The Tamesis
As artificial intelligence gradually disrupts the way we work and live our daily lives, the wedding industry is not immune. When it comes to wedding planning, couples and their teams now frequently turn to ChatGPT and other AI-driven services: organizing budgets, crafting emails, discovering local vendors, drawing inspiration for the wedding, and occasionally writing personal vows for the ceremony. What’s the general consensus among planners, photographers, floral designers, and newlyweds-to-be? it can both help and hinder the wedding planning process.
Planning a wedding weekend requires a healthy mix of Type-A organization and creativity. The first element is where artificial intelligence can be fully utilized. According to a study by Zola, more than 56% of couples getting married in 2026 used artificial intelligence in the planning process. However, couples remain wary of relying on the technology to remove emotion from the wedding experience, with 63% saying they would never use it to write vows or speeches. The most common uses are answering etiquette questions, managing schedules and to-dos, writing wedding website copy, and organizing budgets.
“For couples, AI is about more than planning. It’s about taking back their time,” share Caroline Davis and Kimberly Dinh of North and South Agency, an AI marketing firm for wedding vendors. “Planning a wedding can take hundreds of hours, and today’s couples are already using ChatGPT for work, travel, and daily decision-making. When they extend this behavior to wedding planning, AI acts like a concierge, helping them figure things out faster.”
Wedding vendors are also making heavy use of AI to streamline their own business practices, from creating schedules to streamlining communications with clients. Why artificial intelligence? Wedding planner Lea Stafford puts it simply: “It’s about five team members who pull data, business strategy, development, etc.”
It also gives providers more room to cater to the truly creative services couples are looking for, free from the constraints of administration. “I use it to draft contracts and refine terms (such as respect policies, sneak peek timelines, third-party payee language), write beautiful yet personalized emails, and create headshot prep guides and wedding questionnaires,” says photographer Paige Vaughn. “It saves me time every week so I can focus more on creativity and customer experience.”
While AI may be brilliant in terms of efficiency, it also has its limitations: designing an incredible ceremony or rehearsing the beauty of a tablescape still requires a real-world touch. “It’s helpful for scheduling and organizing team communications and calendars, but there’s nothing better than a human creating a production schedule, design board, client concept or creative partnership,” comment Valley & Company’s Aleah and Nick Valley.
Vendors may forego ChatGPT for design work, but soon-to-be couples often turn to the tool when looking for creative inspiration, with mixed results. For example, planners and floral designers noted that AI-generated photos tend to disappoint customers. “I have a lot of brides sending AI-generated images,” shares wedding planner Tara Fay. “But when it unfolds in reality, it’s not really what they want, and they’re even more confused.”
Alison Laesser-Keck of Alison Bryan Destinations advises those using artificial intelligence for wedding planning to take everything with a grain of salt. “We’re starting to see AI-generated images of venues that don’t actually exist, let alone event decorations that are simply unachievable and unrealistic – regardless of budget,” she said. “Of course we will use our expertise to cut through the noise and help protect their investment, but I do worry about customers who can’t tell the difference.”
