Cool Technology for the Wired Bride!

The Bridal Bar San Diego

One of the greatest challenges in planning a wedding is the need to organize and easily access information. One minute you are looking for that phone number or website address of the great photographer you heard about. The next minute you are trying to remember exactly what that dress looked like that you tried on last week. You’ve got gifts to keep track of, budgets to manage, guest lists to prepare, wedding gowns to shop for and on and on and on.

Even for the most organized bride, managing all of the details can prove to be a daunting task. For some time various websites have offered online planning tools and wedding software has also been available.  Now for you iPhone or iPod Touch users, there are a number of applications that savvy programmers have created that will make the planning process much easier than you ever dreamed. They range from simple counters that are mostly fun and give you a wedding day countdown to complex planning tools that organize every aspect of your planning process. 

One of our favorites is the Bridal Gown: Wedding Dress Shopping Assistant. You don’t realize how hard it is to keep track of what you like and don’t like in a dress until you have tried on 30 gowns at 5 salons and can’t remember the details of any of them.  With this handy app you have all of the details at your fingertips and can even attach a photo of you in the dress from your photo library.

If you don’t know where to start your planning or just want to make sure you have a comprehensive list of action items,  My Wedding is a planning tool that includes 166 pre-

populated ‘To Do’ items from the experts to get you started.  With this application you can add your own items, organize, edit and track items, or even ‘spin the wedding decider’ to help make decisions when you just can’t make up your mind.  The biggest strength of this tool is that it reminds you to include many items in your list that you might otherwise overlook. The major downside of this app is that it only lets you check off the items you have completed and doesn’t allow you to track any of the additional details.

Weddings generally include lots of parties and showers and fantastic gifts from thoughtful friends and family. They also include lots of thank you notes!  The Thank You Gift List is a great app that allows you to create a list of events and track the gifts that were received at each event.  It also integrates with your address book and allows you to add a picture of the gift to the list for reference.  This app makes it super easy to keep track of all of your gifts in detail and tracks your thank you notes as well.  The great thing about this app is that it also can be used for later events such as Christmas, birthdays, and more.  

If you are dreading that first dance and don’t want to splurge on actual dance lessons, Waltz is simple little app that gives you video dance lessons.  A little practice and you will look like a pro when you hit the dance floor on your special day.

 

And finally our absolute favorite app is called IWedding.  This app costs a little more than the average app but utilizes many of the powerful features already built into your iPhone or iPod Touch to help with the organization of your wedding. It truly is

 comprehensive and has some of the coolest features to simplify all of your planning.  IWedding tracks your ‘To Do’ list, your budget, your guest list, your honeymoon, your first dance song selection, your vendors, your deposits, and so much more.  It incorporates all of the checklists you need with a central location for recording all of the actual details for every item on the checklist.   It also allows you to review your ‘To Do’ list by category, such as bride, wedding party, reception, etc. which allows you to focus on one topic at a time. 

The guest list manager includes full integration with your contacts and address book, keeps track of RSVP’s, and will track meal preferences as well.  The budget manager keeps track of all of your budget items and includes full details on times, dates, deposits, and costs for many of your line items including venues, officiant, photography, transport, flowers, and more.   This is truly a must have app for busy brides.

For those of you who don’t live in the world of APPLE, another easily accessible tool is www.weddingwire.com.  It includes a website creator, budget manager, guest list manager, vendor manager, timeline, checklists, seating plan creator and more! And best of all – it’s all FREE!  This robust tool is extremely intuitive and provides lots of photos for inspiration and offers matching services to help you find the right vendors.

 

Whether you elect to use some of the latest technology or rely on basic spreadsheets or simple paper system, the most important thing is to relax and enjoy the ride!