Wedding Planning Software Review

When I first started working as a Wedding and Event Planner I lived and breathed excel spreadsheets and to do lists, which accompanied me to the event I was working on (and any associated planning meetings) in big binders.  These binders also housed contracts, contact sheets, brochures and basically anything to do with the event I was working on.   Eventually my ‘kit’ included my laptop, but as you can imagine, I was hauling a fairly hefty load around with me where-ever I went.

Thankfully those days are almost behind us with the introduction of planning software to the market-place.  Yes I still love a spreadsheet, and anyone who has been reading my blogs recently will know that I am also a ‘slave’ to the ‘to do list’.  However, planning software has made the task of housing information and making it accessible, a much more manageable thing and today I can do almost anything, anywhere, as long as I have computer and Internet access.

Two new players to the professional Wedding Planning software marketplace are Confetti and Cake and My Wedding Workbook.  Both are known names in the Wedding industry, but until now their planning software has been for the bride and groom, rather the professional planner. 

I am often asked by planners if planning software is necessary.  Whilst it is certainly possible to plan a Wedding without it, my answer is why would you?  If you are looking to run a professional business some form of software to keep you organised is definitely worth the investment.  But, which one?

The software developed for planners by Confetti and Cake is a software program that you download onto your computer and which allows you to record the details of multiple clients (no limit).  It has been developed in the UK and retails for approximately $90.  This program enables you to enter all of your client’s details, budget, suppliers, costs and guests.  It is easy to use and includes a budget planner, a Wedding day countdown calendar and to do lists.  Also included is an area for logging client invoices and expenses.  This is a very basic, no frills software program (as seen by the demonstration you can watch online).  I would not recommend this one for established planners, but it may be a good first step for new planners or those who are not keen on technology and the fact that you can ‘pull’ reports from the program will be useful.
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The software developed by My Wedding Workbook takes planning software to a new level.  By combining unique web 2.0 technologies and event planning software, My Wedding Workbook has created a web-based Wedding Planning tool that can be accessed from any computer, at any time.  As someone who has previously stored far too much information on their computer, the ability to be able to store information in a web-based format, on secure servers and that I can access from any computer, is a huge advantage. 

This program combines business management tools, client management tools, wedding planning tools and client collaboration tools.  The key features of the professional planning tool developed by My Wedding Workbook include; the ability to have control over every detail relating to your clients’ events as well as your vendors, contacts, calendar and other business-critical data. This program also lets you provide your clients with access to designated tools and areas so you can truly collaborate with them (as well as provide them with helpful resources to manage any wedding-related events you won’t be planning).  What I particularly like about this product is that there are several packages available depending upon the number of Weddings you plan at the one time.  I also found the website for this product to be very easy to navigate and packed with information including a no obligation, free trial offer, so you can try it for yourself.  If you are serious about your business, or are already well established I think this one is definitely worth a look.