How Google can help you plan your wedding for free!

I don't remember how we lived before Google. And I'm not just talking about the search engine that we all use. Google has a host of products that really help keep life organized. Planning a wedding is a great feat of organization and creativity, and I'm here to explain how Google can make it easier.

First-e-mail. I'm sure you have an e-mail address. I think you should add another, strictly for use during your wedding planning. Give this address to any wedding vendors you talk to. G-mail is free and very wonderful e-mail service. As you would expect from Google, the software has amazing search capabilities, and so much room that you'll never have to delete an e-mail. Can't remember what time you're meeting with the photographer? Just type "photographer" in the search box, and it will pull up all e-mails that mention it. You can also easily set your account so that e-mails will forward to your regular e-mail address. This will keep all wedding e-mails nice and separated, and will probably save you some stress down the road. And trust me, anything you can do to save some stress down the road, do. It's a stressful road we're heading down here.

If you sign up for the e-mail, you have a Google Log-in, which will now work with a host of other services.

Google Docs. I love this service. You can write and save word documents and spreadsheets right on the Internet. You can upload your own documents so that you can access them anywhere. You can make folders galore. When you're browsing the Internet, and you want to check on something, it's so easy to copy and paste the link, make a little note, and save it in your to-do folder. I love the portability...any file you'll need...you can get it anywhere you have Internet. Handy.

Picasa Web Albums. It's like Flickr, but I like it a little more. This is a photo organizing/sharing/hosting site. As an added bonus, you can download Picasa, which is Google's free photo editor. Once that is on your computer, you just grab your photos, edit them very easily, then hit "upload". It will upload your photo to the Internet, into albums that you assign. This may not help you organize your wedding, but it may be a great way to share pictures along the way. You'll do lots of fun things, and Picasa and the web albums are the easiest way I know to share your photos with the world. Also, you can privatize albums that are more personal, and send links to anyone that you want to share them with. Also, as you surf the Internet and run across cakes and dresses and invitations you like, you can save the pictures in albums to make your choices a little easier.

Google Calendar. This is such a great calendar service. I won't go into a lot of detail, but again, the ease of organization is key. Also, it works great with Palms and Blackberries. And, you can set great reminders when you start to feel scatterbrained.

Google Reader. I read a lot of blogs. I really like the personal voice of the medium. There are thousands of brides out there with blogs. If you're interested in hearing about their lives and planning processes, Google Reader can help. It gathers all of the blogs you want to read into one place. You make a list of blogs you like, and it will even help you with that part. Then, every time someone on your list posts, it shows up, all in one neat little page.

Google Voice. This one is new and oh so so very cool. Google gives you a telephone number. You can then set up any number of phones to work with it. If someone calls that number, it will ring whatever phone you've chosen. It will ask the person calling for their name, but only the first time someone calls from that number. Your phone rings and then you're given several options. It tells you who is calling, then asks if you want to answer, send to voicemail, listen in on the voicemail in case you want to answer, answer normally, or answer and record the call. Any voice mails or recorded calls are transcribed into type, and sent to you as an e-mail. The homepage looks much like an e-mail inbox, but instead of e-mails, it is full of recordings you can listen to, or read the transcription. Also, if you're web savvy, you can make different widgets for different sites that say "Call Me." You can record different messages for each of the widgets. Very cool. The beauty in this is simply that you can have all of your planning phone calls recorded. This way, you don't forget important things.

Lastly, Blogger. I heart Blogger. This website is written using Blogger. If you want to share pictures, stories, and random ideas with the world, or only your friends, while you're creating your wedding day, a blog is a great way to do it. Blogger will let you create a free website that is so easy. As an added bonus, it easily interacts with most of the other features I've told you about. You can post a blog by sending an e-mail. You can post Docs if you want, and it is easy as pie to put Picasa pictures and slide shows up. You can even post voice mails people leave you on Google Voice if the mood hits you.

Now, I said "lastly" but you should know that there are many more Google services, and many could probably help you. So, this is a link to a more complete list of services.

Also, I should remind you that this a new site and it is still under construction. It will get more lovely as time goes on. If you know of something I should add, leave it in comments or e-mail me at Carmeneckard@gmail.com. Happy Planning!