Gmail Wedding Planning: A Guide To Getting Started

Planning a wedding can be stressful, but a Gmail account can help you stay organised. Gmail is a great way to keep all your wedding-related emails in one place, from vendor quotes to RSVPs. You can also use Google's free tools like Google Drive, Google Sheets, and Google Docs to keep track of important details, guest lists, and contracts. With a Gmail account, you can easily share information with your fiancé, wedding planner, and guests, ensuring everyone is on the same page. Plus, you can take advantage of Google Calendar to keep everyone informed of wedding-related meetings and events. So, whether you're just starting your wedding planning journey or well on your way, consider using a Gmail account to stay organised and stress-free.

Create a wedding-only email address

A wedding-only email address is a great way to keep your personal and wedding planning lives separate. It's easy to create a Gmail address for this purpose, and it's free!

Firstly, decide on your email address. This can be as simple as your names, or you could get creative and use your wedding date, your married name, or even your first dance song title. You could also purchase a custom domain name, which will give you an email address that looks something like ' [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])'.

If you're creating a Gmail address, head to www.gmail.com and follow the instructions to sign up. You'll need to choose a username that's 30 characters or less and uses only letters, numbers, and periods. If you already have a Gmail account, you can add a new one by clicking on your profile picture in the top right corner and selecting 'Add Account'.

Once you have your new email address, you can use it for all your wedding planning needs. Send digital save-the-dates and RSVPs, use it when registering for gifts, and sign up for deals. You can even use it to communicate with your partner, wedding planner, or vendors, so everyone stays in the loop.

After the wedding, don't forget to set up email forwarding to your normal address so you can stay in touch with your vendors and receive any photos or gifts.

Use Google Drive to store and track important documents

Google Drive is a free service that can be used to store and track important documents when planning a wedding. It is easily accessible on all devices, and is a great way to keep everything in one place.

Google Drive allows you to store and edit files, including documents, presentations, spreadsheets, PDFs, music, and videos. You can use it to keep track of expenses, guest lists, budgets, song lists, day-of itineraries, and more. It is also a great place to save digital copies of any contracts you have with vendors. If you have a smartphone, you can download the Google Drive app to access and reference documents on the go.

Google Drive also allows for synchronous editing, meaning that you and your partner can make changes to a document at the same time without having to worry about emailing it back and forth. This can be especially handy if you are planning a wedding over a long distance. You can also share specific documents with people who need them, such as emailing the day's schedule to your wedding planner.

Additionally, Google Drive integrates with other Google services such as Google Sheets and Google Docs. You can use these to create and share spreadsheets and documents with your partner, wedding party, and vendors. For example, you can use Google Sheets to create a spreadsheet for your guest list, budget, and menu options. Google Docs can be used to create and share documents such as your master to-do list, diagrams of the wedding and reception layouts, and even your vows and wedding speech.

Overall, Google Drive is a powerful tool that can help keep your wedding planning organized and efficient, allowing you to access important information and documents whenever and wherever you need them.

Share a Google Calendar with your wedding planner

Planning a wedding can be a daunting task, but Google provides a suite of tools that are completely free and can help keep you organized. One of these tools is Google Calendar, which can be shared with your fiancé or wedding planner to keep everyone informed of wedding-related meetings and events.

To share your Google Calendar with your wedding planner, simply follow these steps:

• Create a Google Account: If you don't already have one, you can create a Google Account specifically for your wedding planning. This will give you access to Google Calendar, as well as other useful tools such as Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Sheets.
• Set up your Google Calendar: Add all your wedding-related events and meetings to your calendar. You can also use the task feature to create to-do lists and assign due dates.
• Share your calendar: In Google Calendar, go to the settings and look for the "Share your calendar" option. You can then enter the email address of your wedding planner and choose the level of access you want to grant them (view-only or edit access).
• Sync your calendar: Your wedding planner will then be able to sync your calendar with their own Google Calendar, smartphone, or other devices. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and can access the same information.
• Collaborate and stay informed: With your shared calendar, you and your wedding planner can easily schedule meetings, book venues, and keep track of important dates and deadlines. You can also use the comment and editing features to collaborate and stay informed about any changes or updates.

By sharing your Google Calendar with your wedding planner, you can ensure that everyone involved in the planning process is on the same page. This can help streamline communication, improve organization, and make the wedding planning process a smoother and less stressful experience.

Use Gmail's filter options to manage wedding correspondence

Wedding planning can be a stressful affair, but Gmail's filter options can help you manage your wedding correspondence efficiently. Here are some ways to utilise these features:

Firstly, consider creating a separate Gmail account dedicated solely to wedding planning. This way, you can keep your wedding-related emails organised and separate from your personal or professional inboxes. This dedicated account can be used for registering for gifts, signing up for deals, and communicating with vendors and guests.

Gmail's filter options allow you to create specific rules to manage your incoming and outgoing emails. You can set up filters to automatically archive, delete, categorise, or forward certain emails, helping you stay organised and ensuring that important emails don't get lost in your inbox. For example, you could create a filter that automatically labels and moves all emails from a specific vendor or wedding party member to a designated folder.

To create a filter, go to Gmail's settings, click on "Filters and Blocked Addresses," and then select "Create a new filter." From there, you can customise the filter's criteria and actions. For instance, you might create a filter that applies a specific label to all emails that mention "wedding" in the subject line, or you could forward all emails from your wedding venue to your fiancé's email address.

Gmail also allows you to import and export filters, which can be useful if you want to share your filter settings with your wedding planner or fiancé, ensuring that you both stay on the same page regarding wedding correspondence.

By using Gmail's filter options effectively, you can streamline your wedding planning process, making it easier to manage and respond to the influx of emails that come with organising your special day.

Use Google Maps to create a custom map for guests

Google Maps can be used to create a custom map for wedding guests, which can be shared with out-of-town guests to highlight wedding event locations and other local spots of interest. This map can also be embedded into your wedding website for guests to refer to when making their travel plans.

To create a custom map with Google Maps, you can use the Google Maps website or app, which is suitable for simple tasks like mapping out a few points or generating a route. However, for more advanced customization, you may need to explore other mapping solutions or software like Maptive, which is built on Google Maps but offers more customization features.

If you opt for the basic Google Maps method, here's what you need to do:

• Click on the Menu icon in the top left corner.
• Click on "Your Places" in the menu.
• Click on the "Maps" tab in the top right corner.
• Click on the "CREATE MAP" link at the bottom of the menu.
• On the map creation page, click the marker icon to add a marker to the desired location on the map.
• Repeat the previous step as needed to add more markers.
• Once finished, customize your map details by renaming the map and adding descriptions or other attributes to the markers.

For more advanced customization, Maptive offers a wide array of options to design a custom map. With Maptive, you can upload a spreadsheet, copy and paste data, use Google Sheets, or manually add markers. Additionally, Maptive provides features such as a heat map generator, radius map tool, geographic boundary territory tool, and multi-stop route planner.

Frequently asked questions