Planning a wedding is stressful.
Let us pause for a moment while you reel from the sheer enormity of that patently obvious understatement.
Lucky for you there is an enormous amount of online resources out there to drastically reduce your planning hours and stress levels. This list will show you which ones to choose from.
Our ultimate list of 29 wedding tools and websites to make planning your wedding easier is a generous mix of practical tools and exceptional resources that help you get your bases covered from day one.
Easy Weddings Directory App
Online Tool/App
A mobile wedding directory
http://www.easyweddings.com.au/apps
Free
One of two apps this website offers.
A great way to get across the different options available in all the different industries you will need to put your wedding together. Having everything together in one app makes it easier to cram a bit of wedding research in when you have a spare moment here and there.
When the time comes to actually start hiring people you will have a much better understanding of what is on offer out there.
Bride Online
Online Tool/App
A mobile wedding directory
Free
Another great website with all the wedding vendors you could dream of. They also have great blogs, inspiration boards and heaps of planning tools too.
Wedding Wire App
Online Tool/App
Planning app
https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-apps
Price: Free
Wedding Wire is a great resource for finding wedding inspiration and budgeting tools but what we really recommend is their free app.
It has a homepage with a wedding countdown function, and in app searching for wedding vendors that have been reviews by users, forums to connect with other couples planning their wedding an integrated tasks list. They also offer a Wedding social app that can be used by all the guests of the wedding for crucial information like directions and starting times for your ceremony and reception and the ability to share the photos they take at the event.
Appy Couple
Online Tool/App
Custom website and app builder
$59 – $99 once off payment.
Appy Couples is a service that lets you make a bespoke website and app for your wedding.
Like many make-your-websites, Appy Couple offers a simple to use drag-and-drop design making it easy to set up in no time and from there it can become the go to hub for all your guests on everything happening with the wedding.
The packages include features designed specifically for wedding management, such as managing guest lists, RSVPs and sending alerts for updates to guests that download the app It also has a ‘day-of’ feature that collates pictures taken through the app in one place and can live stream them even as they are being taken.
WeddingHappy
Online Tool/App
Planning app
Free (available in iOS only)
WeddingHappy is an organisation app that is specifically designed for keeping a timeline on tasks for weddings.
It has features like a ‘to-the-date’ countdown, a progress graph to show you what percentage of entered tasks you have completed and suggested tasks and how long before your date you should have them completed.
The appeal of this app over any basic task app is it is structured to specifically deal with the challenge of planning a wedding. The amount of tasks to get done can be overwhelming when you first start, but this app lets you jump several days into the planning process with no effort at all.
Hitched Directories
Australia
Online directories for wedding services
Free
An Australian website that is a great directory resource for finding wedding venues, wedding suppliers, wedding dress designers and other wedding resources.
Wedding Club
Online Tool/App
Curated wedding content
Free
A huge range of wedding content to browse in a broad range of wedding categories.
Something like a Pinterest just for weddings (although all the content comes from onsite). Make an account and you can save stories to read later.
There is a directory of suppliers as well.
Loverly
Online Tool/App
Virtual Wedding Planner
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/?id=619474897
Variety of plans (iOS only)
This app from the Loverly team gives you a wedding planner in your pocket.
The in app-chat means, whenever you are doing something for your wedding or just have a bit of spare time for planning, you can ask your Loverly Concierge advice on anything wedding related from budgets to etiquette questions.
Paperless Post
International
Paperless online invitations
https://www.paperlesspost.com/cards/section/wedding-collection
Price: Send Online For Free
Paperless post lets you design and send all your wedding invitations from your computer.
You can upload your own photos to personalise a number of great templates or design one yourself. They give the option of emailing all the invites out or creating paper copies.
The online version is much more useful with the ability to add gift registries and import contact’s names and emails to send in one big blast. Unfortunately, ordering physical invites can only be sent in bulk to a single location with no addresses, so if that’s the path you want to take Paperless Post will not be much of a time or cost saver.
Dream Day Invitaions
International – Australia Based
Online wedding invitations
http://www.dreamdayinvitations.com.au
Price: $2.00 – $4.00 p/card
This Australian company is one of the best solution if you are set on mailing physical invitations.
They have a huge range of designs available and customisations can be made (at additional costs). The most convenient feature of this service, however, is they will print your guests name on the card and/or envelope (at an additional cost of 75c and 50c respectively). While they won’t actually mail them for you, this will save you a tonne of time when sending them out yourself
Online Tool/App
Inspiration and ideas
Free
A cliche, but there is a reason that everyone uses it when they are planning weddings.
Create and curated your old board and create pins to go back to later when you are at different stages of your wedding planning.
Peter’s of Kensington
Online Tool/App
Online Registry
https://www.petersofkensington.com.au
Free to register
Peter’s Of Kensington is one of the most versatile online gift-registry services available.
My Tuxedo
Australia
Online tuxedo hire
Various Prices
Some people wear a tuxedo on a regular basis. Most people do not.
If you are in the latter category then know there is no shame in renting for you and your groomsmen on your special day. It will save you a packet and My Tuxedo is an online Australian company with a big enough range so you can still get the look you want to suit the wedding.
Nearly Newly Wed
International
Second hand wedding dresses
Various Prices
Wedding dresses cost a lot and are worn once.
If you aren’t particulary sentimental you can take advantage off massive markdowns on second hand dresses. Nearly Newly Weds offer international shipping and offer a 5 day return policy if you don’t like the dress once you try it on.
Of course once it’s all said and done you can resell the dress making your margins even smaller. We recommend Nearly Newly Weds because their network of sellers mean you can buy second hand and still have a huge range of choice.
