is the love you share. Beautiful weddings don’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
Once you are clear on who will pay and how much your total budget is you can move on with the help of these tools.
To make it even easier for you, we’ve put together this simple wedding budget calculator so you can see how your budget may be split up.
Keep in mind, this is only an estimate and you may have to adjust some figures up or down.
For the full wedding budget breakdown, check out our post on how to create your wedding budget.
From there on you can use:
The Knot Wedding Budget Planner
In order to use The Knot’s Budget Planner, you have to be a member and sign up.
But no worries, it’s free!
Simply, log-in to your newly created account and mess around with their easy-to-use dashboard that helps you keep track of how much you budgeted for each line item and how much was actually spent.
Above all, the line items are clearly divided up and give you extra room for note-taking (which is a must-have for a note-nerd like me).
The downside to their wedding budget planner is that this does not show you how much of your budget should go where, but that’s what our wedding budget calculator is for!
Overall, this is our favorite wedding budget planner that’s currently out there. We recommend you sign-up and give it a try!
Moving right along your wedding planning tools checklist.
Next stop: wedding website!
Wedding Planning Tool | Website:
Your wedding website is THE central location for all your wedding information like your love story *awwww*, your wedding schedule, lodging, transportation, etc.
Don’t worry though, we aren’t going to suggest you go and build your own custom website (unless you want to… *cough* overachiever *cough*).
Good news is that you won’t have to search long to find a company that offers to help you create your wedding website.
Bad news is that there are A LOT of options out there.
Make sure your wedding website builder lets you create a website that works for YOU.
While some may not have the same tools as others or only allow those features after you’ve paid…
Others may have it all for free but are tough to create, edit, or navigate for you and for your guests.
With you in mind, we have picked several great options for you to check out.
Choose one from our selection to keep from getting stuck in the weeds using a bad wedding website builder with a crappy wedding guest experience.
Keep in mind, a good wedding website should do the following:
- Allow you to tell your story as a couple
- Let you showcase pictures, dates, and locations
- Offer tools of its own to help gather RSVPs, connect with local vendors, link your registry,…
Below is our list of links to the top 4 places to create your wedding website.
Your One-Stop-Shop
ZOLA
First and foremost, Zola focuses on your registry.
It has evolved from there to accompany you from engagement to wedding to decorating your home as newlyweds.
It also offers other free wedding planning tools like a guest list manager, apparel and accessory online boutique, and, you guessed it, a wedding website.
To set up your website, you can follow an easy step-by-step process. You can:
- Pick a design theme and customize it (to an extent)
- Add up to 2 pictures on your home screen
- Tell your love story
- Create a wedding schedule
- Inform your guests about travel and lodging
- Link an existing registry or register on ZOLA
- Introduce your wedding party
- Upload photos
- Suggest fun things to do
- Write an FAQ section
- Create an online RSVP form
If you don’t want or don’t have information for one or more of the pages you can simply move a toggle switch to “invisible” and it won’t show on your website. Easy as pie!
| Pro Tip: Here’s a great question to get your FAQ started: Q: How do I keep track of what’s going on during your wedding? A: WEDTEXTS. 😉 |
The Tried and True
The Knot
The Knot is the premiere spot for organizing your wedding vision and creating an actionable plan.
Similarly to ZOLA, they are a one-stop-shop for all things wedding related.
This is good for you!
Remember, you are using these wedding planning tools to make your life easier.
Therefore, the more services ONE provider does well, the fewer providers you’ll need to use and the pickier you can be with your choice.
To be honest, setting up your website is not quite as intuitive and customizable as it is on ZOLA. Nevertheless, it gives you tons of options to create something to fit your vision and here is how:
- Pick a design theme
- You cannot customize the theme
- Choose the default URL or create your own
From here you will move to your website dashboard where everything is laid out in tiles. You can add:
- Your love story
- Travel and lodging information
- Things to do at the location
- Wedding party introductions
- Photos
- Your registry
You can also click the gear icon to change the name of the page to fit your needs or choose to make it invisible for guests.
