OneNote vows to simplify saying “I do!”

In today's blog post, wedding expert and best-selling author Sharon Naylor shares some of her favorite OneNote 2010 features and tips, which you can try out after downloading our free new wedding planner template.

This year, more than two million brides will plan their dream weddings by putting together their collections of wedding images and inspirations. With all of these ideas floating around, brides need all the help they can get to stay organized. Research shows that being disorganized leads to over-spending and miscalculations, resulting in wasted money, time, and resources. With the economy as it is and the average U.S. wedding costing some $24,000, brides need to account for every dollar.

Traditionally, brides have relied on separate documents, emails, websites and even spiral-bound paper notebooks to capture all of the details of their dream wedding. In the "digital age," however, it's only a matter of time before important websites are forgotten and vital information and emails are misplaced. This is a one-way ticket to Bridezilla-ville.
 

 
Our free wedding planner template for OneNote 2010 is the perfect way to plan,
organize, track, and share all of the logistics surrounding your special day.
 

Here's where our wedding planner template for Microsoft OneNote 2010 comes to the rescue. It's the perfect digital "catch-all" for capturing and organizing wedding research, notes, and ideas. There's a section tab for every category the big day requires – reception sites, flower designs, and wedding cake masterpieces.

Your OneNote wedding notebook is like the world's best wedding assistant:

• Collect what inspires you. Simply copy and paste every image that inspires you into your OneNote notebook, and it automatically includes each item's URL (Web address). This means you won't have to go hunting online again later for that perfect gown image you printed weeks ago. Your OneNote notebook creates and keeps all of the links for you.
   
• Don't forget the groom. Because grooms are full planning partners in most weddings, brides say their sweethearts are more willing to work on wedding plans when everything is in one easily-accessed, easily-shared location. Microsoft OneNote brings you together to plan your personalized, dream wedding day.
   
• Don't lose sight of your budget. TheWeddingReport.com says that use of the Internet to plan weddings will grow 3-7% this year alone, as more couples go online not just to research ideas, but also to place deposits and pay their vendors, and book their honeymoons. These are all tasks that your OneNote notebook helps you organize.
   
• Keep long-distance family included. OneNote removes the miles between your out-of-town parents and bridal party members, making it easy to organize your bridesmaid dress orders, groomsmen size collection and tux payments, and guest transportation.
   
• Make sure your plans are always with you. Recent reports say that more than 80% of brides go online to conduct wedding planning tasks while at work, and during their commute. With OneNote, you can take your wedding details and information with you wherever you go and share it with your friends and family via Windows Live SkyDrive. Just save your notebooks to the cloud with a free Windows Live ID, and then access your details with the OneNote Web App.
   

 
Be sure to explore all of the sections and pages in our free wedding planner template to help you plan
your own wedding. Customize the pages that you want to keep and discard those that you don't need.
 

It's never too late to get organized and to save time, money, and your sanity. The average amount of time spent planning a wedding is 14 months. You can either start using your OneNote wedding planner notebook on day one, or easily transfer any of the information, files, and images that you may already have in various other places. Either way, download the free OneNote wedding template at Office.com/onenotewedding today. If you don't yet have OneNote 2010 on your computer, you can download a free, fully functional 60-day trial version.

When it's time to create your own OneNote wedding notebook, please share your experiences with me in the Comments section below. I'd love to hear how your OneNote wedding notebook is saving you time and money, meeting your green wedding needs (no more paper printouts!), helping your bridesmaids, moms, and your other planners!

-- Sharon Naylor is a wedding expert based in New York. She is the best-selling author of over 35 wedding planning books, including Your Wedding Your Way and The Ultimate Bridal Shower Idea Book. For more information about Sharon and the publications that feature her work, visit her website or follow her on Twitter.