Wed Reality
Online Tool/App
A virtual changeroom
http://wedreality.com/
Free
A perfect pairing to dress shopping online, this tool lets you upload a photo of yourself and then see how you look in different styles to give you a better idea of what a dress might look like when you’re wearing it.
The options we’ve listed here in this resource all have generous return plicies if you don’t like your choice, but this tool might help you save even this hassle.
Weddington Way
International
Bridesmaids dresses online
Various Prices
Weddington way allows you to invite your bridal party to an online showroom and then search dresses based on style and colour, sharing them with each other to decide what they are going to wear.
Takes the headache out of organising a group shopping day while ensuring everyone gets a say in what they are wearing.
Ships internationally
Spoonflower
International
Custom fabric patterns
Roughly US$20 per meter
Can’t find the right patterned fabric for the your theme? Or just don’t have the time to look? This website lets you upload an image to print your own fabric that you can turn into table runners, napkins or anything else your mind can dream up.
There is a range of material options and they will also send a sample pack of every type available, anywhere in the world for US$1.00 (incl. shipping).
Wedding Spreadsheets
Online Tool/App
Excel sheets for wedding planning
http://www.excelspreadsheet.net/personal/15-useful-wedding-spreadsheets/
Free
Some helpful person has put together this collection of pre-designed wedding excel spreadsheets.
Jump on and download them all to have a play around with and see which one suits you best.
Planning Pod for Weddings
Online Tool/App
Wedding planning software
https://www.planningpod.com/weddings/wedding-software.cfm
From $10 p/month
If you’re looking for something a bit more advanced than the average spreadsheet then Planning Pod could be the option for you.
This is a powerful and multi-layered tool that is used by professional wedding planners. You can test it out with a free trial to see whether or not it is for you.
Wedding Budget Calculator
Online Tool/App
Wedding budget generator
http://www.ourdreamwedding.com/?page=wedding_budget_form_1&crid=7
Free
Plenty of these out there but this one from ourdreamwedding.com is one of the most straightforward.
Allows you to enter in a proposed budget in one column and then an actual spend in another, so you can keep track of where you are saving money and where you are going over budget.
The initial first step also gives you a broad idea of where you are going to have to spend your money based on the size of the wedding you are looking at having.
Dream Wedding Calculator
Online Tool/App
Wedding budget calculator
http://dreamweddingcalculator.com/
Free
Another wedding calculator that is a bit more extensive and interactive
It also features an online wedding advisor, which can prove very useful depending on the questions you need answers to.
Jetaport
International
Bulk hotel bookings for destination weddings
Free
This is the perfect tool for destination weddings. Jetaport specialise in booking 9 or more rooms at once at hotels across the globe, saving you the time of explaining what you need to the hotel yourself.
Their services are free as they get a comission for their work from the hotel you are booking with.
Hitched Speeches
Online Tool/App
Speech examples
http://www.hitched.com.au/speeches/speechhome.aspx
Free
If you’re one of the many people expected to do a speech at the next wedding you’re attending, or you someone that is who will probably struggle with the task, the options linked to on Hitched speeches are some great resources to get the ball rolling.
Guesterly
International
An event guide to your wedding.
https://www.guesterly.com/weddings
$4 per print copy/$99 for an online app
A unique idea that is fast gaining popularity at modern weddings are services like Guesterly, which let you put together a fantastically designed guide that introduced the who is who of your wedding and starts connecting people before the day begins.
Check out the website for a better idea of what the service offers.
Eversnap
International
Wedding digital photo curator
Packages from $99 – $399
The current modern wedding trend is to have a dedicated hashtag for guests to share their social media experiences at your ceremony and reception.
However this will never be a genuine option to help you capture all the moments for your wedding. Instagram photos are low quality and most guests will not share photo after photo on their personal social media.
Paying for a professional, dedicated photo sharing service like Eversnap solves these problems and also gives you some fantastic options to curate the best snaps into an album after the date.
Easy Weddings Music Directory
Australia
Online wedding musician directory
http://www.easyweddings.com.au/WeddingMusic/
Free
If you’re not fussed about a live band or are looking for ways to tighten the budget this is a very sound option.
The WeddingDJ App is an iTunes playlist app with functionality for weddings in mind.
It allows for tasteful fadeouts whenever the music is stopped or crossfades if a song is skipped. It also allows you to create multiple playlists for different stages of the wedding, even suggesting common categories to get you started. Most importantly, for the reception it takes requests.
WeddingDJ
Online Tool/App
Wedding playlist app
If you’re not fussed about a live band or are looking for ways to tighten the budget this is a very sound option.
The WeddingDJ App is an iTunes playlist app with functionality for weddings in mind.
It allows for tasteful fadeouts whenever the music is stopped or crossfades if a song is skipped. It also allows you to create multiple playlists for different stages of the wedding, even suggesting common categories to get you started. Most importantly, for the reception it takes requests.
Tesselaar Flowers
Australia
Wedding flower directory
http://www.tesselaarflowers.com.au/wedding-flowers
Free
A great resource for not only finding the best wedding florists around Australia, but also a great resource of everything else you will need to consider when organising the floral arrangements for your wedding, from visual inspiration to delivery considerations
Hello May
Australia
Wedding blog and directory
http://hellomay.com.au/directory/
Free
HelloMay is one of the most popular wedding blogs in Australia. It also has an inbuilt directory which lists all of the services it mentions in its articles.
You can search for what you’re looking for by filtering with the checkboxes on the directory page, or alternatively you can browse the articles on real weddings or featured endors, get some great ideas and then refer to the resource at the bottom of each page that lists every vendor that is mentioned.
