The Best Wedding Planning Sites

Monday, March 24th

2025 Wedding Planning Site Reviews

Wedding Planning Assistant

• Free or upgraded user accounts
• $29 one-time fee for premium access
• Free downloadable templates for customizing
• Advice and idea articles
• High ratings from satisfied users

Wedding Planning Assistant is a small team dedicated to improving the wedding planning process and eliminating some of the tears and breakdowns that ensue from making a budget, planning the guest list, and having failed DIY projects. The team uses their experience and vision to solve the major problems that are common for those planning weddings. They offer a variety of tools designed to make the wedding process seamless and stress-free.

Simple and organized

As soon as you land on Wedding Planning Assistant's page, you can click the "Create new wedding project” tab and get started. You'll select whether you're the bride, groom, or wedding planner, the event type you're planning, and then start customizing your account with personal information relevant to your wedding. The account is easy to manage and well-organized, with tabs for creating a guest list, keeping track of venues and vendors, and jumping between planning tools to keep everything organized and in one place.

Optional $29 premium account

A basic account through Wedding Planning Assistant is completely free. It includes a guest list, RSVPs, a wedding website, checklist, budget, event itinerary, vendors and venues, notes, and files. This pretty much covers anything that most people would need when looking for a wedding planning site. However, you can take it one step further here and upgrade to a premium plan for a one-time fee of $29. In addition to everything in the basic plan, you'd also get unlimited exports to PDF and Excel, seating charts and supplies in high resolution, advanced wedding website features (templates, widgets, advanced theme, password protection, custom domain), and extra storage space for post-wedding photos that allow guests to upload up to 100 pictures.

Free downloadables

Some specific and unique tools from Wedding Planning Assistant that we haven't seen anywhere else include creating a ceremony layout, organizing a reception layout and seating chart, designing table seating cards, making name cards, table numbers, and creating a reception menu. All of these can be downloaded as a PDF, so you can print them however and wherever you want to.

Group collaboration

By sending an online invite through your account, you can collaborate on all the details of your big day with friends, family, or a wedding planner. They'll have access to all the tools that you do and as changes are made, they'll update in real-time and be stored to the cloud through Wedding Planning Assistant.

Ideas and advice

The "Ideas & Advice” page of Wedding Planning Assistant is worth checking out, since it has a lot of great help articles for things like writing wedding vows, wedding trends, a maid of honor's guide, what to write in a wedding card, traditions from around the world, questions you should ask a wedding venue before booking, and so on.

Genuinely impressed

There isn't a Better Business Bureau rating for Wedding Planning Assistant, but we found some reviews from users and they were reassuring. People said it is very user-friendly and helps them take care of every single detail leading up to their big day. Couples have genuinely been impressed and said that they had a much smoother planning experience with the tools provided.

The best choice

We're thoroughly pleased with everything offered by Wedding Planning Assistant. You will have all the help you need with the free, basic account, but even a $29 upgrade seems reasonable if you decide to move ahead with that. We have no reservations in recommending this service, so they've earned our highest rating.

The Knot

• Free to use
• Create a free wedding website
• Make a registry
• Personalize a to-do list
• Idea and advice columns
• Well-liked by couples

The Knot is "Your wedding team and everything in-between.” This company operates across more than 16 countries and is part of The Knot Worldwide family of brands. Their sister companies are some you may have heard of, including WeddingWire, Bodas, Hitched, The Bump, and The Bash. The Knot aims to connect couples with local wedding professionals and also offers a suite of personalized wedding websites, planning tools, invitations, and registry services.

Create a free profile

To get the most out of the tools available on The Knot, you'll need to make a free online account. This will let you create customized wedding checklists and save your progress, use their budget advisor tool, create a guest list and manage RSVPs, and communicate with vendors. All it takes to make an account is your email address, a password, and some basic information about you and your partner, like names, engagement date, the wedding date you have in mind, where you want to marry, an estimate of how many guests will attend, and your budget. If you don't know or would rather not provide all this information just yet, it's not hard to skip through it.

Stick with a theme

You can build a free website through The Knot by selecting a template you like and making as many changes as your heart desires until it feels like "you”. You could even order matching wedding invitations to go along with the theme if you want to keep things really cohesive. You can also order RSVP cards, save the dates, menus, gift tags, programs, rehearsal dinner invitations, and so much more through The Knot.

Manage vendors

You can use The Knot to find vendors for your wedding cake, venue, florists, bridal salons, jewelers, bar services, transportation, decor, dance lessons, DJs, caterers, and everything else you might possibly need to make your big day a success. You can keep track of the vendors you're most interested in, chat with them through your account, and give them reviews after the fact. Vendor services and wedding registries are the two ways that The Knot generates income.

