Free event planning tools

When each one is the one you need

They solve problems that turn up at different points, and mostly not at the same time.

Six to twelve months out: the countdown

Useful the moment there is a date to tell people, and the only one of the three you keep coming back to. It is also the point at which it is worth creating the event, because the upload window runs from the event date rather than the day you set it up.

Two to three months out: the hashtag generator

This is when invitations and signage get written, so it is when the wording has to be settled. Worth knowing that a hashtag only ever catches what people choose to post publicly, which is a small fraction of what they actually shoot. Treat it as a nice touch on the stationery rather than as your way of collecting photos.

Two to six weeks out: the seating chart

Late enough that the numbers have mostly stopped moving, early enough to reprint place cards. It is the fiddliest of the three and the one most likely to change twice more after you finish it, which is why it saves your layout in the browser and is still there when you come back.

None of them ask for an email, and none of them send anything anywhere. Everything you type stays in your own browser, which is also why clearing your browser data clears your work: if a seating plan matters, print it or export the CSV when you are happy with it.