| Have you ever planned a wedding? I have. When | | | | immediately bombarded with websites offering |
| I say I have planned a wedding, I don't mean that | | | | 'free' advice and planning assistance, but most |
| I spent $6,000 hiring a professional event planner | | | | upon further investigation, most were little more |
| to guide me through the process and make all the | | | | than e-mail address database gathering stations in |
| phone calls, arrangements and negotiating the | | | | disguise. Shortly after signing up, my inbox was |
| pricing. I mean I made a list of what I wanted | | | | blasted with dozens of vendor advertising which |
| included in the event, I made a guest list to try to | | | | was incredibly annoying and of little use. |
| estimate an approximate headcount, I looked at | | | | However, there was also a bright side. I came |
| dozens of venues in an effort to make certain I | | | | across two great examples of what wedding |
| would choose the perfect location, I sampled | | | | planning software should be. One was a windows |
| several caterers offerings to choose the ideal | | | | based software package that was simple, |
| menu for the reception, I looked at and tasted | | | | straight-forward and functional and cost about |
| lots of wedding cakes so I could have both the | | | | forty dollars. The other package I was impressed |
| perfect look and dessert taste following my | | | | with was an excel-based package that was less |
| reception dinner. | | | | sophisticated, but equally functional with some nice |
| And of course in addition to these tasks, I spent | | | | touches that I had not seen before. In addition to |
| hundreds of hours doing all of the little, time | | | | these features, this package came with a price |
| consuming tasks that could easily be forgotten | | | | tag that was less than half the other. |
| and you wish were outsourced. So how, you may | | | | So the point of this story is that if you want to |
| ask did I manage to keep all of the cogs in place | | | | plan the perfect wedding without spending a third |
| and turning smoothly in this enormous event | | | | of your budget paying someone to do it for you, |
| machine? That answer is simple. | | | | there are great options. And speaking as |
| Before I ever began this overwhelming | | | | someone who managed to complete this process |
| undertaking, I scoured the internet for assistance | | | | without paying someone to do it for me, I can |
| in the form of a printable wedding planner or | | | | attest that this is a rewarding option. |
| wedding planning software. Of course I was | | | | |