Make a wedding registry

You can create an entire wedding registry from scratch by adding products from all different companies and brands. This includes gift cards and cash. You'll get free shipping, easy returns, and a 20% post-wedding discount on all items that aren't purchased for you. It's easy to browse popular picks from other couples, search by category, or search for exactly what you want and add it to your list.

Not the best for vendors

The Knot Worldwide has an "F” rating from the Better Business Bureau because of some complaints filed against them. However, this is the rating for the parent company of The Knot and not just The Knot itself. The Knot actually has quite high ratings from couples who like that it's an all-inclusive tool that keeps them organized, and it's nice that it's a free wedding planning site. The only complaint that we commonly saw was from people who felt like the reviews for vendors weren't entirely honest. Some left negative feedback and noticed that it was later deleted, so you may not be able to rely solely on The Knot's ratings for a vendor. You should check on other sites to see what people's experience was like as well.

An overall fantastic resource

Overall, The Knot has a lot to offer. There are a lot of things to keep track of when you're planning an event as big as a wedding, and The Knot has a few different ways to save you time and keep your head on straight. The company is well-liked by users for most aspects of their service, so The Knot earns its place as a highly recommended wedding planning site on our list.

Joy

• Free to use
• Personalized websites
• Create guest lists and invitations
• Make a wedding registry
• Positive reviews from couples

Joy was founded by 3 friends after one of their sisters was planning her wedding and struggled to find a website that offered personalized attention and detail. The friends built her a custom website to fit her style, and then other wedding guests and friends started asking for one of their own. Joy was officially founded in 2016 and has been featured by Vogue, The New York Times, Good Morning America, Cosmopolitan, Brides, BuzzFeed, Insider, and other prominent media outlets.

Complicated site navigation

Our initial impression is that you can forget about trying to navigate a simple, clean, user-friendly site when you're exploring Joy. What should be a simple page scroll turns into images zooming in and out, preventing us from quickly getting where we want to go. We imagine that within a few minutes some couples will want to abandon the site altogether since it feels overwhelming.

Personalized websites

But, if you decide to press forward anyway, it's worth it. The main things you can do on Joy are design a personalized website and create a registry. There are hundreds of templates available for wedding websites to fit every style and make it easier to design something you love without having to start from scratch. You can change colors, photos, fonts, and even do a little coding to adjust formatting if you know how. The website can reflect your personality and set the tone for the wedding vibe you're planning.

Organized guest lists

A crucial part of planning a wedding is collecting addresses, sending out invitations, and tracking RSVPs. With Joy you can do just that. You can keep track of your guests' special dietary needs, who will make it to the rehearsal dinner, who is in the wedding party; communicate with them about important updates; and more. Joy lets you keep all details related to wedding guests organized in one single place. You can use their website to design and order your save the dates and wedding invitations too, so you don't have to look elsewhere for this service.

Create a registry

Joy is free to use because they make money from the registry portion of their site. When couples add products to their wedding registries from different stores, Joy earns a commission from the stores. You can add any products from your favorite retailers to your registry list and create unlimited cash funds with zero fees. It's one of the most popular tools on Joy and often what brings people to this wedding planning site in the first place.

Professional end results

We weren't able to find a rating for Joy from the Better Business Bureau, but we did find quite a few reviews from users for the site. The biggest perk for couples is that Joy is free to use. And beggars can't be choosers, right? Yes, there are quite a few things about the site that drive people crazy, and there are a lot of suggestions that people have for the design team to make the whole platform more user-friendly. However, couples generally like how professional things turn out in the end and say there aren't glitches or issues with important things like RSVPs.

A good, free option

If you're looking for a place to keep yourself organized in the midst of the wedding planning process without spending any extra money, Joy is a great option. It's not going to be perfect or have every tool you can think of that would be useful, but it's a terrific resource. We recommend looking through all of Joy's features to see if it will take care of your wedding planning needs.

One Fab Day

• Free to browse
• Planning ideas for all different themes
• On-the-go podcast
• Organized, user-friendly advice

One Fab Day boasts that they're the #1 wedding website in Ireland. They have thousands of articles and hundreds of real wedding photos and advice to help you keep the creative juices flowing as you plan your own special day. This brand has tens of thousands of social media followers, and their work gets featured by big names like Cosmopolitan Bride, Vogue, BuzzFeed, Brides, Stylist Magazine, and others.