For the Luxury Lovers
Appy Couple
Yes, it’s Appy Couple with an “A”. Believe me, I double-checked!
Hear me out on this one: Unlike the other tools that we introduced, Appy Couple does not offer their accounts for free.
Instead, you have a choice between two levels of access: Boutique and Luxury.
And that is EXACTLY what you are getting. If you are the type of bride that expects the best of the best, this is perfect for you!
Exclusive designer and trendsetter themes that perfectly coordinate between your app, website, and stationary, plus wedding planning tools like guest list management and photo sharing. For an upcharge, you can purchase digital and vector files of your custom monogram, matching stationery, and a personalized domain.
Tech-Savvy Alternative
SquareSpace
SquareSpace is not traditionally a wedding website creator. It lets you create websites for all your needs from online stores and blogs to non-profits and restaurants. You can even transfer or purchase a custom domain name.
After creating your account, you can choose to set up your website using the step-by-step guide or do it yourself if you are familiar with the process.
Similar to the other sites, you can choose a template, add photos, and choose to include several editable pages, like:
- Our Story
- When & Where
- Registry (integrated with a ZOLA registry)
- RSVP
Since SquareSpace offers websites for a variety of uses, they offer a high degree of customization and website analytics.
For tech-savvy couples that want a lot of customization, this is the way to go.
Now, on to the most important piece to the puzzle, wedding communication.
Wedding Planning Tool | Communication:
Traditional wedding communication consists of an invitation and RSVP card with a stamped return envelope.
Then, wedding couples realized that the wedding invitations were being sent to their guests too late (about 3 months before the wedding day) and many of their “more popular” guests already had commitments.
So, wedding couples added another piece of stationery, the save-the-dates.
And that’s it for wedding communication.
Save the date. Here’s your invite. See you in 3 months.
Now, because weddings are becoming bigger and bigger (read expensive) the powers that be decided everyone needed a better way to share all of their information online.
Bring on the wedding websites.
We LOVE wedding websites and think they are a staple of a modern wedding, but there’s a MAJOR disconnect here…
You painstakingly spend hours creating the perfect website, curating the most attractive picture for your wedding party from social media, writing the cutest love story of how you met your fiancé, and now you’re ready to drive guests (send traffic) to your wedding website.
But how?
Duhhh, I got it!
We’ll write it in tiny font and put it on our save-the-dates!
This way, people will see it once, totally bookmark it, and go back to it all the time to learn about our wedding.
It’s the perfect plan!
Right…
Let me clue you in something…
People👏Don’t👏Go👏To👏Your👏Wedding👏Website
(unless you continuously remind them it exists AND how to get there)
Think about it.
How often do you return to a website unless it was to read an informative blog post like this one or look at hilarious cat gifs (like this)?
You don’t.
Advertisers and marketers get paid big bucks to figure out how to drive people to their websites, because they know if you don’t market your site, people aren’t going to magically show up.
So, if people aren’t going to your site, why do we even build it in the first place?
Having all your wedding information accessible online is clutch, but right now the best solution people have is sending it on a paper save-the-date that people are throwing away or leaving at home when they finally attend your wedding months later.
The real question then is, how do I get my guests to actually view my website?
Most brides just wait until someone texts them asking for details and directions that they already have. Then they just reply with the wedding website URL.
How messed up is this?!
It’s your freaking wedding weekend!
STOP LETTING YOUR GUESTS ANNOY YOU ON YOUR BIG DAY!
You’ve got enough to worry about, so don’t let this be one more thing on your mental desk.
So, what now then?
How do you get people to stop bothering you on your wedding weekend for details they should already have?
Simple.
You use WedTexts to do all the stressful work for you! Ta-daaaa!
WedTexts allows you to pre-schedule all your wedding communication in 5-minutes or less using our Easy-Fill Templates©️.
So far, there are templates for:
- Engagement Party
- RSVP Reminder
- Wedding Website
- Wedding Hotel Block Reminder
- Welcome Party
- Ceremony Rehearsal
- Rehearsal Dinner
- Wedding Ceremony
- Reception
- Brunch
And we’re adding more all the time!
