Your Custom Digital Wedding Planner
For brides planning their own wedding, no hired planner required
A R K A N S A S
WEDDING PLANNER
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One-time purchase. Instant access. Everything from budget to what to do after you say "I do".
Everything a $3,000 wedding planner would organize for you, budget, guest list, vendors, timeline, day-of logistics, built into one system you run yourself. $27.
sneak peek..
You already know what you can spend. That was the hard part.
But now you're sitting at your kitchen table with a notebook, three open browser tabs, a Pinterest board that's giving you anxiety, and absolutely no system for what comes next.
The guest list alone feels like a hostage negotiation. Your mom wants to invite 40 people you haven't seen since you were nine. Your fiancé's family just has a few more. And every name you add is another plate, another chair, another $47 you didn't budget for.
Then there are the vendors. You've messaged six photographers and can't remember which one quoted $1,200 and which one quoted $2,200. One of them had a red flag in their contract, but you can't remember which one because you were comparing them in your head instead of on paper.
Your timeline? It's a vague sense that things need to happen in some order but you're not sure if you're already behind on something.
And the day itself? You haven't thought about it yet because you're still drowning in the decisions that come before it.
Here's what nobody tells you about planning a wedding on a budget: The budget isn't the hard part. Not having a planner is.
Here's what happens when your planning lives in six different places instead of one.
You forget to ask your venue about their noise curfew and find out three weeks before the wedding that your DJ has to stop at 9 PM. That question was on a checklist you saved to your phone and never opened again.
You book a photographer whose portfolio is gorgeous, but you never compared contract terms side by side. Now you're locked into a cancellation policy you didn't catch because the details were buried in an email thread, not in a tracker.
You spend so much mental energy on the guest list drama that you push off booking your florist and by the time you call, your date is taken.
Now your options are a rush-order florist who charges a $450 premium you never budgeted for, or DIY arrangements the week of your wedding when you're already running on four hours of sleep.
On a $10,000 budget, that one missed window just ate almost 5% of your entire wedding. There was no timeline reminding you that florists book out four months early.
You don't build a day-of game plan, so your wedding day turns into a chain of what's happening next? texts from your bridesmaids, your mom, and your venue coordinator who keeps asking YOU questions on the one day you're supposed to just be the bride
Every bride who's planned a wedding says the same thing afterward:
I wish I'd had everything in one place.
Not scattered across a notes app, a spreadsheet you stopped updating in March, a Google Doc your fiancé has never opened, and a stack of vendor contracts in a folder you can't find.
One place. One system. One tool that actually thinks the way a bride planning a real wedding thinks. Not the way a $40,000-budget wedding planner thinks.
That's what this is.
Hi, I'm Shay Berry.
When I got engaged, I had champagne taste and a very real budget. I wanted a beautiful Southern wedding not a cheap wedding that looked like we were trying. I wanted guests to feel something when they walked in. I wanted photos I'd be proud of forever. And I wanted to start my marriage without debt hanging over it.
The problem was, everything I found online assumed an unlimited budget. The spreadsheets, the checklists, the "average cost" articles.. all of it was built for brides spending $25,000 or more. I didn't see my wedding in any of it.
A NOTE FROM SHAY
I was the bride trying to figure this out.
I'm not here to plan your wedding.
I'm here to hand you the map, walk you through the math, and make sure you actually enjoy it.
So I built my own system.
I created a budget framework that showed me where to splurge and where to save without anyone noticing. I built a vendor tracker so I could compare quotes, flag red flags, and never lose track of a deposit deadline. I made a guest list that let me tier every name by priority so I knew exactly what adding 12 more people would cost before I said yes. I mapped out a timeline that told me what to book first, what could wait, and what order kept me from losing vendors to other brides who moved faster.
On our wedding day, everything ran on a system. I handed the logistics to one person with a printed game plan and didn't answer a single question about where the cake went or when the DJ started. I was just a bride.
$10,000. Two hundred guests. And people genuinely didn't believe the number when we told them.
I turned my entire system into the Wedding Planning Toolkit.
Every tool, every guide, every template I used.. rebuilt and organized so any bride can pick it up and run her whole wedding from one place.
The System
Everything a planner would hand you, minus the planner.
