Google Sheet wedding planner template: build your planning workbook

Open a new spreadsheet in Google Sheets and name it so both partners can recognise the current working document. Create six tabs: Tasks, Budget, Guests, Suppliers, Schedule and Photos. The tables below are original planning layouts to copy or recreate; there is no connected template file to authorize or purchase on this page.

Put column headings in the first row and one record on each subsequent row. Keep dates, amounts and status labels consistent. The examples are deliberately small so you can understand the structure before adding your real information.

Start with only the columns you will use. A complicated workbook is not better if nobody maintains it. Agree who updates each tab and where decisions made by phone or email will be recorded. The sheet should point to the evidence for a booking, not replace the supplier's contract.

Use one row for each actionable next step. Book music is broad; ask the shortlisted musician about availability is something a named person can complete. Record a dependency when another decision must happen first.

Use columns A through F in this order: Item, Estimated, Agreed, Paid, Remaining and Due date. Enter numeric amounts without typing explanatory words into the same cell. Put currency in the formatting or column label, and use one currency per calculation unless you deliberately handle conversion elsewhere.

In cell E2 enter =C2-D2, then copy that formula down the supplier rows. With data in rows 2 through 20, place =SUM(C2:C20) in C21 for the total agreed and =SUM(D2:D20) in D21 for total paid. Do not include the total row in its own range. Google documents SUM as the function for adding numbers or cell ranges.

Test with invented amounts first: agreed 100 and paid 25 should produce remaining 75. Those numbers are a formula check, not a suggested wedding price. A blank agreed value can make an incomplete row look settled, so use a status note rather than interpreting every zero as fully paid.

Estimates, contractual commitments and money already transferred answer different questions. A deposit is usually part of the agreed amount, not an additional supplier cost to add twice. Reconcile the sheet against invoices and your own records; this planning layout is not accounting or financial advice.

For meal and attendance planning, one row per person avoids confusing invitations with seats. If you also track households, keep a separate household label. Two people receiving one invitation are still two potential attendees.

Store only the information you need for the task. Dietary details, contact information and private family notes should not be visible to every helper. Provide a minimal operational list to the people who actually need it instead of sharing the entire workbook broadly.

Record the supplier's role, named contact, agreed arrival or delivery time and the location of the confirmed paperwork. Keep bank details, identity documents and payment credentials out of a broadly shared planning sheet.

Separate a provisional enquiry from a confirmed booking. A friendly conversation is not proof that a date has been reserved. Give the row a clear status and link to the actual confirmation through an appropriately restricted destination.

Use the Schedule tab for the working order of events, including setup and handovers. Make a separate simple version if guests need directions; private contact numbers and supplier instructions do not belong in a public itinerary.

Include start time, activity, location, owner and a contingency note. Record a time zone if people are coordinating remotely or across countries. Do not invent standard durations: use the timings confirmed with your venue and suppliers.

For a slideshow, list the operator, playback device and agreed start cue. For guest photographs, list when signs are placed and when any announcement is appropriate. Tasks that happen quietly behind the scenes still need owners, even when they are absent from the printed programme.

This tab connects collection, review and preservation. It is not a place to paste hundreds of image files or expose private album passwords. Record the agreed route, responsible person and next action.

Google's sharing guidance distinguishes Viewer, Commenter and Editor roles. Give editing access only to people who maintain the workbook; someone who needs to read the day's schedule may not need to alter guest or budget information.

A tab in the same shared workbook should not be treated as a confidential compartment. If a helper should not see a category of information, keep it in a separately restricted file and share only the minimum needed for their task.

Before distributing a link, check the recipient and access setting. Remove fictional sample rows so nobody contacts an example supplier or counts an example guest. Keep a dated reference copy before major changes, and agree which document remains the current working version.

Review overdue tasks, outstanding supplier decisions and changed guest responses together. Update the sheet during that review so it remains useful to the next person who opens it. A status such as waiting should identify what you are waiting for and who will follow up.

Check formulas after inserting rows or moving columns. The example total ranges do not automatically prove that newly added rows are included. Compare a small manual subtotal with the displayed result whenever the structure changes.

After the celebration, resolve outstanding payments, complete the photo archive and reduce access to personal information. Keep records you need in an appropriate private location. The useful endpoint is a completed handover, not a spreadsheet that stays open indefinitely because nobody agreed how to finish.