The 26 Best Wedding Planning Books in 2021

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Commerce Photo Composite — Brides / Chloe Jeong

While apps and digital checklists are useful, many engaged couples may find that good ol' pen and paper is the most efficient and organized way to plan their big day. The same goes for inspiration and planning tips—so much info is available online (especially on Brides.com!), but it's also nice to have a physical book to thumb through with your spouse or your mom during the planning process.

That's where wedding planning books come in. Many contain interactive checklists, so you can keep track of all your wedding to-dos, budgets, and guestlists. Others are chock full of helpful advice from experts in the industry like Mindy Weiss, Jung Lee, and Vera Wang. And many more are filled with gorgeous inspirational photos to give you plenty of ideas for your ceremony and reception. Some even provide space for mementos of your engagement, making them keepsakes for long after you say "I do."

Read on for the best wedding planning books.

Paper Peach Shop Grey Wedding Planner Book

Grey and Gold Foil Custom Wedding Planning Book — Courtesy of Etsy

With a gorgeous gold foil personalization on the cover, this pretty planner makes for a perfect—and useful!—engagement gift. Beyond the customized cover is every type of party-planning checklist and schedule you can think of, including monthly to-dos, payment schedules, and space for important contacts.

B Gregory Design Rose Gold Wedding Planner

A Type-A bride’s dream, this wedding planning totem is broken into eight useful sections via some handy tabs. Plus, we love that gorgeous rose gold cover!

The Personalized Wedding Co. Wedding Planner Book

If you’re, say, not the best at making decisions, this is the wedding planning book for you. Of course it comes with schedules, timelines, and checklists, but inside there are also mood boards and quizzes that’ll help you make tough decisions like who exactly should make the guest list.

Wicked Bride Eucalyptus Customized Wedding Planner

Budget tracker? Check. A place to jot down your vows? Check. Bridal shower and bachelorette party sections? Check and check. This wedding planner really does have it all!

Two Crew Design Maid of Honor Notebook

You won’t be the only one who’ll be busy juggling events this year! Your maid of honor also has to keep track of to-do lists and budgets of her own while she plans the bridal shower and bachelorette party. Gift her this planner to help make the process a breeze.

The Wedding Book: An Expert's Guide to Planning Your Perfect Day—Your Way

The Wedding Book: The Expert’s Guide to Planning Your Perfect Day—Your Way by Mindy Weiss — Courtesy of Amazon

If there was anyone to take advice from when it comes to wedding planning, it would be Mindy Weiss, an icon in the industry who has planned events for celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Sofia Vergara, and Channing Tatum. This tome is chock full of all of her secrets on how to negotiate with vendors, stretch budgets, and even navigate sticky family situations. Included are lists, timelines, and budgeting tools that you’ll be referring to throughout the entire wedding planning process.

The Essential Wedding Planner

We love the interactive lists in this volume! It contains checklists of everything you need to rent or buy, budget worksheets you can fill out with your fiancé, a shot list to pass along to your photographer, and more.

All the Essentials Wedding Planner

This interactive planning book will thrill your inner organizer. It's chock-full of super helpful lists, timelines, charts, downloadable templates and more—all contained in a cute, 3-ring binder divided by color tabs. From Sausalito-based planner Alison Hotchkiss, this book is more than just a must-have planning tool. It's also a treasure trove of up-to-date advice covering all aspects of wedding planning, from creating a registry to booking photographers.

Wedding Planner: Complete Bridal Planning For African American Black Brides

This keepsake book is filled with inspirational quotes, helpful lists, and lots of space to write out every detail as you plan your big day. There are even sections for reception music playlists and detailed budget breakdowns.

Storied Weddings: Inspiration for a Timeless Celebration That Is Perfectly You

This comprehensive book will give couples everything, and we mean everything, they need to create an amazing event. Written by Seattle-based planners Aleah and Nick Valley of Valley and Co. Events, the book dives deep into the planning process, offering lots of helpful how-tos paired with gorgeous wedding imagery. Equal parts practical manual and treasure trove of inspiration, it will quickly turn into your planning bible.

A Great Party: Designing the Perfect Celebration

Bryan Rafanelli has created gorgeous events all over the world, and now he's sharing his wisdom with couples—and anyone else who wants to throw a truly unforgettable party. This book showcases some of his most jaw-dropping creations—from state dinners at the White House to garden weddings—and provides tons of useful tips. Even if the event you're planning is a considerably more modest affair than the typical Rafanelli event, you'll come away with invaluable knowledge and inspiration to help the planning process.

