Keeping Your Sanity (and Your Spreadsheet) Intact
Wedding planning: the land of checklists, quotes, colour-coded spreadsheets and a thousand tiny questions about chair covers.
For some, it's thrilling. For others, it's the fast lane to overwhelm.
But here's the good news — you don't have to do it all from scratch, or keep it all in your head. These days, there are some excellent digital tools that can help you keep things organised without turning you into a project manager.
I'm not talking about soulless scheduling apps. I'm talking about tools that give you space to think, plan, and breathe — and maybe even enjoy the process.
Why Tools Matter (Even If You're Not a "Tech Person")
Planning a wedding is basically running a mini event business. Guest lists, timelines, logistics, budgets, backups… and you're doing it while juggling normal life.
These tools don't replace the magic — they just stop you dropping the ball. Or several.
Used well, they:
- Keep all your info in one place
- Help you remember what you've forgotten
- Let you loop in partners, family, or planners without back-and-forth mayhem
- Buy you headspace — and that's priceless
Let's walk through a few that I recommend regularly (and use myself).
Evernote: The Digital Scrapbook That Actually Works
I've used Evernote for over nine years, and it's still my go-to.
Why? Because it's brilliant for keeping everything in one place — inspiration, documents, vendor quotes, even voice notes when ideas hit you in the car.
You can:
- Create separate notebooks (e.g. "Venue", "Decor Ideas", "Ceremony Music")
- Clip anything from the web — Pinterest, blogs, contracts
- Sync across all your devices (no more "Where did I put that florist's quote?" moments)
- Search by keyword (yes, even in PDFs)
It's simple, powerful, and genuinely helpful. Not "another app to manage."
Trello: A Planning Board Without the Post-It Explosion
Trello's like a wedding war room on your screen — but prettier and less stressful.
It uses boards, lists, and cards to help you visualise your tasks. Think:
- Columns for "To Do", "Doing", "Done"
- Cards for each task, with notes, due dates, attachments, and checklists
- The ability to assign cards to your partner, bridesmaid, or anyone else brave enough to volunteer
You can colour-code everything, drag and drop tasks around, and feel smug as you tick things off. It's ideal if your brain likes seeing progress in motion.
Capacities: The New Kid with Brains
Capacities is a bit cleverer — think of it as Evernote with an AI-powered brain.
It doesn't just store your information, it helps you make sense of it. Like:
- Linking ideas across different notes
- Suggesting themes and priorities
- Helping you connect dots you might have missed (e.g. "You saved these three venues — all allow dogs. Is that important to you?")
It's still relatively new, but if you like the idea of your planner being part assistant, part therapist, it's worth exploring.
Notion & Obsidian: Deep Dive Options for the Detail-Obsessed
These are a bit more advanced, but if you're the kind of person who's already making wedding mood boards and has three spreadsheets for canapés — welcome home.
Notion:- All-in-one workspace where you can build a completely custom planning system
- Use it for timelines, vendor databases, mood boards, and budget tracking
It takes time to set up, but once you're in, it's incredibly satisfying.
Obsidian:Great for journalling your thoughts, questions, reflections. Not wedding-specific, but if you're a deep thinker who likes having space to organise ideas and emotions, it's a solid companion.
The Best Tool? The One You'll Actually Use
Don't get hung up on picking the "right" tool. Choose the one that fits you:
- Like lists and structure? Try Trello.
- Prefer notes and flexibility? Start with Evernote.
- Want your life basically automated? Capacities might be your thing.
Even just having a shared Google Doc with your partner is better than trying to plan everything via WhatsApp and memory.
The tools are there to serve you — not the other way round.
Final Thought: Don't Let Planning Steal the Joy
Here's the truth no one tells you: your guests won't remember your spreadsheet.
They'll remember how the day felt. The laughs, the warmth, the little moments of magic.
If using a few clever tools helps you arrive at your wedding day calm, clear-headed, and actually able to enjoy it — then that's worth far more than any printable checklist ever made.
Need help making sure the entertainment side of things runs just as smoothly? I've got you covered — no spreadsheets required.