Save Money with these Must-Have Creative Online Wedding Tools & Resources 

(Photo Source: Bliss Technology )

Technology – who can live without it? We are in a rapidly growing technological era and I am amazed at the amount of different opportunities and uses that technology has created for us – things that 10 years ago we wouldn’t even have imagined doing. It seems now-a-days that nearly everyone has a smartphone and even grandpa & grandma has a IPhone!  Well if you are like me then you are always looking for creative apps, online resources, and anything else technological to make daily tasks and life easier. In this day and age advanced technology is incorporated in almost everything (gaming consoles, 3D TV’s, streaming music, WIFI, etc.) So, for those of you brides & grooms that LOVE using technology, I thought I would recommend 5 online technological resources that you could use for your wedding that may actually save you money.

NEW WEDDING TECHNOLOGY

Online Invitations

(Photo credit: Paperless Post)

While most couples tend to stick with the traditional paper invitations which can easily cost hundreds of dollars, the truth is that there is a large chance that they are not kept but actually thrown away. (I am not discouraging the use of paper invitations because not only is it traditional but I’ve seen so many amazing, lovely, and creative invitations that I know any guest would be excited to receive in their mailbox.) For those of you that aren’t married to the idea of paper invitations or don’t consider yourself to be the traditional bride and groom, may want to consider sending an online wedding invitation. Why? You save trees, money, and you still get the same beautiful message across with your pertinent wedding day details!  Some people may consider it tacky or a no-no, but I would personally disagree and say that I am noticing that more and more brides and groom’s of today are choosing non-traditional rituals and items over the traditional – which allows them to really personalize their own wedding experience. Plus, the online wedding invitation designs have really improved over the past couple years – giving you the same beautiful details at a lower cost and in a digital format.  If you can’t fully embrace the idea of emailing invitations to your guests or you know you mom would have a panic attack, then consider using it for your save the dates and/or thank you cards! Here are a couple awesome online invitation companies:

Paperless Post - I have really seen this company grow over the past couple years. They have a wonderful variety of invitations and additionally they allow you to select designer cards, envelopes, liners, and logos at reasonable costs.

Greenvelope - Choose from their invitations or upload your own design. You have the option to create your own envelopes and this company donates a percentage of proceeds to a non-profit that maintains trees! Save money, go GREEN, and support trees with this company!

Pingg - This company offers invitations and announcements that cover engagement announcements, wedding save-the-date cards, wedding shower invitations, rehearsal dinner invitations, the wedding and many more.

Virtual Pinboard

(Photo Source: Pinterest)

The winner in this category without a doubt is Pinterest – an amazing virtual pinboard! While planning your wedding, I recommend that you utilize online pinboards to collect all of your favorite ideas found across the web in one organized place. I would make a virtual story board for everything – Wedding Dress, Wedding Bouquets, Bridesmaid Dresses, Centerpieces, Favors, Escort Cards, Guestbooks, Venues, Wedding Photography & favorite shots, Decor, Invitations, Wedding Ideas, Wedding Resources, etc. As you are doing your online research, make sure to PIN your favorites to you Pinterest boards. This allows you to compile of bunch of ideas and inspiration in one place so that when you meet with your wedding planner and vendors you can use pictures and ideas to explain and show what you are looking for because sometimes sharing your vision and ideas can be one of hardest things to do verbally. Sometimes you know what you want when you see it, but if someone asked you, you have a hard time explaining it so that they can visualize it.

The cool thing about Pinterest is that you can also search their database of pins for certain things you are looking for or follow your favorite people or companies that share amazing wedding inspiration. Also, you can invite your maid of honor, wedding planner, best friend, mom, bridesmaids, and anyone else you choose to pin to your board(s) and help you collect ideas and inspiration for your special day. Pinterest is an awesome gem  - but I caution you – it is VERY addicting!

(If you don’t know what Pinterest is you absolutely have to check it out after you are finished with this post. It definitely needs to be on your must-have list and if you like, feel free to stop by and check out all of my lovely inspiration boards.)