You can even segment your guest list into unlimited groups, so guests get the messages that are important to them.
And, aside from using the Easy-Fill Templates©️, you can also schedule unlimited reminders and send unlimited real-time messages to all of the guests that are at your wedding!
This way, if anything changes last minute, you’re able to communicate those changes to your entire guest list without breaking a sweat.
It’s like having a personal day-of wedding planner at your fingertips. 😀
Best of all, WedTexts doesn’t require your guests to download anything to receive WedTexts reminders, because they are sent directly to their cell phone via SMS messaging.
This way, even your grandma and pops can get in on the action. They’ll love to be included in your modern wedding!
Turning back to your wedding website, we’ve found that many couples actually use WedTexts as an extension of their wedding website.
Here is a sample text that a real WedTexts couple has sent:
We created WedTexts to fill the void in the wedding communication industry created by the traditions of using paper stationery and modern wedding couples’ desires to bring their wedding into the present with a techy wedding website.
There are TONS of wedding planning tools out there, but WedTexts is the ONLY tool that allows you to effortlessly communicate with your guests.
This includes avoiding miscommunications with the wedding party, vendors, family, and guests that can create stress-inducing problems for wedding couples and wedding planners.
Here’s a quick list of common wedding planning miscommunications:
- Bridesmaids dresses aren’t ordered on time, which makes getting alterations a problem, which makes dresses look frumpy for your big day.
- Groomsmen don’t get their tuxes ordered, which can lead to out-of-stock items and last-minute changes to their wardrobe.
- Family members don’t know what to wear to the rehearsal dinner, which looks pretty funny when Uncle Charlie walks up in his cargo shorts to your semi-formal dinner.
- Guests don’t sign your guest book, which is a big regret for a lot of couples when they open the book up the following year to reminisce about their wedding day.
- This list could go on for days…
WedTexts takes the stress out of wedding communication and enhances the guest experience so that everyone has an unforgettable time at your wedding.
When you need to send a mass message to your guests, it is far easier to do it with WedTexts than any other way.
We are the best wedding planning tool to partner with your website, vendors, and wedding planner (if you have one).
WedTexts helps you and your guests squeeze every last bit out of your wedding experience.
Click here to learn more about WedTexts
Easy-Fill© templates FTW!!
Why not set up pre-scheduled reminders or use our Easy-Fill© templates and let WedTexts answer all of your guests’ burning questions, like:
- When is the last day to RSVP?
- How do I RSVP?
- What is the wedding website?
- What’s the passcode for the wedding website?
- What’s the address to the venue?
- What hotel should we stay at?
- What time is the rehearsal?
- Where is the rehearsal?
- What should I wear to the rehearsal & dinner?
- Where is the wedding again?
- What time is the wedding?
- Is the reception at the wedding venue?
- Is there transportation provided?
- What time does the morning-after brunch start?
WedTexts is FREE to use with your entire wedding party!
What do you have to lose?
Wedding Planning Tool | Vendors:
When it’s time to choose your wedding vendors, it’s really helpful to come prepared.
Vendors are going to want to know your budget, your wedding guest list count, and a lot of other details, so they can help you get the perfect package for your special day.
By getting all of this information organized and prepared using the wedding planning tools we already explored, you will find it much easier to seek out your perfect vendors.
The vendor selection is likely to take some time and may be one of the harder decisions you make during the wedding planning process. It can be helpful to use multiple vendor sites to find the right one.
Let’s review some of the top wedding vendor tools out there for weddings.
Wedding Spot
Wedding Spot is a great place to search for your wedding venue.
It lets you filter results by price, location, and style. Wedding Spot also gives you a price range for each venue depending on the number of guests you plan on having.
If you need help narrowing down your wedding venue options, Wedding Spot is a great place to start.
The “downside” is that you can only search for venues.
The Knot
Then, of course, there is The Knot. As a one-stop-shop for all things wedding, they have a variety of vendor categories that you can search by location.
