[[toc-anchor:Still Planning Weddings with Google Docs or Excel? Here’s Why That’s a Problem.]]

When wedding planners just start their careers or when couples are trying to figure out how to start planning their wedding, they may search for:

• wedding planning excel templates

• google sheets wedding planning template

• notion wedding planning template

• free downloadable wedding planning checklists 

• simple wedding planning checklist

• steps to planning a wedding

And we get it! It can be so hard to know where to start. You are looking for a guide that will help you stay on track. Here are some popular examples:

Example templates on Canva

Example templates in Notion

The issue is, between the Google Docs wedding planning checklist, the Notion timeline, Word documents, and emails from vendors, it can quickly feel like you are project-managing a circus. You’re manually syncing dates across documents, setting up a wedding website, chasing your planner & family members on their task updates, juggling different apps and logins just to keep things moving.

There are so many things to keep track of, and the sheer number of details can be overwhelming. Running into roadblocks with free tools. Managing your to do list across multiple platforms can lead to confusion. Tasks get missed, updates fall through the cracks, and then suddenly you realise why everyone says wedding planning is so stressful! Trying to handle everything yourself often leads to more work than you expected..

Sound familiar?

[[toc-anchor:Common Free Wedding Checklist Limitations]]

• No RSVP Automation or Guest Communication for wedding party

• Manual Data Entry & Error-Prone Formulas

• Hard to share with vendors or family

• No real-time updates, collaboration or reminders

• Lack of “work on the go” mobile experience

• No Centralized Dashboard or Reporting

• Limited Permissions & Sharing Controls

  
  

These spreadsheet downloads were simply not built for the dozens of moving parts that come with managing RSVPs, tracking budgets, coordinating vendors, and sticking to a timeline. Many of these tools are available as a free download, making them accessible for anyone starting their wedding planning journey. Free wedding planning spreadsheets are commonly used to help couples stay organized, but they often lack advanced features and customization options. Wedding planning spreadsheets are a popular starting point, but as needs grow, many couples and wedding planners find themselves looking for more comprehensive solutions.

👉 If you are a planner, try That’s The One for free or book a live demo to see how it compares.

👉 If you are a couple, you can subscribe to TTO here to get access to 1 event.

[[toc-anchor:How to Start Planning a Wedding in 2025/2026 (The Smart Way with That’s The One)]]

When looking into how to start planning a wedding, we recommend using an all-in-one planning software, like That’s The One. That's The One, known as TTO, is an online platform designed to simplify the wedding process for modern professionals and their clients. Although it comes at a cost, it will save you up to 40% of time when planning and also help to avoid any stress and mistakes in the leadup to your wedding! 

Having all planning features in one place gives you a huge head start and creates a guided wedding planning approach which will make life easier for clients and couples. TTO helps you complete all critical tasks efficiently, ensuring nothing is missed for your big day.

With That’s The One, you get planning features that allow you to do everything in one place. You’re never stuck logging into multiple tools or manually uploading data.

Our planning tools include:

✅ A dynamic wedding checklist that updates automatically and allows you to filter on owner, priority, deadline, month and category. It also sends automated email reminders for upcoming and overdue tasks. You can use the checklist to create a detailed schedule for your wedding day and make sure every task is complete on time.

✅ A professional multi-currency budget planner to track payments and deposits. This is also connected to automated email reminders for upcoming and overdue payments.

✅ A smart guest list with RSVP tracking for managing the wedding party.

✅ Free wedding website & unlimited digital wedding invitations.

✅ An intuitive seating chart tool with is automatically connected to guest meal choices and dietary preferences.

✅ A central supplier manager that keeps everything  (docs, brochures, contact info, comments) in one place.

If you are a planner, try your 30 day free trial here or book a demo. If you are a couple planning without a planner, you can subscribe to TTO here to get access to 1 event.

[[toc-anchor:What Planners Say: Stories from the Switch]]

What Ex-Spreadsheet Users Said:

“Before That’sTheOne, I was juggling five different spreadsheets and a dozen PDFs. Now I have one live dashboard, budgets, RSVPs, timelines and vendor notes all in one place. It’s literally cut my admin time in half.." -Charlotte, La Fête

"My couples love the transparency. They see real‐time payments burn-rate and timeline progress, and I never get 3 AM panicked texts asking ‘What’s next?’ It’s been a game-changer for client trust." -Monica, Celebrate Together Events

"Integrating vendor contracts, reviewing the wedding website payment schedules, and checklists used to feel like herding cats. Now it’s all under one roof, no more lost emails or forgotten deposits. My workflow has never been smoother.” -Ethan , One Day Perfect

"When I first started my business, I managed everything in spreadsheets- but after my third client was booked, I knew I needed a more professional, scalable solution to elevate my service and support my future growth. -Catherine, Avonmore Events

Read more testimonials

Try your 30 day free trial here or book a demo.

