3 Tools Every New Bride Needs to Plan a Wedding

If you just got engaged, CONGRATULATIONS!

I imagine it must be overwhelming to plan a wedding in the middle of a pandemic, so I wanted to share some helpful resources and perspectives that I used to plan my wedding.

Because of the length of my engagement (1 year), my personal love for planning, and a couple extraordinary venue coordinators, I did not hire a wedding planner. However, I would definitely recommend that most people do. There are so many details and behind-the-scenes tasks that you don’t want to have to worry about on your big day. Plus, most event planners will end up saving you money on your overall budget thanks to their industry knowledge.

Even with an event planner, though, you are in charge your wedding plans. You are the boss of your own event, so you are the one responsible for making decisions. Because of this, I think every bride (or groom, or mother of the bride, or any responsible party…) should keep their own task list, budget, and day-of schedule.

To help you with that, I am sharing my free downloadable spreadsheets that I used for each of those categories. Once you download, be sure to make all of the changes that you decide you want for your wedding planning. These tools cannot replace an actual wedding planner or the decision-making work required to plan a wedding; they are just examples that should help spark ideas and facilitate structure.

Task List

1. Download the spreadsheet and open it in the editor of your choice.
2. Populate your engagement date in cell F2.
3. Populate your wedding date (or target wedding date) in cell G2. You can always go back and change this later.
4. The due dates of every task will auto-populate in column C.
5. As you move through the tasks, update the progress of each task in column D. Filter if you want to hide what’s already been completed.
6. Add and delete rows as desired. (Note: The due date formula will not work for new rows. Manually populate the due date for any new rows.)

I also liked using the lists in the The Knot and Wedding Wire, especially via their handy apps. This list is a combination of those two with quite a few of my own edits 😉

Budget

1. Download the spreadsheet and open it in the editor of your choice.
2. Sample budget amounts are provided in column B. You will need to edit this entire column with your own personal budget for each line item.
   • You can enter zero for anything you don’t need for your wedding, or you can delete the row altogether.
   • If you add rows, be sure they are included in the parent formulas by adding them in the middle of a category rather than at the end. Or you can check/edit the formulas yourself.
   • Please note: The numbers provided in this spreadsheet are completely made up. Do not be surprised if most vendors charge more, and do not base your decisions on these numbers. Each person’s budget is extremely personal.
3. You can record your actual spending (or committed spending amount from contracts) in column C.
4. You can track the “Responsible Party” for each line item in column D. This is used to sum amounts by each party in the “Sums” sheet.
   • If you choose to change the names of the responsible parties, be sure they match exactly on the Budget sheet and Sums sheet in order for the formulas to work properly.
   • Please note: This is once again a very personal decision. Every family is different. The responsible parties provided on this sheet are based on a very traditional approach, but you are very much allowed (and, dare I say, encouraged!) to change it up.
5. Columns E & F can be used at the beginning to help you set your budget.
   • Before you pick final numbers for each category, go through and pick a few things that are the MOST important to you and the LEAST important to you.
   • Then make cuts in the least important categories so that you will have more freedom in the most important categories.
     • My personal opinion… The more dramatic the cuts, the better! Weddings are so EXTRA these days, and you do not need every little detail. Quality over quantity.
   • After you set your initial budget, you may want to delete or hide these columns to simplify the view of the spreadsheet.
6. Switch to the “Sums” sheet to change the estimated number of guests and to see the total amounts for each responsible party.
   • The estimated number of guests in cell B3 is used in the calculations of Food, Beverages, and Postage so that you can play around with different guest counts and how that will impact your budget.

Day-Of Schedule

This spreadsheet is less about specific cells and formulas and more about a visual representation of your wedding day plan. You can work directly off of mine and extensively edit according to your day and your plan, or you may prefer to start from scratch to build out your own plan. But I encourage you to use this “matrix” approach, because it helps each party know where they are supposed to be and when, and it ensures everyone is where they need to be at any given time.

This is something that will come together more clearly as you get further along in the wedding planning process, but sometimes it’s helpful to develop a tentative plan up front so that you are better prepared for conversations with potential vendors. A few weeks before my wedding, I distributed a copy of this matrix to family members, the wedding party, and key vendors. It really helped eliminate confusion and potential questions on the weekend of the event.

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Good luck! And please let me know if there are any other areas where you want help planning your wedding. 🙂