Planning a wedding can make you feel like you’re the Wizard of Oz, and not in a good way. You’re in a situation in which you’re supposed to be an expert, but you’ve likely never planned a party on this scale before, and all of a sudden people are coming to you for opinions about tablecloth colors and invitation fonts and seem confused when you don’t know what a Chivari chair is.
If that sentence gave you a headache, these apps can help. To be fair, a lot of wedding apps are pointless. You do not need an app to generate a wedding hashtag, to figure out your wedding colors, or to find a social media manager for your big day. You may, however, want an easy way to keep track of how many thank-you notes you need to write. There’s definitely an app for that.
1) Pinterest
This is a great app to use for general inspiration and ideas, and to figure out your general aesthetic. Start looking around at wedding websites and saving things you like, whether it’s outfits or centerpiece arrangements. You may not know what you want your wedding to look like, but after a few days on Pinterest, you may take a look at what you’ve pinned and find you’re really drawn to minimalist chic!
2) Google Drive
No, it’s not a wedding app, but the Google Drive suite is indispensable for planning. You and your partner can share checklists and timelines, keep vendor contracts all in one place, and keep track of your guests and RSVPs in spreadsheets. There are even templates for wedding-related documents, like budget sheets and seating charts. And if you haven’t already, sync your calendars so everyone remembers important deadlines and appointments.
3) Paperless Post
This invitation app is fantastic for sending and keeping track of your wedding invites, but if that seems a little informal, it’s great for invitations to rehearsal dinners, bachelorette parties, showers, and all the wedding-adjacent parties that keep popping up. With the app you can design your invitations, keep track of RSVPs, and communicate directly with your guests.
4) The Knot
The Knot’s app is sort of the behemoth of wedding apps. It does nearly everything wedding-related, and as such lends itself to bigger shindigs. You can search for fashion inspiration, browse for vendors, and keep track of everything you need to do with its massive checklist. However, even if you’re not hosting a blowout, that checklist can come in handy, as the app emphasizes “essentials” versus all the other stuff. You may want to contact a ceremony pianist eight months before your wedding date, and you’ll definitely want to make sure you’ve applied for your wedding license.
The Knot
5) Evernote
Evernote is not just for keeping notes anymore. Here, you can keep track of any bits of inspiration and information you find for your wedding, from photos and videos to audio and Post-its. You can also tag items so they’re easily searchable and share your collections with others helping you plan.
6) Appy Couple
You can set up a wedding website through Appy Couple, which also gives couples advice on wedding planning, honeymoon destinations, checklists, and even etiquette tips. The app can be used by guests as well. They can upload photos taken at the wedding, RSVP, chat with you about details, and make sure they don’t miss anything with push notifications about special wedding events. You can even set up a livestream of your wedding through the app for anyone who couldn’t attend.
7) Wedding Party
This app features wedding organizational tools, plus a ton of fun ways for your guests to get involved during the wedding itself. There are wedding Mad Libs, I Spy games, and the best part: a mobile photo booth.
Screenshot via Wedding Party
8) WeddingWire
The WeddingWire app features the planning tools you need: a countdown clock, checklists, vendor searches. But there’s also a forum community where you can chat with other people planning weddings about advice, snafus, and annoying in-laws.
9) Mint
One of the most difficult parts about planning a wedding is budgeting, because one day you’re on Etsy and you see something cute, and the next thing you know, BOOM, you’ve spent $700 on engraved napkin ring favors that half of your guests are going to leave behind anyway. Create a wedding category in Mint to track your spending, and make sure it syncs to your bank account so you don’t skip inclusion of any expenses. That way you can get married without going into debt.