Your Planning Command Center
Four interactive tools that replace every scattered spreadsheet, Notes app list, and half-finished Google Doc cluttering your phone:
Budget Builder and Expense Tracker: Set your total budget once. The system breaks it into categories using a proven percentage framework. Every expense you log updates your remaining balance in real time. No more guessing whether you can afford the florist. No more 11 PM anxiety math.
Guest List Manager with A/B/C Tier Prioritization: Add every name once. Tag guests as A-list (definitely invited), B-list (if space allows), or C-list (only if someone declines). Track RSVPs and plus-ones in one view. When your mom texts 14 more names, you know in 30 seconds what that does to your headcount.
Vendor Tracker: Every vendor you're considering, quoting, or booked, in one place. Track deposits, balances, contract status, and payment deadlines. Compare quotes and details side by side instead of scrolling through email threads. Never get blindsided by a due date you forgot.
Timeline Tool: Your full planning timeline from engagement to wedding day, organized by phase. Know what to book first, what can wait, and what order prevents you from losing your favorite vendors to other brides who moved faster.
Planning Guides
The same guides I sell individually for $9 to $17 each. In the Toolkit, you get every one of these:
The Venue Guide: Every question to ask on a venue tour. A hidden-cost checklist that catches the fees they don't mention until you've signed. Red flags that signal a venue will nickel-and-dime you. Comparison tools so you're evaluating on facts, not just the feeling you got when you walked in.
The Vendor Guide: When to book each vendor and the order that matters. Contract red flags. How to negotiate custom packages. Why an emerging photographer building her portfolio is often the smartest budget move, and how to evaluate her work with confidence.
The Photography Guide: Understand the difference between documentary, editorial, and fine art styles before you contact a single photographer. The questions that reveal real fit. A complete shot list so nothing gets missed. How to evaluate newer photographers without overpaying for a name.
The Timeline Guide: So much more than a timeline. What to do first, what can wait, and why booking in the wrong order is how brides lose their favorite vendor before they've even picked a venue.
The Day-Of Logistics Guide: Build your minute-by-minute wedding day timeline. Includes the printable Point Person's Game Plan so you hand your day to one trusted person and don't answer a single logistics question on your wedding day.
The Bridal Shower Guide: How to throw a beautiful shower for $150 to $300. Themes, timelines, food, games, and decor ideas that look expensive and cost almost nothing.
15+ Printable Templates
Fill-in-the-blank worksheets and checklists you can print or save to your phone. Each one replaces a planning task that normally takes an hour of googling:
What Do We Actually Want? A partner conversation guide so you agree on priorities before you spend a dollar.
Must Have vs. Nice to Have Rank every wedding element so your budget goes to what matters, not what you saw on Instagram.
Assumption vs. Reality Check If family is contributing, get clear on the terms before you get excited. Assumed money is not promised money.
Venue Visit Checklist and Red Flags Bring this to every tour. Ask every question. Spot every warning sign.
The Bride's 30-Day Countdown Exactly what to do, day by day, in the final month.
Point Person's Day-Of Game Plan The printable your designated person carries all day. Timeline, vendor contacts, emergency fixes, everything.
Family Photo Shot List Hand this to your photographer so every combination gets captured without burning 45 minutes figuring it out on the spot and realizing after the wedding you forgot someone.
Questions to Ask Any Vendor One universal question list that works for photographers, DJs, florists, caterers, and coordinators.
Day-Of Decor and Floor Plan Map your venue layout so setup volunteers know exactly where everything goes without texting you 40 times.
Venue Comparison Tool Side-by-side evaluation of up to 4 venues on the criteria that actually matter.
DJ Must-Play and Do-Not-Play List Hand this to your DJ and never hear the Chicken Dance unless you want to.
Wedding Savings Plan Worksheet Build a monthly savings plan backward from your wedding date so you know exactly how much to set aside each month.
Wedding Priorities Ranking For couples who can't agree on where to splurge.
Bridal Shower Decor Checklist Everything your shower host needs.
Bridal Shower Week-Of Checklist Seven days of prep, broken down so nothing gets left to the morning of.
This is what changes.
You stop wondering if you can afford things. You open the budget tracker, and the answer is there. Green means go. Red means rework. No guessing. No anxiety spirals.
You stop dreading vendor meetings. You walk in with the right questions already printed. You know what to ask, what to watch for, and what "starting at" really costs.
