A wedding is in the works! Secure a venue. Choose a caterer. Pick a photographer. Book a DJ. Find a florist.
So many wedding vendors to hire; so little time before telling each other "I do." It's no wonder so many couples and their wedding planners are turning to smartphones and tablets to plan, budget and make online and mobile payments for their celebrations.
"The wedding world has changed," says Jove Meyer of
Jove Meyer Events in Brooklyn, New York. "Everything is now possible online."
A new survey of wedding finances by The Knot and PayPal found that nearly 90% of couples like the convenience of paying vendors electronically and 44% of them wish they could make all vendor payments via smartphone. And almost 58% of brides said they felt like they were always writing checks leading up to the wedding.
Though couples on average will spend a little more than $30,000 on their wedding, there's less and less need to write checks or carry envelopes of cash to pay for it all. We spoke with four wedding planners about how digital payments have eased their work and the stress for their clients on their big day.
How are brides and grooms using mobile devices for wedding planning?
Caroline Dutton,Caroline Dutton Events in Washington, DC: Couples really like when vendors offer online payment options. It's something I've embraced because it's more seamless. We're all moving very quickly and there are a lot of moving parts. You can keep track of everything in one place. If families are helping them, their mom can go online and make a payment.
Caitlin Frauton of DIY Wedding Mentorin Waterbury, Vermont: Couples are planning as they're commuting or as they have a few minutes here and there, so mobile devices can make it easier to check off items on their to-do list when they are on the go. That is particularly true for when it comes to purchasing décor online.
What have you seen couples do with digital payments to make their big days go smoother?
Caitlin: Online payments make everything quicker. You want to purchase and pay for the things you need to and then just keep moving on.
Rosemary Hattenbach,Rosemary Events in the San Francisco Bay Area: Let's say we look at a venue. Some places will put it on a courtesy hold for a certain period of time. For others, it's first-come, first-serve. If it's something like that, the first person to the finish line gets the property. It's definitely improved our ability to make those commitments and secure coveted spots.
Caroline: You can keep a much better eye on your budget and what your actual numbers are.
How do you use digital payments in your work?
Caitlin: I have an account with
Wedding Wire that I use for a lot of my administrative tasks, and PayPal is integrated into that. It has made a huge difference for me and the couples I work with. When I first started, I was sending out contracts through the mail and couples were mailing contracts and deposits. It took forever to get everything in place.
Rosemary: Mobile payments and online invoicing have really changed the efficiency level for any kind of transaction. The more seamless and easy it is, the easier the process is for the client. For example, I'm planning a destination wedding in the Caribbean for a California couple. We're not there geographically, and there's a time change and a different currency. Mobile and online payments are an integral part of securing all the places in a timely manner.
How have mobile payments changed the relationship between you and the couples or wedding vendors?
Caitlin:Wedding Wire integration with PayPal and vice versa is really nice. It will automatically send email reminders for payments and contracts and things like that. So all the communication I'm doing with clients is about the fun stuff, not the more boring administrative side of things. That's great for the relationship.
Jove: When payments are done digitally, you easily get notified when a payment gets made; it makes it easier to track. A parent can tell me, 'I sent a check to the photographer.' But the photographer could be on vacation, maybe he cashes the check a week later. There's a lot more room for error. If you do it digitally, you know it's done today and you're good to go. Insert digital information and it's all done.
Those are a few insights from wedding planners on how digital payments are helping to change the harried wedding run-up into a more stress-free affair so couples can focus on their “I dos” and the fun.
As wedding planner Frauton noted, “Anything that you can do to help keep your perspective on keeping it simple and easy for you so you can enjoy the process of the day as much as possible is really what it's all about."
To learn more about PayPal’s partnership with The Knot,
go here. And to find out about
PayPal products that can help with weddings, check out our new peer-to-peer payments platform -
PayPal.me,
PayPal Credit and our
One Touch, which allows you to make instant purchases across mobile apps and websites. For wedding planners, check out
PayPal invoicing and
PayPal Here, a mobile reader that allows for payments made on the go.
This interview has been edited.
About the writer: Veteran journalist Jim Gold focuses on money and happiness. A former NBC News reporter and editor, he writes for
Live Happy magazine and
Money Talks News. He previously was a newspaper editor in the West.