Online wedding magazine

You could think of One Fab Day as a huge online magazine full of ideas and help articles that are fun to browse and get inspiration from when you're in the midst of wedding planning. It's free to read through their articles, blog, and look through their supplier list (but it's mostly available only to people in Ireland). Their content is organized by a planning and ideas category, real wedding photos, bride, groom, supplies, travel, and shop.

Endless inspiration

For planning, One Fab Day has inspiration for cakes, entertainment, seasonal weddings, venues, stationery, flowers, DIY ideas, and more. If you select the flowers category for example, there are articles about ways to use potted plants for your wedding, the best way to preserve a wedding bouquet, backdrop display ideas, how to style unique flowers like poinsettias, smart ways to save money on flowers, and so much more. The amount of information and ideas you can get from One Fab Day is truly astounding.

On-the-go podcast advice

Aside from all the visual tips you can get from One Fab Day, the company has a podcast where they dive into all things wedding planning. They have 53 episodes with discussions on dealing with family drama, finding the best wedding suppliers, how to have a laid-back wedding, elopement, what to do after an engagement, and so on. This is something you could listen to on-the-go if you find an episode that you relate to.

Ratings aren't necessary

There aren't many viewer ratings for One Fab Day since this isn't really the type of content that you rate. Since it's free to browse, it's more a resource that you either choose to spend your time on or you don't, but there isn't anything to lose. The Better Business Bureau does not have a profile or rating for One Fab Day either.

Great for all wedding planners

On One Fab Day, you aren't going to get step-by-step help for planning your wedding with things like an organized checklist, a way to print wedding invitations and track RSVPs, or have a tool to refer back to with all-in-one guidance unique to your big day. However, you can easily search for specific ideas if you are choosing a nail design, want links for classy shoes, or dream of creating the perfect garden-themed wedding. One Fab Day is a great resource for all wedding planners: risk-free to use for all the inspiration you may need.

Zola

• Free for users
• Create a registry for gifts, cash, and experiences
• Order wedding invitations
• Basic organizing tools for planning
• "A+” Better Business Bureau rating

Zola says they are here to "answer all the questions” from the basics to the nitty-gritty details that you encounter when you're wedding planning. They'll guide you from the "I Do” to life as newlyweds. The company was founded in New York City in 2013 and was originally launched as an online registry that allowed couples to register for gifts, cash funds, and experiences, all in one place.

Basic tools

The primary tools Zola offers are a wedding registry (their bread and butter), a free wedding website, connections to vendors and venues, invites, guest lists, and advice and support. These are the features that we're accustomed to seeing from other companies as well, so to see how comprehensive and user-friendly Zola is, you can start by creating a free account.

Set up your profile

Expect to answer some initial questions to create your account - like how far along you are in the wedding process, you and your partner's names and wedding date (if you have one set), where you're getting married, and who you're inviting. Once you get past this, you can start planning. This means you can set details about your wedding so that vendors can reach out to you directly, or you can start exploring all your options when you're ready. You can build a completely custom website, use their budget tool, make a to-do list, and create a seating chart. Everything is highly customizable, but easily managed in one place.

Order wedding invites and more

Not all wedding planning websites give you the opportunity to make and order wedding invitations through their company, but Zola does. They also have beautiful templates for save the dates, thank you cards, menus, programs, and name cards. You can customize and order them to come straight to your home for addressing or have them pre-addressed and ready to mail out.

Helpful FAQ

If you run into any questions about how to best use Zola's tools, refer to their FAQ section. We found their help articles to be extremely useful and they covered nearly every question you might come up with.

Mixed reviews

Zola has an "A+” rating from the Better Business Bureau. They have mixed ratings from users, though. The main issues that we discovered were that vendors weren't always reliable, creating invitations online was sometimes tricky and weren't timely with respect to delivery, and the prices on wedding registries aren't always very competitive. However, if you stick with the basic planning tools, you shouldn't have a problem.

A decent choice

We concluded that Zola is a decent choice to rely on when you're looking for an all-encompassing wedding planning site, but it isn't perfect. You'll find that some tools are more useful than others, and we recommend comparing their registry with others to see if they have a wide enough range of products with competitive pricing. It's also best to look up reviews for vendors on multiple sites before booking with them through Zola. If you do this, then you'll likely find that Zola is useful, so they've earned a slightly better-than-average rating here.

