The Internet is primarily an advertising tool, remember, so your "free" wedding planner online may not really be free. Anytime you get something for nothing on the Internet you can be expected to be bombarded by advertising. For all of the assistance something as simple as an online or printable wedding planner provides, however, being targeted by a few ads (and the ads are obviously related to something you're interested in at this time anyway: wedding related services and merchandise) is an acceptable trade off for most people.

Free wedding planners typically consist of useful things like checklists and other organizational tools to help you keep track of everything having to do with your wedding. They may be in the form of a simple downloadable or printable planner or a more complete online service that you must register for. These services, sometimes referred to as wedding channels, offer numerous planner type features. They often include individual tools like guest list managers, service ordering managers, RSVP trackers, and the like to assist you with always being on top of what's happening with the planning stages of your wedding.

One piece of advice for those using a service that requires registration of some sort is to make sure that the service really is free and not some kind of a trial version or a site that offers very basic services at no cost but charges for the more useful features. For those services that really are free, you'll want to create an email account (probably with a web-based email provider like Hotmail, Bigfoot, Yahoo, etc) for use as your contact email with the service. A big part of the advertising for these free services comes in the form of email and, unless you don't mind receiving wedding related email advertisements for the rest of your natural life, these web based email accounts are the best way to provide an alternate address that you will use for the duration of the wedding planning stages only.

If the advertising is an issue, you can probably find similar services that do charge a fee. With these you're likely to see and receive far less advertising. Advertising is simply an Internet fact of life, however, so even a pay service is likely to have some ads.

A free wedding planner available through the internet can be a great way to keep your sanity while planning a wedding. As long as you don't mind being targeted for advertising while you use the free service you'll find that you can save time, energy, and often money by using a one of these free wedding planners.
About the Author

Kirsten Hawkins is an event planner from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.wedding411.net/ for more event planning tips, strategies, and resources.