From there you can further narrow down your search by reviews, price point, and specifics like flower arrangements or flower choice for florists.
The great thing is that you start your search on a very high level, then focus on what is most important to you and of course, The Knot offers hundreds, if not thousands, of vendors to choose from in each area.
Wedding Wire
WeddingWire is one of the other major players in the wedding space and is now a part of The Knot Worldwide. They began as a review site for wedding vendors and have since become one of the most popular sites to help plan your wedding.
Since they started as a review site, they can give you a lot of information on the quality of various vendors to help you get a better idea of which vendor is right for you.
They actually start you out with a dashboard of 21 vendor categories, the “vendor manager”. You can search for your perfect vendor and keep track of who you’ve already hired. This can be a super helpful visual showing you what all you have already accomplished.
Offbeat Bride Vendors
Calling all non-traditionalist out there.
Not up for a cutsie-tootsie cookie-cutter wedding?
The Offbeat Bride has many unique wedding ideas, and they have a catalog of vendors that specialize in making your big day as unique as you!
You can search for your wedding vendor by location or category and be sure to find someone in your area that will match your outside-the-box style.
Entertainers Worldwide
The above mentioned wedding vendor search tools offer a wide variety of vendors to choose from. But if you’re looking for the experts in Wedding Entertainment, look no further!
Entertainers Worldwide offers a huge range of wedding entertainment categories – the image only gives you a small snapshot!
You’re sure to find the wedding entertainment that makes your wedding an unforgettable event for you and your guests!
Use ALL Of These Vendor Recommendation Tools
There is nothing wrong with using multiple tools at this stage. We cannot emphasize enough that this is a difficult part of wedding planning. Your vendor choices can make or break your wedding.
We advise having backup vendors for all the key components such as venue, florist, and caterer. You don’t want a vendor to back out at the last minute and not have a plan B.
Wedding Planning Tool | Registry:
When I think of gift registries, I think of a 90’s couple taking the registry-gun around Macy’s or Bed Bath and Beyond. A couple of flower vases, a gravy boat, and a ridiculously expensive piece of art.
If you do too, that is still a possibility at most retailers. But for those of us that have moved into the digital age, setting up your registry is basically online shopping without having to check out.
A strong registry is one that allows you to easily add gifts with the click of a button and gives guests a convenient way to purchase your desired gifts.
The better the tool you use for this, the more likely it is to receive the items you most want to take into your newlywed life.
ZOLA
Zola started as a simple-to-use and easy-to-purchase online registry tool that has now grown into an entire host of wedding planning tools.
That being said, the registry is still what Zola is known for and they make getting what you want super easy.
You can register for anything from anywhere. From that Ninja blender to extra cash for your honeymoon, they got you covered.
You can get the gifts delivered to your doorstep and your guests enjoy free shipping. Not only that, but ZOLA also offers price matching and allows group gifting for the more expensive items. ZOLA gives you a 20% discount for 6 months on those items that your guests do not purchase for you as gifts.
Simple Registry
As soon as you make it to SimpleRegistry’s home page there is a number that catches your eye: 53,522. Since 2004, SimpleRegistry has 53,522 members.. They must be on to something.
| Side note: As of this post’s first edit (November 2019), 2004 is as far away as 2034. MIND. BLOWN. |
SimpleRegistry lets you register any gift from anywhere and your guests can split the cost of a more expensive item between them.
Okay, so what? Zola lets you do that.
True, but SimpleRegistry has a different approach:
While you set up your registry with specific products and experiences in mind, you do not receive these gifts.
“Wait whattt?! Now she’s lost her mind. That makes no sense!” Just stick with me here for a sec.
Instead of having to deal with the shipping and handling of the physical product, SimpleRegistry lets you add a product you like to the registry and your guests contribute money toward that item.
This way, Aunt Karen doesn’t just hand you an envelope with cash that you will use for who-knows-what, she actually sees what her money is being put toward.
You can redeem your monetary gifts whenever you like and SimpleRegistry sends you a check or bank transfer.