[[toc-anchor:That’s The One Planning Tool vs Free Checklists: A side by side comparison of features]]

[[toc-anchor:Why Planners & Couples Are Switching to TTO]]

🚀 Built for Modern Planners & Couples - A sleek, user-friendly interface that eliminates clunky workflows, is structured with a client-facing polish.

🤝 Client collaboration - Give clients a premium, easy-to-use experience.

🌎 Internationally Accessible - A tool that works for planners and clients across different regions and price points. Available in 6 languages and 20 currencies!

💡 Designed with Your Feedback - Weekly feature updates based on real planner needs, not outdated industry assumptions.

🔗 All-in-One Platform - No need for multiple disconnected tools. TTO streamlines everything in one place, replacing Trello boards, spreadsheets and emails with a central planning hub. Cut hours of admin every week.

Planners, try your 30 day free trial here or book a demo.

[[toc-anchor:Ready for the ultimate wedding planning checklist experience?]]

If you’re tired of wrestling with fragmented spreadsheets and manual data entry, it’s time to upgrade to a platform that finally keeps everything in sync.

ThatsTheOne.com takes the guesswork out of planning with live updates, automated reminders, and true collaborative workflows, so that couples & planner can focus on enjoying the journey, not chasing down cells.

👉 If you are a planner, try That’s The One for free or book a live demo to see how it compares.

👉 If you are a couple planning without a planner, you can subscribe to TTO here to get access to 1 event.

[[toc-anchor:Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)]]

1. How do I start planning a wedding?

Planning a wedding often starts with finding a wedding planner or a venue. Understanding where a wedding takes place is the most important piece and everything will be following this decision - from the number of guests you can invite, to the types of vendors you use.

Setting your wedding date early is a foundational step, as it impacts all subsequent planning decisions. At this stage, it's also important to create guest lists for pre-wedding events such as engagement parties, showers, and bachelor or bachelorette parties. To understand a typical wedding checklist timeline, rather than using free wedding checklists, we suggest to get started with an all-in-one planning software like That’s The One (TTO).

TTO will have all the features you need in one place, from RSVPs, digital invites and websites, to checklists, timelines, floorplans and payment automated task and payment reminders. If you can start with a super-tool like this, you will save so much time, effort and stress.

If your a planner you can start a free trial here, and if you are a couple, looking for access to 1 event, you can subscribe here.

2. What are the top planning tips for beginners?

Our Top Wedding Planning Tips for Beginners

1. Start with a Dynamic Wedding Checklist
   Kick off your planning by using an all-in-one platform instead of a static checklist PDF. A live checklist auto-updates as you move through each step to planning a wedding, so you never lose track of tasks.

2. Import Your Favorite Templates
   Rather than rebuilding from scratch, upload your existing planning excel templates into the software. You’ll get a cohesive checklist that’s pre-linked to timelines, budgets, guestlists & more.

3. Automate Reminders & Deadlines
   Don’t rely on sticky notes or calendar alerts. Set up automated reminders for tasks and payments, so that you do not need to manually followup.

4. Centralize Guestlist & RSVPs
   Merge your checklist with live RSVP tracking. Your guestlist updates in real time, and the software can even send polite reminder emails to guests who haven’t responded, no manual spreadsheet reconciliation required. Everything is synced nicely with your digital invites, wedding website and floor and seating plans as well.

5. Track Your Budget in One Place
   Ditch the error-prone formulas of a standalone best wedding planning spreadsheet. Use integrated financial tools that sync with your payment tracker and guestlist, giving you a clear cost-vs-actual view at every milestone.

6. Create a Detailed Wedding Day Schedule
   Build a comprehensive wedding day schedule to outline the timing for your ceremony, vendor arrivals, and reception activities. This keeps everyone, including vendors and guests, on track throughout the day.

7. Manage Wedding Vendor Logistics

   When booking vendors, add them into the vendor hub. You can track key decisions, booking status, payment milestones and have this synced with your budget and weekly email reminders.

8. Create A Wedding Website

   This is a simple and fun tasks for couples to do together. On TTO, you can customise your template with different fonts, colors and images and share important information with your guests like the RSVP, itinerary, map and FAQs.

3. Where can I find a free download for a planning checklist?

Here is a simple one we found online! We recommended reviewing the pros and cons list outlined above.

