Our production assistant, Patrice, is recently engaged and taking you along on her wedding planning journey. Check back every other Monday for more real-life wedding planning insights – or follow along here!
So I’m at the stage of wedding planning where all of the big stuff is done (date picked, vendors booked, dress bought, etc.) and all of the nitty gritty details are looming on the horizon. Even though we still have a long time before the big day, (it’s not until August!) I am the type of person that likes to get ahead as much as possible. I’ve found that in this in-between stage, there are a few tools that have really made all the difference in staying on top of everything!
1. Wedding Planning Binder
I am an organization freak, so one of the first things I did when we got engaged was create a wedding planning binder. I wanted a place that I could collect everything from jotted notes and vendor contracts to our budget and guest list. I couldn’t find one that perfectly suited my needs, so I created my own templates – and shared them on Apple Brides for all of you! Download these beauties here to kick off your binder and get organized.
2. Trello
Along with my obsession with organization comes a love of to-do lists. It’s really difficult for me to get anything done with a million “to-do’s” rolling around in my brain, and everyone knows that planning a wedding is basically just one giant extended to-do list. This is where Trello comes in. It’s basically a robust list making app. First, you set up your boards. I created one for our wedding planning timeline, one for our day of timeline, and one for our seating chart. You can then create an unlimited number of lists for each board. As you can see in the picture below, I added a different list for each time period. It’s super easy to add and remove tasks and see everything in one space! And the best part? You can easily share the board with your planner, fiance, parents, MOH, and/or anyone else that you want.
3. Wedding website
When we decided to create a wedding website, our primary reasoning was to easily disperse a large amount of information to our guests. We included everything from travel and hotel details, to wedding party introductions, and even our favorite local hangouts and restaurants. And don’t forget the registry! So many people prefer to buy wedding gifts online nowadays, and a wedding website hosts all of those links in one spot. (If you’re still wondering if you should do a wedding website, check out my detailed post about that here!)
4. Pinterest
Yes, you can (and should!) use Pinterest to help plan your wedding. Use it as an initial source of inspiration and a vision board that you can share with vendors, but it’s important that you know when to stop! You don’t want to get caught up in creating a “Pinterest” wedding. For more details on using Pinterest to plan your wedding, check out our post here.
5. Google Drive
Google Drive is by far the easiest way to share documents during the wedding planning process. Everyone has access to it, it’s reliable, and you can update and change as you go! I used Google Drive to share information with my planner, share dress options with my bridesmaids, and sharing budget information with my parents.
6. AllSeated
I discovered this gem as I was doing a little research for this post. And even though I’ve only known about AllSeated for a good 45 minutes, I am already obsessed. If you are a visual person, this tool is for you! It allows you to create a digital mockup of your venue to better understand where to place guests, vendors, and furniture. It’s easy to share with all of the people who need it including your planner and other vendors, family, and the wedding party so everyone will know what is happening and where they’re supposed to be on the big day!
