A wedding day is, let’s face it, one of the biggest events of anybody’s life. But, unless you’ve been through it, it’s difficult to appreciate just how difficult it can be to get everything to come together perfectly. Even in so much as just knowing what to look for and where to find it, there will be many tests along the way.
To help, we’ve put together a list of websites which provide help, tips and plenty of inspiration for the big day. Some offer practical solutions to organizational dilemmas. Others just a nudge in the right direction with the latest trends and ideas. Whatever your needs, you’ll find a solution in here, we promise!
Obviously, we would like to shout out ourselves first :). To read more about eco-friendly and organic weddings, visit Our Organic Wedding.
Burnetts Boards
BB is full of great blog posts and articles on everything from antique engagement rings to cutting-edge gourmet food. Lots of guest blog posts give a different perspective on things, providing fresh ideas on traditional subjects. They have an incredible “Inspiration Boards” section, in which every conceivable style and the color palette is showcased. Lose yourself for an hour or two, and you’ll come away with a head (and pad) full of ideas for your own wedding.
Style Me Pretty
Considered one of the “Big 3” wedding sites, Style Me Pretty is just a great way to start your planning. There are tips and help on everything from the stationery to the cake. It’s easy to see why Style Me Pretty is one of the first stop-off points for any bride to be.
Bridal Musings
Bridal Musings is one the best blogs around for trend-watching and getting ideas for your big day. Invitations, the decor, the Bridesmaids’ dresses and even the honeymoon. No topic is left out in the wealth of information available on the site. As well as blog posts, there are curated lists and a mailing list to make sure you don’t miss anything. We love Bridal Musings!
Carats And Cake
As well as having a name which is one of the greatest wedding puns ever, Carats and Cake take a very localized approach to planning. If you need a vendor for any task, the site is full of recommendations. And recommendations by people who have used the businesses in question, too. No more guessing about whether your chosen supplier is the right one.
The Bridal Circle
The Bridal Circle targets the “luxury” wedding market, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful for all budgets. Although some of the hints and tips will be beyond many pockets, they are great for sparking your own ideas into life. You don’t want to pay someone $4000 dollars to design your stationery? You actually don’t have to. Take inspiration from what they do, and design your own.
Wedding Chicks
From tips and ideas to linking you up with the people who can help you carry out your dream wedding, Wedding Chicks has it all. In all honesty, the site itself can be a bit of a jumble to navigate. However, don’t be put off by that. The information contained here is excellent and well worth the effort.
The Man Registry
Don’t let the name put you off. If you want your man to be involved, though, this is definitely where to point him. With ideas for everything from the Bachelor Party to gifts for the Groomsmen, the site is a goldmine. Even if your man isn’t overly enthusiastic about being involved, The Man Registry will change his mind.
NewlyWish
The Wedding Registry is actually one of the toughest parts of any wedding plan. You don’t want to ask your guests for gifts they may not be able to afford, of course. At the same time, you do need to ask for gifts which you do want or need. So why not point them to a site which offers over 50 stores from which to compile your list? So much choice means you can include items for all budgets, and NewlyWish makes it all so easy.
The Knot
The second of the “Big 3” wedding sites in this list, The Knot has grown from a simple ideas and recommendations site to something much bigger. It’s one of those sites where you can literally lose hours of time. Browsing is effortless and very pleasurable. If you don’t find inspiration somewhere on The Knot, you haven’t really looked.
Ruffled Blog
One feature surprisingly lacking fro many wedding inspiration sites is real world experiences. Too many websites act as information bureaus without actually providing testimony from people who have lived through it all. Ruffled Blog doesn’t fall into that trap, though. Thankfully, it has a ton (over 2000!) of stories from real people and real weddings. Each story has links to how each stage was done, and who provided the services.
Jet Fete
Okay, so you’ve decided to get married in the Bahamas, or in Tahiti, or in Cancun. You have no idea, however, where to start arranging services in those places. Some travel companies can help, but these tend to be very basic, almost conveyor belt-like weddings, with a queue of couples behind you. Where Jet Fete differs is by linking you with the very types of people and vendors you’d find in your hometown. Fancy Barcelona? No problem, the great people at Jet Fete will show you how.
Brides
The wedding site of wedding sites. Brides.com is just about the first stopping point for almost anyone on the path to marriage. Full of inspirational stories and real wedding studies, Brides is an amazing website. It might be easy to be put off by the fact Brides have featured on weddings which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but this would be to do the site a disservice. They have everything from ideas for cakes to questions to ask the band. Practicality is the byword of the Brides website.
Perhaps not quite what you were expecting to see huh? Pinterest is one of those things which, with a bit of thought, can provide tips and information on just about everything. Use the link here to view weddings and wedding inspiration. Design trends, first dance suggestions, how to do the perfect Hog Roast, it’s all on Pinterest.
Offbeat Bride
The clue is in the name. If you want convention and tradition for your wedding, Offbeat Bride might not be for you. But, if you want to wander off “the beaten aisle”, as they like to say, then the site is exactly what you need. Real wedding tales, vendors in the US, Canada and the UK, downloadable documents to help with the planning. All of it is done with a bit of humor and a lot of common sense. Same-sex friendly venues and suppliers, photographers who do it differently, you won’t be short of any topic in which to find something which works for you.
Big Fat Asian Wedding
Asian weddings are often glorious, colorful affairs. However, the inspiration for the wedding itself can be difficult to come by. Cultural expectations obviously form a big part of any wedding, and Asian weddings are no exception. But that doesn’t mean they should be formulaic, though. Many blogs centering around Asian wedding planning have sprung up in recent years, and Big Fat Asian Wedding is one of those that has had a massive impact. It is a true blog, rather than a sales site dressed up as something it isn’t. Guest bloggers also regularly contribute.
Green Wedding Shoes
Another site which dares to think a bit differently, GWS looks to help you on the path towards “A Fashionably Ever After”. If you want to know how a couple went about having donkeys in the wedding party, or the bride who got married in a custom designed leather jacket, it’s here. But there are more conventional ideas too, so it’s not all quirky and left-field. Green Wedding Shoes really does have something for everyone.
100 Layer Cake
Everything from DIY table decorations to weddings on a mountaintop. 100LC have all the ideas you need, and some great tips on how to implement them. There’s a very good reason why the site has 270,000 Instagram followers. The levels of inspiration are, at times, breathtaking. Many fall into the category of “Why didn’t I think of that?”. The thing is, many of the best ideas are like that. Simple, beautiful and so practical.
Once Wed
Once Wed, as well as offering all the advice any prospective bride will need, do it with a style and panache rarely seen. With exquisite photographs on every topic under discussion, it is a feast for the eyes. Once Wed doesn’t just tell you the information you need, they also show you what they mean. That includes hair and make-up, as well as the dress or the location. A visually spectacular blog, with a lot of very useful stuff.
My Wedding
My wedding is as much about real practical help, as it is about ideas and inspiration. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of great information on the site, as there most certainly is. There is also a huge amount of practical advice just for getting everything done in a timely and organized fashion. What to do and, just as importantly, what not to do. No topic is left undiscussed or without a handful of pointers on getting it right.
Rock ‘n Roll Bride
Another site catering to the “alternative” wedding scene. If you don’t want to get married in white, RnRB is there to reassure you that it’s okay not to. But that doesn’t just mean that the site is anarchic in any way. It still recognizes the need for organization and planning, as well as real-world tips on where to get what you need. The only difference is that the suppliers they recommend may not be what you’d find on other, more conventional websites.