4.  Can I use my wedding planning Excel template in TTO?

Yes absolutely! Wedding planners can import existing checklist templates into TTO and reuse them across their clients and events. The benefits of moving your excel checklist into TTO is that you will receive automated task reminders by email and it will keep all parties on the same page.

5. Can I find a Notion wedding planning template?

Yes, there are plenty of Notion wedding planning templates which you can browse here. We recommended reviewing the pros and cons list outlined above.

6. Why choose That’sTheOne.com over a free wedding planning checklist PDF?

A free planning checklist PDF gives you a simple wedding planning checklist, but That’sTheOne.com turns it into a live, automated hub - auto-updating tasks, sending reminders, and syncing with your guestlist, budget tracker, and timeline (and more!) so you can finally stop juggling files and have everything streamlined for you in 1 view.

7. Aren’t paid tools overkill for a small wedding?

Not at all—whether you’re planning for 20 or 200 guests, a dedicated wedding planning app 0saves you hours of manual work. Instead of wrestling with a static “wedding planning checklist PDF” or cobbling together a basic planning checklist, That’sTheOne.com gives you a simple wedding planning checklist that auto-updates, syncs with your guestlist and budget, and sends reminders, so even small weddings run smoothly without endless back-and-forth.

A similar logic applies to wedding planners that only have 1-3 weddings. Even a handful of events means juggling multiple files, tabs, logins and emails. Setting yourself up with a professional software will help you save time and grow sustainably from day 1.

8. How do I customize a template to my needs?

With TTO, when you import any template. Simply enter your main event date - usually your ceremony day. From there:

1. Automatic Date Calculations: Every task in your “simple wedding planning checklist” shifts based on the time remaining (weeks, months or days before your wedding).

2. Flexible Task Management: Add, remove or reorder steps if needed and assign dedicated owners.

3. Comments & Collaboration: You can leave comments on each task which will also be emailed to the collaborator.

9. How do I import my existing Excel checklist template?

You can watch this guide to understand how to import a template.

10. How does TTO make it easy to create a wedding budget?

One of the most important steps in the wedding process is setting and managing a wedding budget. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the details and expenses, but with the right budget tracker, you can keep everything under control.

With TTO’s integrated budget tracker, you can easily track every expense, update your spending in real time, and adjust for last minute changes without the stress of juggling multiple spreadsheets. The platform allows you to see your total budget at a glance, monitor payments, and even set reminders for upcoming deposits or balances.

11. How does TTO's guestlist work with streamining digital invitations and RSVPs?

Managing your guest list is a key part of the wedding planning process, and it can quickly become overwhelming if you’re not organized. From creating your initial guest list to sending invitations and tracking RSVPs, every detail matters.

Using a digital planning tool or wedding software can make this process seamless, allowing you to create, update, and manage your guest list in one place.With online invitations and RSVP tracking, you’ll save time and reduce the risk of lost responses. Make sure your invitations include all the essential details (date, time, location, and any special instructions) so your guests have everything they need.

And don’t forget to plan for last minute changes or cancellations; having a flexible system in place means you can easily update your guest count and seating arrangements. By streamlining your guest list management, you’ll have more time to enjoy the planning process and celebrate with your loved ones.

12. How does TTO help with seating and guest logistics?

Seating and logistics are often the unsung heroes of a smooth wedding day. Creating a thoughtful seating chart not only helps your event flow but also makes every guest feel valued. Start by considering your wedding party, family, and friends, arrange tables in a way that encourages conversation and connection. Don’t forget to account for dietary requirements and special requests, ensuring everyone is comfortable and cared for.

Coordinating transportation and accommodations for out-of-town guests is another important detail in the planning process. Communicate clearly with your vendors and wedding party so everyone knows the plan and nothing gets overlooked.

By focusing on these logistics and using a planning tool to keep track of all the details, you’ll create a welcoming atmosphere where every guest can relax and enjoy your celebration.

13. How does TTO support with vendor management and managing a "dream team?"

Vendors are the backbone of a wedding day. From florists and caterers to photographers and musicians, keeping track of contracts, deadlines, and communication can be a challenge.

Start by creating a centralized vendor list or spreadsheet with all the important contact info, payment schedules, and notes.

Regular communication with your vendors ensures everyone is on the same page, and using a dedicated planning tool can help you manage everything in one place.

14. What does the support look like with That's The One?

That’s The One offers a 1:1 onboarding session and dedicated chat support from 9am–6pm GMT, with email assistance after hours.

15. How do I get started with That’s The One?

Try your 30 day free trial here or book a demo or book a live demo here to explore how That’s The One can replace your spreadsheets and become your all-in-one wedding planning solution.

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