Web sites engage busy brides in planning their weddings online

There are a number of choices to help with the details for the big day.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
This wedding planner is well-connected, doesn't take breaks, doesn't even fuss when you make last-minute changes.
It's the computer, and it's helping busy brides plan their wedding days.
While brides have long had the option to plan their own weddings with nothing more than a book, binder or hired expert, they now have new choices in Web sites and software to help with all the details.
"I do event planning as part of my job, so I know how much goes into it," said Genna Goldberg, vice president of corporate communications for a Malibu, Calif., toy company.
This busy bride has a little more than five months to plan a wedding for 375 invitees, 21 attendants and one groom, Daniel Rosenberg. After checking out an online site, she found it wanting and looked for wedding-planning software.
"I knew there had to be something out there all in one place," she said.
What she found was "The Organized Wedding," a Windows-based program from a Tennessee company. Users can create checklists, seating arrangements, budgets, calendars and etiquette-perfect mailing labels. Several similar programs are on the market, most from smaller private companies, ranging from $20 to $45. Many offer free trial periods.
Web surfers may be familiar with sites aimed at brides and grooms, such as The Knot and WeddingChannel.com. Those sites offer checklists, e-cards, budget calculators, calendars and personalized pages for the happy couple. These services are usually free, though users are required to register first.
Ann Creasman, a wedding planner in Hoover, Ala., has seen brides visiting the sites and has used AOL's tools herself.
"Some look at Web sites to get them started, looking at florists, wedding gowns," she said.
Wedding Web sites also provide message boards. "You can ask other brides about photographers, vendors, brides who are actually planning their own wedding," said Kathleen Murray, weddings editor for The Knot, based in New York. "Every state has its own message board. ... You can reply to posts constantly."
For bride's to consider:
Web sites
UThe Knot: as www.TheKnot.com. Free. Offers custom to-do checklists, budget planner, gift registry, guest-list manager, message boards, beauty checklist, e-cards, personal Web page.
UModern Bride: modernbride.com. Free. Offers countdown checklist, budget planner, wedding style quiz, vendor questionnaires, message boards.
UWeddingChannel.com: Free. Offers custom to-do checklists, budget planner, gift registry, guest-list manager, message boards, e-cards, scrapbook, personal Web page.
Software
UMy Wedding Companion: Fivestar Software, fivestarsoftware.com. $32.95 download, $37.95 CD-ROM. Windows. Offers guest lists, budget planner, attire manager, labels/envelopes manager, custom to-do lists, honeymoon planner.
UMy Wedding Organizer: weddingsoft.com. $24.95 download, $36.90 CD-ROM. Windows. Offers guest lists, budget planner, address book import, invitation printer, custom to-do lists, seating organizer, gift tracker.
UThe Organized Wedding: theorganizedwedding.com. $30 standard, $45 deluxe (download only). Windows. Offers guest lists, budget planner, custom to-do lists, seating organizer, address book import, gift tracker, specialized wedding themes. Deluxe edition allows additional events (rehearsal dinners, showers, engagement parties).
UR.S.V.P. for Weddings: rsvpprogram.net. $69.95 CD-ROM. Windows. Offers guest lists, gift tracker, budget planner, custom to-do lists.