Fête: The Wedding Experience

Event designer Jung Lee is practically synonymous with high-profile parties and out-of-this-world weddings. Here, she shares all of her party-planning secrets and will lead you through the process, from engagement to “I do.” You’ll also find 150 inspirational photos that’ll give you some seriously stunning ideas.

Bridechilla Wedding Planning Survival Guide

Whoever said that one had to stress over wedding dresses or seating charts in order to get married? Ditch all that pomp and circumstance with this fun book. Inside, you'll find helpful guides to things like vendor contracts and quotes, in addition to on how to not sweat the small stuff and instead focus on what really matters,

Celebrate Everything!: Fun Ideas to Bring Your Parties to Life

Celebrations expert and designer Darcy Miller has a fun and colorful aesthetic that makes wedding planning fun. This book is a blueprint to planning an event that is true to you and is full of Darcy’s insider tips and unique ideas.

Kate Spade New York Bridal Journal

Kate Spade New York I Do Journal — Courtesy of Amazon

This gorgeous hardcover book contains 200 lined pages on which you can jot down everything and anything throughout your wedding planning journey. From who gave what at the bridal shower to important phone numbers of florists and DJs, it's the perfect place for all your odds and ends.

Equally Wed: The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your LGBTQ+ Wedding

A wedding between an LGBTQ+ -identifying couple may be just another wedding, but there are some unique planning challenges that the couple may face. This book is an excellent resource for such challenges and questions—like how to deal with less-than-supportive family members—as well as for all the wedding to-do lists and tips every newly engaged couple needs.

Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette

Weddings (and all the family drama that often come with them) can bring up a whole slew of etiquette questions. Leave it to the etiquette expert, Emily Post! Here, you’ll find the answer to all your etiquette Qs, from how to word your wedding invitations to who should make the guest list.

Stuff Every Bride Should Know

This handy little manual is petite enough for you to toss in your purse and take with you anywhere, from dress fittings to cake tastings. With tons of tips, you’ll be referring to it constantly!

Fluytco Wedding Planner and Journal Organizer

Keep your wedding details (all three million of them) in one neat place with this organizer. It boasts seating charts, guest lists, timelines, and even honeymoon-planning resources. Best of all, it even includes materials for a sweet bridesmaid proposal, as well as two wedding-day cards and envelopes.

Kate Spade New York Bridal Appointment Calendar

If you’re the type to accidentally miss teeth cleanings and salon appointments, this pretty purple calendar will be a total life-saver. It’ll help you keep track of every dress fitting, cake tasting, venue walk-through.

Stone Fox Bride: Love, Lust, and Wedding Planning for the Wild at Heart

Consider this the wedding planning bible for nontraditional brides. Written by the founder of the cool-girl bridal brand Stone Fox Bride, this totem offers advice on throwing an event that’s more Bianca Jagger than Cinderella, and features personal essays that’ll encourage you to stay true to yourself through the wilds of wedding planning.

Wedding Planning for the Busy Feminist

Ditch the outdated traditions and plan a wedding that wholly represents both you and partner. This book is full of useful advice on everything from dressing shopping to vendor tipping to hashtags, all written in a friendly, witty voice.

Vera Wang on Weddings

Vera Wang is arguably one of the most sought-after bridal gown designers in the entire world, so who wouldn’t want her expert advice ahead of their big day? In this coffee table-worthy book, Wang divulges her ideas and thoughts on wedding details like the invitations, flowers, and of course, the wedding dress, offering advice on necklines, hemlines, and everything in between.

The Wedding Dress: The 50 Designs that Changed the Course of Bridal Fashion

The Wedding Dress: 50 Designs That Changed the Course of Fashion — Courtesy of Amazon

This gorgeously illustrated book has all the wedding dress inspiration you need—and then some! It goes through almost 200 years of bridal fashion and history’s most infamous wedding dresses that still influence bridal designers today. You’re bound to get some ideas from all the stylish brides inside. Are you more of a Kate Middleton bride or a Kate Moss bride? You'll find the answer here.

The Groom’s Guide

Grooms have dozens of details to plan, too! This guide is a groom’s go-to resource when it comes to wedding planning and contains helpful advice on everything from choosing the best man to how to work a tux.

Bridal Bullshit Wedding Journal

Planning a wedding sometimes calls for a few four-letter words every now and then, making this cheeky notebook bound to bring a smile to the face of your bridal bestie. At the very least, it’ll make her feel seen.