Wedding Wednesday: Lifelines

I have been engaged a little over a month now and I really haven't planned anything, but I feel like I've accomplished a lot. So far there have been three lifelines which have kept me sane, inspired and have helped me feel on track and organized while starting this whole crazy wedding planning process.

The first is my BB, Carolyn. Carolyn is marrying one of J's best friends next September. We are both at similar places in the planning process, though she has accomplished more than I have. I honestly cannot imagine planning the wedding without her. We spend 90% of our days g-chatting and of the 90% about 75% of our time is spent talking about weddings. We send each other ideas and inspiration as well as hideous ideas to make us laugh. We calm each other down and help each other de-stress. We have each other to bounce ideas off of, complain about how damn expensive everything is, vent about sometimes-frustrating fiances and everything and anything else that may arise. BB-Thank God we're doing this together....this next year is going to be insanity and without you I'd probably end up in an asylum (I might anyways, but at least you'll be with me).

The next lifeline is my mom. She has been to every appointment with me and has been great at keeping me calm, cool, relaxed and excited. She lets me just talk and talk until I work everything out, whether she's giving her opinion or just letting me talk in circles until I come to my own conclusion. I know she is going to be a HUGE help with everything in regards to planning and will be the most beautiful Mother-of-the-Bride ever! 

My third lifeline has been www.WeddingWire.com! Seriously, anyone out there getting married should use this site. I know theknot.com is really popular and is a GREAT resource but I find it too cluttered. There's so much stuff on that website that I think it's better for inspiration than it is for planning. WeddingWire is similar but is more organized and simple. 

SEARCH:
WeddingWire has a great search engine where you can look for different venues and vendors in your area as well as get reviews from past brides.

WEBSITE:
There is a website builder you can use to create your wedding website. Here's an example: CLICK HERE

GUESTS:
It also has an awesome guest list tool where you can enter all of your guests and their addresses super easily. You can add guest lists for the Rehearsal, Showers and any other wedding events you might be having.

SEATING CHART:
Once your guests RSVP there's a super cool Seating Chart tool where you can create your reception with the number and size tables you have then all you have to do is click and drag your guests into the tables and BOOM, your seating chart is done!

BUDGET CALCULATOR:
The Budget Tool allows you enter your budget and then it creates a list of industry averages so that you can get an idea of how much to spend on what. For example, I entered a budget of $100,000 (wouldn't that be nice) and it told me I had $38,000 to spend on Food and Beverage, $2,500 to spend on the cake, $4,000 for the band, etc. It also allows you to enter your actual costs and keep track of what you've spent. If one category is under budget you can choose where you'd like to redistribute the extra funds. This has been a huge help to me so far.

CHECKLIST:
The checklist lets you enter your wedding date and then complies a list of everything you need to get done and what month you should have them done by. It also lets you add items if there is anything you think they forgot. This tool has also been an enormous help for me and will become more and more vital as the months go on.

There's a million other things you can do on WeddingWire, those are just some of my favorites. If you're engaged you really should check out the website and just play around, I guarantee you'll love it!