You stop rebuilding your guest list every time someone has an opinion. It's in one place. It's tiered. "Can we add 12 more people?" takes 30 seconds to answer instead of 30 minutes of stress.
You stop lying awake running through what you might be forgetting. The timeline tells you what's next. The templates catch the details. The guides cover the decisions. If it matters, it's in the system.
You plan your wedding the way brides with $30,000 budgets plan theirs. You just do it for $27.
“Having everything in one spot is helpful and stress reducing!”
- Rebekah, bride planning her own wedding
Your Digital Planner, Founding Member Price: $27
This is the founding member price. It won't stay here.
Right now, the Wedding Planning Toolkit is $27.
That's less than one centerpiece. Less than a single vendor consultation fee. Less than the gas you'll spend driving to venue tours.
I'm keeping it at $27 because I'm still building. The video course with full video walkthroughs of how to plan your wedding under $10K is being filmed right now. When it's done and added to the toolkit, the price goes up.
I don't have a specific date. I'm not going to manufacture a fake countdown. But I will tell you exactly what happens if you get in now.. You lock in $27. Forever.
Every update I make to the toolkit, every new template, every new tool, the entire video course when it's finished, gets added to your account at no extra charge. You're not buying version 1.0. You're buying a lifetime seat at the founding member price.
The brides who buy after the video course launches will pay more. You won't.
Instant access. Start planning in the next five minutes.
Budget builder & expense tracker
Guest list manager with A/B/C tiers
Vendor tracker & comparison tool
Full planning timeline + 30-day countdown
15+ done-for-you templates & checklists
Full 6 Wedding Planning Guides included
Video course added free when it launches
Lifetime access to all future updates
First Time access to future add-ons like communities or new products!
One payment. No subscription. No upsell. Everything in one place for one price.
Frequently asked questions
I just got engaged. Where do I even start?
Start with your budget and your guest count. Those two numbers decide most of what comes after, from which venues fit to how much food you need. The budget builder walks you through setting your number, and the guest list manager sorts everyone into A, B, and C lists so you can see your real headcount before you tour a single venue.
Is this just another Pinterest-style checklist?
No. Pinterest gives you ideas. This gives you a system. The difference: a Pinterest board tells you to "book a photographer." The Toolkit tells you when to book, what style questions to ask, what contract red flags to watch for, how to compare quotes, and how to evaluate a newer photographer whose work is great but whose name isn't famous yet. It replaces the googling and guessing with a process.
I’m already a few months into planning. Is it too late?
Not at all. Put in what you’ve already booked and paid, and the expense tracker shows you what’s left. The vendor tracker holds the quotes you still need to compare, and the timeline picks up wherever you are.
Do I need to hire a wedding planner if I use this?
That’s up to you, but you don’t need one to stay organized. The Toolkit keeps track of what a planner would: your budget, guest list, vendors, and timeline. It also has a day-of game plan you hand to your point person, so you aren’t the one answering questions on your wedding day.
How can I contact you?
You can reach me by email at shay@arkansasweddingplanner.com. We are always happy to answer your questions.
I’m not getting married in Arkansas. Will this work for me?
Yes. The tools work for any bride planning her own wedding, wherever she lives. A few of the guides mention Arkansas vendors, and everything else applies anywhere.
Does it matter how big or small my budget is?
No. The budget builder works from whatever number you put in, whether that’s $8,000 or $40,000. It splits your total into categories so you can see where your money is going before you sign anything.
What do I get when I buy it?
A budget builder and expense tracker, a guest list manager with RSVP tracking, a vendor tracker for comparing quotes, a planning timeline with a 30-day countdown, 15 templates and checklists, 6 planning guides, and SO much more. The video course will be added free when it’s finished.
How do I get it after I buy?
Right after checkout, you’ll land on the login page and get an email with your login info. The Toolkit is in the “Start Here” section under Resources. It runs in your browser and saves as you go.
Is there a monthly fee?
No. It’s a one-time payment of $27, the founding member price, with no subscription.
You have two choices right now.
You can keep planning from a stack of screenshots, blog posts, and Notes app entries and hope you catch everything before it costs you.
Or you can spend $27 and plan your entire wedding from one system built by a bride who did it for 200 guests on $10,000.
The tools, the guides, the templates, and the checklists. Everything from budget to sparkler exit.
Instant access. Start planning in the next five minutes.