Here Comes the Guide

• Free resources
• Venue-focused
• Downloadable planning sheets
• Insightful blog articles with tips on planning
• Positive feedback about venue finding

If we were awarding rankings solely based on names, Here Comes The Guide might be our top choice. This wedding planning service was founded back in 1989 when the founder, Lynn Broadwell, had gotten engaged and found herself desperate for a list of venue options (because this was pre-internet). She decided to create her own resource: the Here Comes The Guide book, a physical resource for brides and grooms to rely on for wedding planning. Now the company is completely online with more tools than ever before.

Venues at the heart

Wedding planning venues are still the heart of what Here Comes The Guide helps couples with. When you land on their website, you can input the state you are getting married in and the style of venue you're going for (all-inclusive, woodsy, mountain view, unique, garden barn, beach, inn). They have a collection of curated venue collection photos you can gather inspiration from, themed by location and how couples decorated it.

Blog post advice

The wedding planning tools included with Here Comes The Guide are a list of blog posts that discuss what to get done the week of your wedding, how to create a wedding timeline, what to include in a wedding day emergency kit, how to tip wedding vendors, an elopement checklist, a destination wedding checklist, and more. There is plenty of information found within these blog posts, but maybe you aren't up for that much reading.

Free downloads

In our opinion, the most handy tool from Here Comes The Guide are the free wedding printables. There are downloads for organizing wedding fundamentals, finding the right venue, the ultimate wedding checklist, a daily + weekly planner, questions to ask a venue, a wedding venue tipping guide, monthly calendar, and more. We recommend downloading the applicable guides, 3-hole punching them, and adding them to your own personal planning binder to keep yourself organized.

Few reviews

There is no Better Business Bureau rating for Here Comes The Guide. They also don't have many reviews from users besides a few here and there from couples that were glad it helped them find a wedding venue. Since there aren't a lot of tools here and none of them are paid for by brides and grooms, you won't find a lot of heated opinions from people about this site.

Not a full-scale solution

If you aren't into paper organization for your wedding, then Here Comes The Guide isn't going to be your best friend. They don't have online tools to help you, so the most you'll get here are recommendations for a venue, advice and ideas, and some printable guides to keep you on track. There is nothing to help with wedding invitations - no app and no collaboration tools. This is a broad resource for wedding planning but it won't get you through the nitty-gritty details, so Here Comes The Guide has earned an average rating.

Wedding Wire

• Free for users
• Over 167,000 professionals
• Connects couples with vendors
• Budget tools
• Personalized website
• To-do list tool

WeddingWire is a sister company to another wedding planning site in our review, TheKnot. It is owned by The Knot Worldwide, a brand with a series of other companies all related to planning and celebrating life's biggest events. WeddingWire is a wedding vendor directory that helps engaged couples search and compare different professionals for their big day.

Connect with local vendors

WeddingWire boasts that they feature over 167,000 local professionals with reviews, availability, pricing, and more. To start, you can simply type in the vendor category or name and the location you're in. You'll be able to connect with vendors for cakes, videographers, DJs, hair and makeup, rentals, flowers, and more. You can scroll through a list of photos and brief descriptions from different vendors, along with highlighted features of their service.

Save time

In addition to seeing a list of vendors, WeddingWire makes it easy to narrow down specifications of what you need. For example, if you're looking for a caterer, you can also use filters for the cuisines you'd like, the specific catering service, special dietary needs, bar services, and support diversity. This way you don't waste time in finding out if there are options that would work for you.

All the necessary tools

Although connecting wedding planners to vendors is the main purpose of WeddingWire, they also have wedding planning tools like a checklist, personalized wedding website, budget, seating chart, guest list, and other important features that are crucial to the wedding planning process. They're free to use and you just need to submit your name and email address to get started.

Manage from one place

Once you sign up for a free WeddingWire account, you'll be able to track your vendors and communications with them, as well as the progress you've made on your to-do list, seating chart, and budget, all in one place. You can also create a registry to share with your guests and link it to your website.

Poor ratings

When looking for a Better Business Bureau rating for WeddingWire, you'll find that The Knot Worldwide comes up instead. This company has an "F” rating, which is unimpressive. However, what we care even more about are the individual user ratings from people - but these are equally bad. The basic wedding planning tools from WeddingWire aren't an issue, but many people have been burned by the vendors they've connected with here. Even vendors have felt like they've had bad experiences connecting with brides and grooms, leading to thousands of reviews from disgruntled WeddingWire users.

Better choices available

If you really just need basic wedding planning tools, there are better services on our list. As far as connecting with local vendors goes, we recommend checking multiple sources for reviews and information on them rather than relying on a single source like WeddingWire. We'd hate for you to rely on someone for a crucial part of your wedding only to have it fall apart and put a damper on your special day. WeddingWire isn't a site we'd recommend for help with wedding planning.