Check out their other cool gadgets too:
- Simple Adder, which lets you add any gift similar to Pinterest’s Pin It button,
- Free mobile app, where you can snap photos or scan barcodes of in-store items,
- And Instant Registry, allowing you to set up a full registry in about 30 seconds.
Fine print: Setting up the registry and receiving the gifts is 100% free, but they do charge the gift-givers 2.45% and $0.99 per credit card transaction.
Wedding Planning Tool | Invites:
Although there are lots of digital options to inviting your guests, paper invitations are still the standard. There is just something about receiving personal paper mail, don’t you think?
| Fun Fact: We actually just had our first wedding go 100% paperless using WedTexts for their invitations! |
Therefore, if you’re going to stick with tradition and plan to send your wedding invitations via snail mail, we recommend checking out the site below to make your life a lot easier.
Minted
Minted is a fast and easy way to create all of the print material for your wedding.
They have a wide variety of designs from independent artists that you can customize to a certain extent. You are likely to find something that meets your budget. Additionally, you have the option of ordering a free sample kit.
One of the main reasons we love Minted is that they make it easy for you to “brand” your wedding across all mediums.
Vistaprint
I would be surprised if you have not yet heard of Vistaprint. They are best known for creating personalized business cards and offer a TON more.
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Of course, matching designs for RSVP cards, Thank You notes, and envelope seals are right there at your fingertips, too.
Shutterfly
You thought you order a few hundred invitations and you’re done? Well, one visit to Shutterfly’s website shows that there is much, much more that you “need”.
| TBH: We love a good tool like a fat kid loves cake and this IS a post about wedding planning tools. Yet, at the end of the day what truly matters is the LOVE that you share with your partner on your wedding day and the rest of your days. |
Shutterfly does a great job of acting as your one-stop-shop for all things print, not just invitations. While that is still the focus, you can also order menus, wedding keepsakes, wedding party gifts, wedding party invitations, and more.
Wedding Planning Tool | Transportation:
Man, you’re on a roll!! See how much you already figured out? Whoever said wedding planning is hard must’ve never visited our blog!!
Question for ya:
Is your wedding ceremony at the same location as the cocktail hour, the reception, the guest lodging, your wedding night accommodations?
If you answered “no” to any part of that question, which I can almost guarantee…
*cringe* just imagine the bridal suite right in between both in-laws’ rooms. Awkward…
…then you should also consider transportation between the different locations.
Finally, it can not only be a fun addition to improving your guests’ experience, but it can also add safety by reducing the risks of your guests getting behind the wheel after fully enjoying themselves at the wedding reception.
Below are two sites to check out, to see if these services are readily available in your area.
Buster
Buster is the right company for you if you are looking to have your guests transported in luxury vehicles. Compare, search, and choose the vehicle that best meets your needs.
Not ready to commit? Well, you should work on that with your wedding around the corner.
Just kidding, it’s no problem.
You won’t be charged until 7 days before the event. If you need to make edits to your itinerary, there is plenty of time.
Go Go Charters
Go Go Charters exclusively offers buses and for good reason! They certainly tend to fit larger groups than limousines and vans and have plush seating, air conditioning, and sometimes even wifi.
They promise to take the stress out of planning – hey, that sounds familiar! – and promise to never compromise on their core values: Punctuality, Availability, Professionalism, and Flexibility.
The buses and bus drivers are fully vetted as well.
Their buses can fit a good number of people. As a result, you can be sure that no guest will get left behind at the hotel, get lost in traffic, or arrive late because they couldn’t find parking.
You Are Now A Wedding Planning Tool Expert
Let’s be real, you probably didn’t read all of this in one sitting and if you did, yay you! Way to go!
Now you are an expert on all the latest tech tools that help you plan the perfect wedding. From wedding budget to website to communication and transportation, it’s all right here.
As we said in the beginning, make sure you bookmark this page and check back for updates.
We hope that these wedding planning tool recommendations saved you some valuable time researching. Now you can spend that time wine or cake tasting!!
What has been your favorite wedding planning tool to use and why?
Thanks for the comment :-D
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