Wedding Websites

(Photo Source: Wedding Window)

Share your love story, wedding details & events, directions, and so much more with a wedding website. When I got married in 2008 I used a wedding website and absolutely LOVED it! I am sure that nearly 5 years later, wedding websites have improved leaps and bounds and would make it a practical option of communicating with your guests. Here are some of my favorites:

Wedding Window - Their tagline- “Your wedding. Your website. Your way.” Create a custom wedding website, add photos of you and your love, add your registry deets, have your guests sign your guestbook, let your guests RSVP to your wedding online, and much more! They have so many customizable options, amazing website themes, a bunch of free features, and great customer support!

(I would definitely recommend this company. I used them for my wedding and LOVED them – the experience, creative & elegant themes, flexibility, ease of use, and plus I was able to buy a CD of our entire site as a forever keepsake.)

Wedding Channel - If you are looking for something a little bit more basic, the wedding channel offers a free wedding website option to their members (it is free to sign-up).

E-Wedding – This FREE wedding tool offers a bunch of features and customizable options and themes for free.

Appy Couple –  This wedding app that allows you to create your very own wedding app and website for a low cost one-time cost of $28! Share your wedding logistics, communicate with your guests, share on social channels, and much more! This app is compatible with the Iphone and Android operating systems.

Wedding Apps

(Photo Source: Wedding Party)

Let your guests capture all of the beautiful moments, smiles, tears, dance moves, and everything else that your photographer may not be able to catch while he is working on capturing all of your important moments. Plus, it would be great to see photos from your wedding collected from your guests perspective. You can now easily do that with wedding photo apps that allow your guest to take photos, upload, and share instantly. It’s time to ditch the disposable cameras! Here are some of my favorites:

Wedding Party – This FREE wedding photo app allows your guests to instantly collect and share their favorite photos from the wedding in real-time, plus what a fun way to entertain your guests especially before you make your grand entrance and the food is served! (This wedding app is compatible with the Iphone and their Android app is currently in the Beta testing stage.)

WedPics - This FREE wedding photo app for your guests allows them to load photos in real-time and comment or “love” photos and offers lifetime hosting of all content.

Capsule - This wedding photo app offers 3 different pricing package options to choose from based upon your guest count. This wedding photo app is available for the Iphone and Android devices. You can use Instagram or even upload photos from your camera.

Wedding Registry

(Photo Source: Travelers Joy)

If you were like my hubby and I you had 2 of everything and didn’t need another blender, pot, or microwave on your wedding day. We were going to Hawaii and with all the money going towards the wedding, we didnt have much left over for the honeymoon. So we decided on a honeymoon registry. We shared our honeymoon destination with our guests and picked several honeymoon wish list options, such as a sunset dinner, luau, snorkeling, romantic dinner for two, etc. This gave our guests tangible items that allowed them to feel like they were contributing to an amazing honeymoon for us – a gift they were happy to give. If you are in need of some household items, then a traditional registry would work out perfectly for you two. Here are some cool wedding registry options:

Travelers Joy - My favorite honeymoon registry, but I am biased because I used them for my wedding and had an amazing experience! Low fees, easy to use, thank you options, and easy gift redemption options. Want to see a sample? Here is our honeymoon registry from 2008.

My Registry - This nifty registry allows you to save time by adding registry items from any website into ONE registry! Oh, how convenient! Instead of spending hours in different stores finding a bunch of items to scan, you can surf the web conveniently from home!

Etsy – If you are a lover of handmade, creative, and unique goods, then you will love Etsy! Did you know they offer a wedding registry? With a wide variety of shops and handmade goods, you will be in heaven trying to pick out your favorites for the registry!

A lot of information provided today, but I hope that it was helpful and useful information and that you found some awesome resources to use for your wedding to help you save money! I’d LOVE to hear from you, so please check out all the wedding technology resources above and let me know which ones you loved and which ones you decided to use! Please share this post with your friends and social circles and if you would like to receive more awesome posts like this one, please make sure to subscribe to the blog – simply add your email address to the Subscribe Via Email box on the right hand-side or click here.

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Want to know more about me and the blog? Interested in my event and wedding planning services? See some of my real weddings/DIY projects and hear testimonials from some of my past clients! Have something you are dying to know or have some wedding planning questions you would like answered? I love to hear from my readers, so please send me a note or email me at 3DMemoirs@gmail.com!

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