The next generation of wedding planning software

Back in the day, brides used to lug around big wedding binders stuffed with notes, vendor quotes, magazine clippings, receipts, reception layout diagrams and everything else they needed to plan their wedding. These books played a vital role in wedding planning for a whole generation of brides, and when desktop wedding software was introduced to the market a decade or so ago, brides quickly took it up. It simplified the planning process, made it easier to organize details as well as edit and revise them and fit with a generation of brides who were used to Excel spreadsheets and basic computing.

Now, with a generation that has grown up with computers and cell phones, wedding planning has reached a new level with online wedding planning software and software-as-service solutions. These new wedding software programs exist in the "cloud" known as the Internet, where brides no longer have to install and udpate sofware, where they no longer have to worry about backing up their data, where they can simply log into a Web site and start planning. What's better, these online wedding planning solutions can combine other technologies and online resources such as Web sites, texting, email and even social networks to make life easier for brides and gooms alike.

Lots of Web sites are offering wedding planning tools like budget calculators and seating charts to help out brides, but the best online wedding planning software solutions go far beyond mere charts, calculators and worksheets and offer a whole host of new wedding planning benefits that let brides enter in all their details for each event and item, arrange those details for easy review and integrate all the tools so they all work together. A great example of a site like this is My Wedding Workbook, which pulls together guest lists, budgets, task calendars and detail planners for each and every wedding-related event, from engagement parties, bridal showers and rehearsal dinners to your ceremony, reception and honeymoon. This tool does it all and is at the vanguard of the next-generation online wedding planner sites.

When choosing which wedding planning software tool to use, it's important to consider a few things. The first, of course, is cost. Typical desktop wedding software has a price tag of anything from $10 to $50. The next-generation online wedding planning software is often free, although some sites do charge for it. The aformentioned My Wedding Workbook is free for all users. The next thing to consider is how comprehensive the software is. Some offerings have more detailed guest list capabilities. Others give you more abilities to plan your budget. Still others provide wedding planning calendars, seating charts/planners and more. You should compare each set of features before you decide on what fits you best, because once you start putting all your information into one tool, it will be a long and difficult process of re-entering your info into another solution if you decide to change down the road.

Which brings up a final point of consideration. Make sure you use an online wedding software tool that allows you to download your information into spreadsheets or in tab or comma delimited documents. This way you can get your information out of the system when you are done planning your wedding. My Wedding Workbook does offer this feature.

Finally, if you are a wedding consultant, it helps to have powerful wedding planning software on your side. This helps you keep track not only of all your clients' events but also all your important business details like clients, contacts, vendors and your calendar. Recently, there has been new online wedding planner software suites introduced into the market. Such wedding professional software like My Wedding Workbook Pro offer a comprehensive, well-integrated set of tools that provide the benefits of online software (such as no software to install or manage, anywhere access on both Macs and PCs and online backup of all data).