[[toc-anchor:Canva Is Popular With Planners—But Is It Built for Wedding Planning?]]

Canva is a popular online design tool often used by individuals and small businesses. Known for its vast library of designs, it allows users to create everything from social media graphics to invitations and planning documents.

But here’s the catch: Canva is not a planning tool. It’s a design platform.

And while you might use Canva to create a beautifully branded contract, brochure or design inspiration board, it's important to remember that the logistics are key to ensure everything goes smoothly. Planners and their clients will still need dedicated tools to manage collaborative planning and guest communication.

​​That’s where That’s The One, wedding planning software, comes in. It is a platform created specifically for weddings and is full of smart templates, automations, and collaboration features that make it easy for you to do ALL aspects of wedding planning in one place.

Designing an invitation on Canva

[[toc-anchor:What Canva Offers: Design Templates, Not Wedding Planning Tools]]

Canva is a powerful design tool that helps planners create stunning visuals. Canva offers various customization options, such as editing fonts, colors, and other design elements, allowing users to personalize their templates to match their style. You can choose from a variety of templates, fonts, and design elements to easily customize your wedding program and ensure it aligns with your chosen motif. However, when it comes to actual wedding planning, it quickly falls short.

Using Canva for design is helpful, but for actual wedding planning, you’ll still need to subscribe to multiple tools for budgeting, guest list management, RSVP tracking, wedding timelines, and more. Or use free tools and then discover unexpected blockers that take up unnecessary time.

When couples and planners use a combination of free tools, it is likely one of the reasons why an average of  528 hours is spent navigating the planning process! While Canva templates can include important event details, such as ceremony order and participant names, that’s where That’s The One steps in as a true all-in-one solution and guarantees to save you at least 45% of time on each wedding you plan, whilst delivering an exceptionally professional experience to your clients.

Canva Best Features:

• Styled proposal decks, onboarding documents, contracts

• Social media content templates for Instagram

• Wedding invitation templates

• Design templates for on the day signage (like table numbers and welcome signs)

• Customizable style options for templates, allowing you to adjust fonts, colors, backgrounds, and graphical elements to match your wedding theme or motif

Canva Wedding Planning Limitations:

• Not wedding-specific; lacks specialized features for tying the knot:

  • No guest list management or tagging

  • No RSVP tracking or group invites

  • No real wedding checklists for progress tracking

  • No budget management or supplier tracking

  • No floorplan/seat allocation functionality linked to guest responses

  • No shared planner/client workflows or automations

• Will require additional integrations/additional software subscriptions for complete planning functionality (like budget tracking, guest list, RSVP, seating charts, timeline etc.)

Introduction to TTO

That's The One, known as TTO, is a online platform designed to simplify the wedding planning process for modern event professionals and their clients. This all-in-one platform offers a range of tools and features to help wedding production businesses streamline their workflow and enhance client satisfaction. With its easy-to-use interface, drag and drop features and customizable templates, TTO is the perfect solution for the wedding industry.

Planner Tip: TTO has similar visual design boards which can be used to communicate ideas, in addition to a library of  invitation templates which can be adapted for each event.

🎥 Creating invitations on TTO

🎥 Creating timelines on TTO

🎥 Creating checklists on TTO

[[toc-anchor:Wedding Planner Testimonials - Stories from the Switch]]

What Canva Users Said:

“I used to design everything in Canva; timelines, checklists, even invites. It looked great, but nothing was connected. When a client changed their RSVP or the ceremony time shifted, I had to manually update five different documents. That’s The One changed everything, it keeps everything live and in sync.” Chloe A., Destination Wedding Planner, California

“Canva helped me make pretty presentations, but I was still relying on spreadsheets, Google Docs, and email threads for planning. TTO eliminated all of that. Now I manage guest lists, floor plans, and timelines in one place, and my clients love how professional it feels.”  Jake M., Planner & Stylist, UK

“I still use Canva for styled shoots and Instagram, but That’s The One is where the actual planning happens. The timeline tool is a game-changer. It auto-syncs with my checklist and guest list, which saves me hours on every event.”  Daniela S., Luxury Planner, Italy

“I loved Canva’s look, but I was spending way too much time reformatting every time something changed. With That’s The One, I can still offer a beautiful client experience… but it’s backed by real planning logic and automation.” Vanessa T., Boutique Planner, NYC

Read more testimonials

[[toc-anchor:Canva & TTO: A Realistic Workflow]]

Canva is still a great tool and has a place in the planner’s toolkit for creating branded documents, social media content and designing invitations. After customizing your design, you can easily download your finished document for printing or sharing. Alternatively, you can use Canva Print to order professionally printed wedding programs and have them delivered right to your doorstep, making the process seamless and convenient.

That’s The One, gives you the infrastructure behind the aesthetics. It can fully replace Canva or can be used together to bring your visions to life.

