My favorite wedding tools

Hiring a wedding consultant will help simplify the planning process immensely but if you decide to take on many of the details yourself, make sure to take advantage of all the great tools and Web sites available. Here are some of my faves:

• My Seating from Wedding Wire will help you save time and stress when it comes to assigning seats at the reception. Instead of breaking out the eraser each time your in-laws ask to move Uncle Eddy, just use the drag and drop function instead! When it's complete, print out the seating chart and hand it off to your coordinator.
• Wedding Mapper is a super easy tool that allows you to create a map that highlights special locations for your guests, from the ceremony location to the reception site and even fun destinations like the beach or the local bar where the bride and groom met. Just add icons for each location and add directions, then import the map on your inviation "directions" card.
• Wedding Web sites are almost always used nowadays. Some of the best, most customizable sites are NearlyWeds.com and WeddingWindow.com.

 What planning tools do you love?