- Both Zola and Minted websites are free to build.
- Minted's custom URL is 15 dollars a year.
- Zola's seating chart is free up to 15 guests, then paid.
Compare appsGuide of the week, 12+ months
Should you use ChatGPT to plan your wedding?
ChatGPT is great for wedding planning words and checklists and useless at rooms, headcounts and guest data. Here is where AI helps your plan and where it fails.
- Couples use AI most for checklists, speeches and wording.
- Only 5 percent of couples use AI to manage the guest list.
- Verify any AI answer that has a dollar or a date attached.
Plan by stage
All guides- AllSeated rebranded to Prismm in 2024, and Cvent bought it in 2025.
- Prismm paid plans are 1,500 or 3,500 dollars a year.
- Altessa Premium, with the layout builder, is 120 dollars once.
- Joy is free and earns on the registry items it sells.
- Altessa is a one-time 80 dollars for Core or 120 for Premium.
- The Altessa layout builder is Premium only, not part of Core.
- Joy is free with unlimited guests, online RSVP, and a registry.
- Both charge about 19.99 dollars a year for a custom domain.
- The Knot retired its spend tracker in 2025.
- The Knot and WeddingWire both belong to The Knot Worldwide.
- WeddingWire has a free seating chart and a spend tracker.
- The Knot offers more website designs and matching stationery.
Free tool
Layout Builder
Draw the room to scale, set the tables and the dance floor, then see who sits where.
The Knot Is Buying Zola. What It Means for Your Registry, Website, and Guest List
The Knot Worldwide agreed on Oct 14, 2026 to buy Zola. Nothing has changed for couples yet. What was announced, what was left unsaid, and what to do this week.
- You can back up everything on Zola in about 30 minutes.
- Zola's guest list export works from a computer, not the app.
- Zola has no website export, so save each page as a PDF.
- The Knot Worldwide owns The Knot and WeddingWire.
- Permira has owned The Knot Worldwide since 2018.
- The Knot Worldwide agreed to buy Zola on October 14, 2026.
- Joy, Minted, and Riley and Grey list no affiliation with The Knot.
- Squarespace shares an owner, Permira, with The Knot Worldwide.
- Honeyfund and MyRegistry are registry specialists, not planners.
What the Knot and Zola Deal Means for Wedding Vendors, and Why Couples Should Care
Vendors were promised no changes until closing. The 2018 WeddingWire precedent, what to watch in the back office, and how vendor costs reach your quote.
- Zola's policy allows sharing data if the company is sold or merged.
- Zola lets you request a copy of your data twice in 12 months.
- Both Zola and The Knot say they honor Global Privacy Control.
- Joy has zero cash fund fees; Zola charges 2.5 percent on cards.
- Joy has iOS and Android apps; Zola's app is iOS only.
- Zola's seating chart is free for up to 15 guests, then paid.
- Joy's policy says it sells certain personal data under the CCPA.
- The Knot shares your message with vendors you request quotes from.
- Altessa's policy says it does not sell wedding planning data.
- At 75 guests, the 20,000 dollar plan came in closer to 22,000.
- Service charge and tax on catering added 1,300 not in any line.
- At this size, the next 25 guests cost about 4,000 dollars.
Free tool
Budget template
Enter your total and start from a realistic split by category. No signup, no email.
- The Knot runs a vendor marketplace; Altessa has no directory.
- The Knot is free for couples to use.
- Altessa is a one-time purchase of 80 or 120 dollars.
- Ten thousand dollars fits 40 guests at a nontraditional venue.
- Food and drink is 4,000, about one hundred dollars a head.
- A contingency line of 700 absorbs the usual late overage.
- Zola has a registry and vendor search; Altessa has neither.
- Altessa is a one-time purchase of 80 or 120 dollars.
- Zola cash fund card gifts carry a 2.5% processing fee.
- A 5,000 dollar wedding is 30 guests at a restaurant dinner.
- Food and drink are the biggest line, at 2,100 for 30 guests.
- Photography is the one line not to cut at this size.
- Pick The Knot if you are hiring most vendors from scratch.
- Pick Zola if the registry and the wedding website matter most.
- Zola charges a 2.5% fee on card contributions to cash funds.
- Vows run two to three minutes each, about 250 to 350 words.
- Start three months out and have a full draft by two months.
- Read your vows from paper, not a phone.
- Book the venue 12 to 18 months out for a peak Saturday.
- Order the dress at 8 months: six to arrive and two to alter.
- Mail invitations 6 to 8 weeks before the wedding.
- Venue, catering, and bar take 45 to 55 percent of the budget.
- Photography and video take 10 to 15 percent of the total.
- Set aside a contingency of 5 to 10 percent first.
Budget
The Case for the 45-Person Wedding
The fastest-growing wedding is the small one. What 45 guests makes affordable, what it makes possible, and who should not do it.
Free tool
Timeline generator
Enter your date for a month-by-month plan with every booking window. No signup.
- Put the site up once the venue and date are locked.
- Launch the site before save-the-dates, since they carry the link.
- Put the date, venue, address, and start time above the fold.
- Start with zones, then place one well-liked anchor at each table.
- Rounds of eight are the most forgiving table size.
- Fill tables to one seat under capacity for late RSVPs.
The Wedding You Saw Online Costs More Than Yours. Good.
Sixty percent of couples say the gap between inspiration and budget is their top stressor. The case for letting the gap exist.
Why Free Wedding Planning Apps Feel Pushy (Follow the Money)
The economics behind free wedding planning apps, why their checklists can feel endless, and how to use free tools with your eyes open.
Your Wedding Has 13 Vendors. How to Manage Them Without Losing Your Mind.
Thirteen contracts, thirteen payment schedules, thirteen email threads. The management system for the small business you accidentally started.
- Venue and catering took 9,200 dollars of the 15,000 dollar plan.
- The budget went over by 2,025 dollars, about 13 percent.
- Photography took 3,600 dollars and is the line worth defending.
- A fairly normal setup runs roughly 148 dollars per guest.
- Twenty extra guests add about 3,000 dollars to the budget.
- Build the guest list in tiers before you attach money to it.
- Book the venue first, because it sets the date and capacity.
- Book the photographer second, since the good ones book out early.
- Hair and makeup, cake, rentals and transportation come last.
- Spend the first quarter on budget, guest count range, and venue.
- Book the photographer and caterer at ten to nine months out.
- Final headcount is usually due to the caterer two weeks out.
Free tool
Layout Builder
Draw the room to scale, set the tables and the dance floor, then see who sits where.
- Spend the first week celebrating, not planning.
- Pick a guest count range before you build a guest list.
- Book the venue first, because it sets the date and capacity.
- Pick The Knot if you need to discover vendors from scratch.
- Pick Zola if the registry is the main event.
- Zola charges a 2.5% fee on card contributions to cash funds.
Why Couples Are Ditching the Wedding Spreadsheet in 2026
Why couples are ditching the wedding spreadsheet in 2026: where it breaks, how free planning apps get paid for, and what to use instead.
Free tools for the plan
Three tools you can use without an account, and the guide readers cite most for seating.
Free tool
Layout Builder
Draw the room to scale, set the tables and the dance floor, then see who sits where.
Free tool
Budget template
Enter your total and start from a realistic split by category. No signup, no email.
Free tool
Timeline generator
Enter your date for a month-by-month plan with every booking window. No signup.
Guide
Seating chart and floor plan tools
The seating and floor plan tools worth a look, compared side by side.