Sorry for the brief hiatus! I have been incredibly busy starting a new freelance job where I’m working full time hours. Anyway-

The other day I came across this article on Mashable.com and I was inspired. The writer describes how his social media geekness is guiding his wedding planning with his fiance. He’s found ways to incorporate Twitter, Amazon.com, and a whole host of other social media applications to make wedding planning into a virtual snap.

Now doing everything that he mentions seems intense, unless you want your wedding theme to be “I spend entirely too much time on the internet.” However, there are a bunch of things he does mention that can make your planning a lot easier and more efficient. Some of the websites he name checks are even things I’ve mentioned before. Here are a few more of my favorites from the article-

I love Etsy for jewelry and other customized wedding details. I also love supporting these vendors who offer personalized services and they have an entire category for wedding vendors and products. I got my amazing hairpiece from there and you can find veils, invitations, jewelry, shrugs or cover-ups, purses, shoes, even wedding dresses. Seriously, check it out.

Whether you like social media or not, I highly recommend setting up a wedding website. If you’re social media savvy, try a Facebook event page or blog to help keep people updated. You can find free wedding websites at WeddingChannel.com, TheKnot.com, or WeddingWire.com. All offer free applications where you choose your theme, pages, and fill in information for your guests. I am using The Knot’s software because it was the only one I knew at the time when I set it up about a week after getting engaged even though I had nothing to write on it yet! I bought a custom domain to forward to the actual page, but other sites already offer custom domain options. Our wedding web-page is located at www.chrisandmegswedding.com. Feel free to sign our guestbook! The wedding website is also the perfectly acceptable place to tell people where you are registered since you never EVER mention that on invitations. However, you can put your URL in small print at the bottom of your invitation, indirectly pointing them to the information.

I recently joined Wedding Wire, which is my new obsession. Their budget sheet is incredibly helpful and allows you to enter the dates of all your payments that need to be made to your specific vendors. They also help show you how to break down your total budget number so you can see generally what you should be spending on each item. They also have lists of local vendors complete with reviews, websites, and ways to save your favorites so you don’t forget later. Once you’ve chosen a specific vendor you add it to your list for easy access. You can download the Wedding Wire app to your phone so your vital wedding information is always with you. Convenient much? Yeah, exactly.

My favorite advice from the Mashable article was about the wedding registry. You can use Amazon.com to create a universal registry where you can register for gifts from hundreds of places as opposed to the entire kitchen department at Bed, Bath & Beyond. MyRegistry.com is another place that does that same thing. MyRegistry is my favorite pick because you can also request cash gifts for those bigger items you might really need without looking tacky. Then apply the cash towards that new couch you want or an expensive set of cookware. (I’m currently coveting a very expensive Dyson Vacuum cleaner.) However, you also have to remember that older friends and relatives might not love or understand the shopping online thing, so having at least one traditional registry would do you good.

My own personal addition to this social media wedding frenzy is for the people who can’t make it- you can use Skype or IdoStream.com to broadcast your wedding to those out-of-towners who can’t be there on your day. They can watch everything and still feel like they are a part of your day! You can find some free applications or pay a fee for better quality.

I totally recommend reading the whole article for even more tips and sites. There’s even a website to find custom color schemes developed by designers. Which applications or sites would you consider using and why?