[[toc-anchor:Planning Software Shouldn’t Come With Hidden Costs]]

While Canva Basic is free and Canva Pro starts at $18/month, it’s designed for visual content, not wedding planning. Once you’re managing real events with clients, you’ll likely find yourself relying on 7+ additional tools for guest tracking, timelines, seating charts, budget management, RSVPs, and more.

That adds up fast!

That’s The One offers a streamlined solution:

✅ Unlimited events

✅ All-in-one features

✅ Just $55/month for professional planners

That’s less than the combined cost of Canva, a separate RSVP tool, floorplan software, budgeting spreadsheet, guest tracker, and checklist app; typically totaling $300–$500/month. With TTO, you save time and money, while delivering a seamless, high-end client experience.

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

[[toc-anchor:That’s The One vs Canva: A side by side comparison of features]]

[[toc-anchor:Using TTO to Create & Send Invitations]]

Planners and their clients love the ability to create beautiful digital invitations. With That’s The One, you can design, send, and manage communications across save-the-dates, RSVPs, transport updates, and thank-you notes, all from one platform.

Since many planners turn to Canva for designing invitations, we wanted to highlight the key difference: TTO doesn’t just help you design, it lets you send and track guest communication seamlessly.

Step 1: Pick a design or upload your own.

Step 2: Select which guests you would like to contact - pick all guests or select them based on their attendance or how they have been tagged. You can also skip sending an email, and grab the URL to share on Whatsapp etc.

Step 3: Compose the email communication to your guests.

Step 4: Track delivery.

[[toc-anchor:Templates That Actually Work: Free Doesn’t Mean Functional]]

The difference between “free templates” and smart planning software is simple: adaptability. With That’s The One, you get wedding planning tools that adjust based on your client’s guest count, wedding date, and location. You’re never stuck manually reworking timelines or checklists.

Our planner-first 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. 

✅ 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.

✅ 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.

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

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

🚀 Built for Modern Planners - 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.

Join the growing number of planners who are making the switch and experience the future of wedding planning, with endless wedding ideas to inspire your clients. A wedding planner can utilize TTO's tools to ensure a seamless planning experience for everyone involved.

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

[[toc-anchor:Ready to Upgrade from Canva?]]

Canva is great for design but planning a wedding involves so much more than visuals. Having the right planning tools is crucial to ensure everything is perfect for the big day.

If you’re tired of jumping between Canva, spreadsheets, and multiple apps just to stay organized, it’s time to switch to a platform built for real wedding planning. That’s The One combines timelines, guest lists, budgets, seating charts, checklists, digital invitations, and vendor management, all in one place.

You can still use Canva for mood boards or branded materials on their free tier, but let That’s The One handle the rest.

👉 Try That’s The One for free or book a live demo to see how it compares.

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

1. Can I use Canva for wedding planning?

Yes, many planners use Canva for wedding planning tasks like creating mood boards, client proposals, and visual content. However, Canva is not a planning platform, it doesn’t offer tools for tracking guests, RSVPs, timelines, or budgets.

2. What is a Canva template?

A Canva template is a pre-designed graphic you can customize to organize visual elements of the planning process, like checklists or mood boards. These templates offer various customization options, such as editing text, adjusting colors, and changing the layout to suit your preferences. They are helpful for presentation, but not for live project management.

3. Is there a Canva wedding planning checklist I can use?

Yes, Canva offers several wedding planning checklist designs that you can customize and print. However, these are static PDFs or images, so for real-time progress tracking, you’ll need a dedicated planning tool like That’s The One.

4.  Can I make a printable wedding planning timeline in Canva?

Absolutely. Many planners create a printable documents in Canva for clients or vendors. But since Canva doesn’t support real-time updates or integrations, any changes must be made manually.

5. What is the best alternative to Canva for wedding planning?

The best alternative is That’s The One; a full-service wedding planning platform that handles timelines, checklists, RSVPs, seating plans, budgets, and more. While Canva handles design, TTO manages the actual planning.

6. What are the limitations of using Canva for wedding planning?

While Canva for weddings works well for visuals, it lacks critical tools like RSVP tracking, seating charts, supplier management, and automated timelines. Planners often need additional tools to manage the full scope of the event.

7.  Is Canva good for creating a wedding day timeline?

You can design a beautiful wedding day timeline in Canva, but it will be static. If any timing changes occur, you’ll need to manually update and resend it. A platform like That’s The One provides dynamic timelines that sync with real planning data.

8.  Does That’s The One offer better vendor management?

Yes, That’s The One includes a centralized vendor CRM, enabling planners to store contracts, assign tasks, and manage vendor relationships across all events. Trello does not offer these features.

9. What’s the difference between a Canva wedding timeline template and That’s The One’s timeline tool?

A Canva wedding timeline template is a design you edit manually. That’s The One’s timeline tool is live, interactive, and automatically linked to tasks, vendors, and guest logistics, so everything stays up-to-date as plans evolve.

10. Can I use Canva and That’s The One together?

Yes! Many planners use Canva for wedding invitations or branding, and That’s The One for planning. Canva helps you present the vision, while TTO helps you execute every detail of the event.

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

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