Monday, April 11, 2016

Technology and the Planning Process: Saving you Money and Removing Stress 1 Click at a Time!

With all the technology we have at our fingertips, it’s not surprising that there would be hundreds of apps and websites to help brides get ideas, find the best deals, read blogs and help plan their weddings.  Thanks to the Huffington Post and some personal research, we now know the top apps and websites that will help you along the way to your wedding day.

This is a website helps you create mini magazines or booklets with information about your wedding day.  You can fill the book with pictures, fun/funny facts about the bride and groom etc.

How it works: the bride and groom come up with a questionnaire for their guests to pick questions from and answer.  The guests choose questions they want to answer, upload a picture of themselves and guesterly turns all the responses into a booklet for all the guests to have the day of the wedding.

“Couples love that a guesterly makes everyone feel like old friends. And their guests say it ups the fun factor and makes the wedding more memorable.”

If you’re trying to find a venue that you can get the best deal for-this website is for you.  Wedding Spot allows couples to compare venues side by side including amenities and price.  Couples can type in specific keywords for what they are looking for. 

Benefit: Couples are able to see a variety of venues and find out information about them without having to call or email all of the venues.

A website to create your very own customized wedding website! Squarespace now offers unique website templates just for weddings.  For only $8.00 a month, couples can create a unique website to keep all the information that their guests need to know.

“Create a beautifully designed, mobile-friendly wedding website that will be a joy for friends and family to visit. Collect mailing addresses and RSVPs, post photos to your blog, and share important information with ease.”

Pretty Pear Bride (http://prettypearbride.com/)
Pretty Pear Bride is the only website and magazine catering to the plus size bride.  This site lets brides get inspiration for wedding dresses, accessories, photo shoots and hear about weddings from other plus size brides.

The site was created by Shafonne Myers, a certified wedding planner and plus size bride. “Pretty Pear Bride was started as a site where plus size brides can find bridal inspiration that THEY long for. So many people planning their weddings struggle with finding inspiration that includes images that look like them.  Everyone wants to see people that look like them, doing what they are trying to do because it allows them to envision that they can be just as glamorous and gorgeous as they imagined. So the mission was clear: merge a love for blogging and wedding planning with creating a place for plus size brides to see themselves in wedding inspiration.”

Welcome to the 21st century of seating charts for your wedding! That’s exactly what AllSeated is.  The website takes the floor plan of the reception venue and lets you choose how to arrange the room.  All the details of the dance floor, tables, chairs, bar etc. are there for you to design.  It also lets you keep track of RSVPs and guest list.

“We save you time and make life simple.” –isn’t that what every bride needs during the planning process?

Finally the website to help bridesmaids everywhere! No two bridesmaids are built exactly alike which means when it comes time to shop for bridesmaid dresses, it’s anything but easy.  Brideside’s fit algorithm, try-at-home program and fit videos, your girls are sure to wear bridesmaid dresses that fit like a glove!

Check out the gallery on their website and see the magic for yourself!

Of course there’s a website to help supply you with the best part of the reception-the booze! That’s right, BevMo is a website that helps you calculate how much alcohol you need for your reception. The site also has party planning tips to help you learn more about choosing drinks for your party, including cocktail recipes, measurement guides, and wine pairing advice.

How it works: Once you register, for free, on the site you are assigned a beverage expert. He or she will find a local BevMo store where you can go for a private beer and wine tasting to help you choose the right wines for your wedding.

If you have a budget for your wedding dress that seems hard to keep, this is the website for you.  Nearly Newlywed is a website that sells a selection of gowns from “nearly new” starting at $700 to brand new around $2000. Most of the dresses come from top name brands! They even send you dresses to try on and ones that you don’t like you can send back-basically they have taken the fear of online shopping for wedding dresses out of the equation and have made dresses more reasonably priced.

“The Nearly Newlywed way… a better way to shop bridal.”

The Bach is your go to place to plan your Bachelorette Party! It can help you find places nationwide for your party.  Once you select your location the site then gives you information about recommended restaurants, bars, spas, adult entertainment, transportation and other activities.

“At The Bach we know that modern brides and bridesmaids are busy juggling thriving careers and active social lives. Planning a fun and exciting bachelorette party can be incredibly time consuming, and we are here to help you streamline the process.”

Happily Ever Borrowed (http://www.happilyeverborrowed.com/)
If you are looking for the final accessories to complete the look for your wedding day-look no further than Happily Ever Borrowed.  This website has partnered with designers such as Enchanted Atelier & Elizabeth Bower, and has curated a special collection of veils, tiaras, headpieces and jewelry to “frost yourself” on your special day.  You simply select the item you would like and rent it for your wedding, after that you ship it back to them to be cleaned for the next bride.

Can’t wait to take his last name but don’t want to deal with all the paperwork? This is the website for you. HitchSwitch provides a simple full-service solution that guides you through the process. Just fill out the quick EasyForm online then they’ll send you your personalized name change forms that come with step-by-step instructions and pre-paid addressed envelopes. You can call or email them directly in case you have questions along the way.

How helpful is that?!

So the wedding is over and you’ve opened all your wedding gifts….now it’s thank you note time! If you aren’t fond of putting pen to paper and writing hand written notes then this is the website for you.  Postable lets you type out your personalized thank you messages and then select from a variety of fonts (most of them are handwritten fonts) and ecofriendly card designs.

Now you can have a wedding website and app to keep track of it all too! Keep RSVPs organized and keep your guests up-to-date on your wedding. 

How it works: you design the app, post information and invite your guests to download the app too.  Whatever update is posted on the app will also update your wedding website.

“The stylish wedding website and app. Everything you need in one place. The way it's meant to be.”


Bottom line-there are lots of ways to take the stress out of wedding planning! That’s what All Events Planned is here for as well as all the websites we researched above.  I hope you found this helpful and will consider using some of these websites and apps.

Happy Planning!


-All Events Planned
www.alleventsplanned.com