To be clear…I am a natural born planner (and sometimes, an over planner), so I jumped into wedding planning with ease. Days after my Dazell popped the question this past May, I was well on my way to drafting a 200+ line project plan, budget tracker, guest list, and a list of action items.
Needless to say, planning a wedding is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before! It’s personal, intensive, (relatively) stressful…and seemingly unending! But now, with less than a year before we exchange vows, and all our “major” planning behind us, I’ve shortlisted the top tools that have made this process as easy as can be!
1) Zola
Zola has been an AMAZING resource for tracking our guest list, building our wedding website, and developing an all-in-one registry.
Hands down, my favorite feature is the “request more information” guest list feature. It generates a personalized link that can be texted/emailed to guests to get their updated contact information. Talk about time saver!
2) Our wedding planner—FMD Events!
For a while, we really debated the value of a planner. Planning services can be a pretty big investment and I didn’t like the idea of turning all of my decisions over to someone else.
But once we learned about the different package options planners offer (we picked the services that made most sense to us) I couldn’t wait to get started! The best part about having a planner is having an expert that I can bounce all my questions, thoughts and ideas off of. I know my wedding will be so much better because of her!
3) Wedding Podcasts
I subscribe to a TON of podcasts (and listen to them all at 1.5 speed to be efficient) so it wasn’t long before I searched for ones that were wedding-focused! Now, 50+ episodes later, this is definitely one of my favorite resources.
Listening to these episodes has answered tons of questions about decorating, budgeting advice, and even wedding insurance!
4) Instagram
To be honest, I started an Instagram “collection” for wedding inspo a few months before we were actually engaged (what can I say…I was eager!). I got early inspiration for wedding themes, reception features, bridesmaid dresses and more from accounts like MunaLuchi Bride, WedNola, and Wedding Day Ready. And beyond inspiration, I get to see snippets of real celebrations from real brides, which has helped me make some pretty significant decisions about our big day.
Most notably, I found our photographer and videographer on the ‘gram! I fell in love with the videographer first and found my photographer when looking through posts the videographer was tagged in (which introduced me to vendors a bunch of other vendors they’d worked with)! We had our engagement shoot a little over a month ago and I’m thrilled with our choice.
For any married ladies out there, what resources did you find most helpful? Leave me a note in the comments section below!
I planned my wedding myself with help of a few friends and my now husband, I had downloaded a few different apps with checklists that helped keep track of everything. A wedding planner was considered but I think I’m a bit of a control freak and didn’t want to have someone make decisions for me .
Enjoy this time to the fullest, because it goes by so fast!
Wishing you many years of happiness!
Wow! Amazing tips Whitney! I didn’t event know there were wedding podcasts! Lol 😅
You will definitely go far in the wedding industry! Thanks for the shout out!! 🥰🤗😘
You made some excellent choices!!! Will make the wedding less stressful.