Do you know about virtual wedding planning?
It is not surprising to find out that many couples do not realize that they could plan their wedding celebrations virtually. It is also not surprising to hear that they – and some planners too- haven’t considered using the FREE and everly available google sheets.
Using Google sheets for virtual wedding planning
Truth is you can. You absolutely can plan a wedding virtually, and with the help of a wedding planner who is not in the same location as you are too. To make the process even more stress-free, you can rely on the great google sheets to help. Sure there are loads of other tools and software programs that can be used, this post provides information on how you can have your cake and eat it too. I mean use a tool that offers similar benefits too, without paying an arm and a leg for it – cos it costs you only internet connection and nothing else(who doesn’t want to save some money?).
“So how do I go about this” you ask? Easy!
Create google account
First create a google account. Open your browser and type in ‘create a google account’. Fill in your details as requested with the option of creating a new email address or using an already existing one. You can actually use a non-gmail address if you prefer, just click on the ‘use my current email address instead’ to skip creating a new one. Tip: If you already use G-mail, have a YouTube account or use google maps, you already have a google account so you can just sign-in as usual.
Navigate to the google sheets portal A quick way is to sign into your g-mail and click on the dotted grid on the top-right-hand corner of the window. From the drop-down select sheets, and this opens up to an excel looking spreadsheet.
Tip: You can also type doc.google.com/spreadsheets into your web browser or do a google search for ‘google sheets‘ and then click on ‘blank’, to open a new spreadsheet for your planning.
Run a google search for ‘google sheets’
Create individual sheets for each detail of your wedding planning. These function like the pages of the hardcover wedding planning folder, just that its in a digital format. Examples are budget management , vendor information , planning timeline and tracker, guest list, design preferences, floral and fashion inspiration etc.
Create separate tabs/sheets for each planning aspect.
Tip : You can copy inspirational pictures from the your sources and paste(Ctrl+V) directly on the relevant sheet,and arrange in a format that is easy to understand for you and others who might view the document.
4. Share with your planner/client and other relevant individuals(spouse). You can share with your planner/day-of coordinator, spouse or other relevant members of your planning team. Bear in mind though, that they will have access to all the information entered.
Multiple ways to share your invite for collaboration.
Tip: You can either share by copying a link and sending to them via whatever means you prefer, or enter their details into the box, whereby they get an email notification of an invite to the document created.
There are so many benefit to maintaining a digital wedding planner, especially with google apps, and these would be discussed in another post.
If your wedding planning journey has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, this would be a tool for collaborating with your team for a virtual wedding planning process without adding on any extra cost.
Till then,
Be blessed, safe & merry! Kemi…