Wedding Apps and Websites You Need to Know About
Article by: Hannah Holbrook
Let’s face it, wedding planning is intense. Venues, themes, RSVP’s, seating charts, registries, bridal showers, fitting appointments, cake tastings, color selections, vendor payments, and a hundred other coordinating details you can’t remember, swirl through your head as you and your lover attempt to throw the biggest party you’ll probably ever plan. The average couple in the United States is engaged for fourteen months (The Knot, Real Wedding Study). In those months, every bride undergoes a transformation. No matter how introverted, passive, care-free, or easy-going you are, once you’re engaged, you’ve just become a Project Manager. It’s a daunting task, but there is no reason for fear. The wedding planning process can be as fun or as stressful as you’d like it to be. Like any good Project Manager, it is important to be informed of all of the tools at your disposal to complete your project- efficiently, smoothly, and within budget. Here are some apps and websites that will help you coordinate and manage the details of your wedding.
WeddingWire – This website is a venue and vendor master database perfect for any bride who doesn’t know where to start. You can filter vendors by price, location, and rating. The best part? The site is home to over 2.5 million reviews from real brides. Think Yelp, but for weddings.
Wedding Happy – If you’re planning your wedding without a wedding coordinator, you’re going to want to download this free app. It will become your personal wedding planning assistant. The app is preloaded with tasks to guide you through your to-dos and it even alerts you as deadlines approach. Wedding Happy will kindly remind some of the most uncoordinated brides to “mail invites” or “pay deposit for the band” like a wedding coordinator would do in real life. Did I mention that it’s free, what’s not to love?
Honey Fund – The registry game has changed, and Honey Fund is your way to keep up. With this app, you have all the benefits of a traditional registry but can also explore new registry trends like honeymoon registries, home down payment registries, charity registries, and other nontraditional registry options.
Google Drive – Want a universal way to keep everyone on the same page? When it comes to sharing wedding information, don’t mess around with random wedding apps that everyone in your bridal party will have to download. With Google Drive, brides can share Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDFs, photos- pretty much anything you can imagine, seamlessly to anyone with a Google account. A shared folder with your guest list, budget, vendor contracts, décor inspiration, venue photos, and other wedding details will keep everyone on your team on the same page throughout the wedding planning process.
The Knot – We love the Knot for many reasons: wedding inspiration, planning tips, vendor listings, and so many other fun wedding resources. Their app is an amazing wedding planner in and of itself. It features a wedding timeline checklist, a guest list manager, an all-in-one registry, a wedding day timeline planner, a budget tracker, and so much more. But the main reason they make this list is for their free wedding website service. Not only are their websites user friendly and gorgeous, boasting over 160 professionally designed templates, they are completely free. The Knot’s wedding websites sync up with the app for a seamless collaboration of all things wedding.
Pantone Studio – Coordinating a color palette that looks beautiful is a lot harder than you think it is. There are thousands of shades in every color family, and each one carries a different mood and tone. Finding one perfect shade is already difficult, but creating an entire palette that flows cohesively and expresses your vision? Leave it to the professionals. Pantone, a global authority on color, has a free app that allows you to build color palettes through using professionally developed color guides. You can extract colors from images on your phone or Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram accounts, and apply colors against different designs including graphics, interiors, and typography. You can also browse through their articles focusing on the emotions, meanings, and psychology behind different colors.
Minted – Soon after you get engaged, you will be investing in postage. Save the dates, formal invitations, and thank you cards will all need to be designed, printed, addressed, and mailed. Minted features thousands of unique designs by independent artists. Whether you’re just looking for inspiration or you need to order your invites today, you won’t find a more user friendly and beautiful wedding stationary site. The best part? If you’re the kind of buyer that needs to see something before you make a final purchase, Minted will send you a free sample of any design. They also offer free wedding websites to match the design of your invitation.
While wedding planning can feel daunting, overwhelming, and altogether too much sometimes, with the right tools, your big day can come together seamlessly. I’m here to tell you that if you’re engaged, you are a Project Manager. Remember that you get to run your wedding; it doesn’t have to run you. Enjoy the process, use all the tools at your disposal, and rely on the people you love and trust to help you make it all happen.