It's time to do away with those endless to-do lists and clunky spreadsheets. These wedding planning apps are guaranteed to streamline your wedmin.
Let’s face facts, weddings can be a logistical nightmare. Organising, planning, delegating, inviting, scheduling, sampling – your big day demands you to tick off an A-Z of verbs. You may already use the odd spreadsheet, email and phone reminder, but there are many apps now on the market that will help you bring together your big day with the confidence of a pro.
Whether it’s helping you orchestrate your to-do list, inspiring the design of your dress or tracking down personalised favours, it’s time to fully digitalise your wedding.
1. Hitched Wedding Planner – for managing all the details iOS & Android: Free
From to-do lists, budgets, guest lists and seating arrangements, ‘Hitched Wedding Planner’ is your one-stop shop for all your wedmin. The to-do list comes with 49 pre-loaded tasks which chronologically sync up to your wedding date. From ‘Advise caterers on the final number of guests’ to ‘The case for your honeymoon needs to be sent to your overnight hotel’, nothing gets by this little critter. Of course, you can delete and add your own points, because you may decline to ‘Send wedding cake to people unable to attend,’ but at least you can be happy in the knowledge that you’re not missing a trick. The budgeting section is also worth noting. Type in your overall budget and it will break down suggestions for how you dole it out. For example for a £25,000 wedding it suggests you budget £1,425 on the dress and £3,990 on catering.
2. Evernote – your digitalised ring binder iOS & Android: Free
Instead of lugging around a file bursting with receipts, business cards, menu samples and invoices let Evernote carry the weight. This powerful note-taking app syncs up across your devices allowing you to store photos, locations, drawings, web pages and itineraries. The sophisticated search system makes it incredibly easy to store and find things, it can even “read” print on stored photos enabling you to quickly track down that business card. Sharing your notes with your spouse-to-be also means you can assign tasks, tick off to-do lists and sync calendar reminders, insuring that you’re both working off the same page before saying “I do”!
3. Etsy – for making your wedding unique to you iOS & Android: Free
Online shopping platform Etsy is your gateway to finding imaginative wedding items that are tailor-made to your tastes. The platform focuses on handmade and vintage items and has a dedicated wedding section covering everything from cake toppers,wedding invitations, favours and best man gifts. You’ll find that a lot of pictures found on Pinterest originate from this site so it’s also great space to gather inspiration. If you’re liking what you’re seeing on the app – have a little browse at their blog as well as they have some great ‘How-To’ ideas.
4. Amazon – for the most comprehensive Wedding List iOS & Android: Free It may not be as glamorous, but Amazon’s Wedding List feature gives you a far wider selection than your local John Lewis. What’s more, the barscanner on the app allows you to zap away at anything that tickles your fancy when you’re out and about. It means that you’re not restricted to just one store and, as it’s Amazon, you know you’ll be giving your guests a good deal. Of course there are also hundreds of reviews and recommendations to help you figure out your dream items.
5. Appy Couple – for staying in contact with your guests
iOS & Android: $25
What with accommodation, direction, travel and RSVPs, there’s always lots of information that you need to impart to your guests. Of course you can go for the good old fashioned paper invite, but Appy Couple allows you to create a well designed website and app to display everything about your big day on. It also allows you and your guests to share photos, store dietary requirements and RSVP. As a free alternative you can use Word Press and set-up a wedding blog. They have plenty of wedding-themed templates to choose from and are easy to navigate around.
6. The Knot Look Book – for wedding dress inspiration
iOS & Android: Free
Trying on wedding dresses is a time-consuming business, so having an idea of what’s out there and what designers appeal helps saves time and unnecessary appointments. The Knot Look Book allows you to scroll through 8,000 of the latest wedding dresses currently on the market, filtering by designers, cut, fabric and budgets. You can also browse accessories, bridesmaid dresses and wedding rings. The only downside is that it it’s an American app, so the ‘Find A Store’ functionality doesn’t work on UK shores. Still you can test the waters to see what dresses and designers get you excited.
7. Event Brite – for weddings abroad
iOS & Android: Free
Event Brite is a must if you’re planning a wedding abroad and are paying up front for your guests. The app and website enables you to create “tickets” to your wedding, which guests then log on to and buy. This means you can do away with multiple separate payments whilst also allowing you to easily keep track of who’s paid and who hasn’t. You can of course personalise the tickets and collect any vital guest info when people checkout Read more at http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/uncategorised/best-wedding-planning-apps-78771#8shvGJSqmHE5tahH.99