Wedding Planner

When to Use#

Use when a user is planning a wedding and needs more than inspiration: date and venue sequencing, guest-count decisions, budget control, vendor selection, contract tracking, RSVP handling, and day-of execution.

This skill is for real operational planning, not just ideas. It helps couples, families, and planners turn an emotional project into a decision system with deadlines, trade-offs, and a clean record of what was chosen and why.

Architecture#

Memory lives in ~/wedding-planner/. If ~/wedding-planner/ does not exist, run setup.md. See memory-template.md for structure.

text

~/wedding-planner/
├── memory.md                         # Activation rules, planning style, and active wedding context
├── weddings/
│   └── {event}/
│       ├── overview.md               # Date, venue, style, priorities, and stage
│       ├── budget.md                 # Budget ceiling, commitments, deposits, and due dates
│       ├── guest-list.md             # A/B/C invite counts, RSVP status, and seating notes
│       ├── vendors.md                # Shortlists, quotes, contract status, and risks
│       ├── timeline.md               # Backward plan from wedding date and day-of run-of-show
│       └── decisions.md              # Final choices, trade-offs, and unresolved items
└── archive/                          # Past weddings or cancelled options

Quick Reference#

Load only the file that matches the current planning bottleneck.

TopicFileSetup and activation behaviorsetup.mdMemory schema and planning notebook structurememory-template.mdBudget math, deposits, and payment disciplinebudget-and-payments.mdVendor evaluation, quotes, and contract comparisonvendor-scorecards.mdGuest-count scenarios, RSVP control, and seating logicguest-list-and-seating.mdBackward planning, checkpoints, and wedding-day run-of-showtimeline-and-run-of-show.md

Requirements#

• No credentials are required.
• Ask which planning role is active before going deep: couple, family organizer, planner, or shared team.
• Clarify the stage fast: just engaged, venue searching, booked date, vendor coordination, final month, or day-of execution.
• Confirm before creating persistent notes or changing anything that affects live contracts, deposits, or final guest communication.
• Prefer ranges and scenarios when the user is still deciding. Precision too early creates false certainty.

Adapt to the User#

• For couples: reduce overwhelm, surface trade-offs, and keep decisions tied to priorities instead of aesthetics alone.
• For parents or family organizers: separate funding decisions from authority and communication boundaries.
• For planners or coordinators: focus on handoffs, vendor status, run-of-show clarity, and unresolved risk.
• For practical users: lead with budget, dependencies, and deadlines.
• For emotional or stuck users: shrink the next move and use decision logs to stop circular debates.

Core Rules#

1. Establish the wedding shape before optimizing details#

• Lock the operating frame first: approximate date, location or radius, event size, ceremony type, and budget ceiling.
• Venue, guest count, and budget are the three strongest planning constraints. Do not treat decor or favors as first-order decisions before those are stable.
• If one of the big three is unknown, work in scenarios instead of pretending the plan is fixed.

2. Budget is a commitment system, not a wish list#

• Track target budget, current committed spend, deposits already paid, remaining balances, and due dates in budget-and-payments.md.
• Separate must-have spend from stretch upgrades and nice-to-have extras.
• Any new idea should be evaluated against what it displaces, not just whether it sounds good on its own.

3. Run vendors through one scorecard#

• Keep a shortlist with consistent fields: fit, price, availability, communication quality, contract risk, and backup options.
• Compare vendors against the same criteria so one polished Instagram feed does not outweigh logistics or contract terms.
• If the user chooses against the scorecard, record the reason in the decision log so the trade-off stays explicit.

4. Guest count drives more than the seating chart#

• Treat guest list size as a systems variable that changes venue options, catering spend, transport, rentals, and pacing.
• Maintain A/B/C scenarios when the invite list is politically sensitive or still moving.
• Record boundaries early: adults only or not, plus-ones policy, children policy, and hard venue capacity.

5. Plan backward from the wedding date#

• Build the plan from the event date back to venue lock, invitations, attire, tastings, final headcount, vendor confirmations, and payment deadlines.
• Each checkpoint should have an owner, a target date, and a consequence if it slips.
• The closer the wedding gets, the more the system should prioritize execution risk over new ideas.

6. Separate decisions from inspiration#

• Inspiration is useful only if it changes a real choice: venue style, color direction, dress code, floral scope, or photography brief.
• Do not let mood boards expand the scope without budget, logistics, or labor impact being named.
• Convert vague taste language into operational criteria vendors can act on.

7. Keep one source of truth for the final month#

• The last month needs a clean version of reality: confirmed vendors, balances due, final guest counts, timeline, and contingency contacts.
• Resolve contradictions immediately when two notes disagree.
• Day-of coordination should use the smallest possible run-of-show, not a sprawling planning document.

Wedding Planning Traps#

These are the failure modes most likely to create budget drift, deadline stress, or avoidable conflict.

TrapWhy It FailsBetter MovePicking the venue before naming a real guest-count rangeCapacity and cost assumptions collapse laterKeep A/B/C headcount scenarios before signingTreating deposits as "already handled" instead of active budget pressureCash-flow surprises appear in the final monthTrack paid, due, and remaining balances separatelyComparing vendors from memoryCharisma beats facts and details get lostUse one scorecard in vendor-scorecards.mdLetting family politics stay implicitPressure shows up late and emotionallyName decision rights, funding boundaries, and non-negotiables earlyLeaving the day-of schedule until the final weekSmall dependencies turn into preventable chaosBuild backward checkpoints and a short run-of-show well before final confirmationsMaking every decision permanent too earlyThe plan becomes brittle while key constraints are still movingUse scenario planning until venue, budget, and guest count stabilize

Scope#

This skill ONLY:

• helps plan weddings through local notes, timelines, and decision systems
• organizes budget, guest, vendor, and coordination information in ~/wedding-planner/
• turns ambiguous wedding choices into structured trade-offs and next actions

This skill NEVER:

• sign contracts, place deposits, or communicate with vendors on its own
• promise etiquette or legal advice is universal across cultures or jurisdictions
• store payment credentials or full contract documents in durable notes by default
• read files outside ~/wedding-planner/ for its memory
• modify its own SKILL.md

Data Storage#

Local state lives in ~/wedding-planner/:

• the memory file for activation rules, planning style, and active wedding status
• weddings/{event}/overview.md for priorities, stage, and wedding shape
• weddings/{event}/budget.md for commitments, deposits, and due dates
• weddings/{event}/guest-list.md for scenarios, RSVP state, and seating notes
• weddings/{event}/vendors.md for quotes, shortlist decisions, and contract risks
• weddings/{event}/timeline.md for milestones and run-of-show
• weddings/{event}/decisions.md for final choices and unresolved tensions

Security & Privacy#

Data that may stay local if the user approves persistent memory:

• wedding date range, venue shortlist, planning priorities, guest-count scenarios, vendor quotes, and decision notes

Data that should not be stored in durable notes unless the user explicitly asks:

• payment card data
• full contract PDFs
• passport or ID details for travel paperwork
• health or deeply personal family conflict details beyond what is needed operationally

This skill does NOT:

• make undeclared network requests
• send wedding plans to third-party services
• commit money, sign agreements, or contact vendors automatically
• claim etiquette rules are universal when they are culture-specific

Related Skills#

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• calendar-planner - Keep deadlines, appointments, and event milestones on a real calendar.
• daily-planner - Break wedding work into realistic daily execution blocks.
• expenses - Track spending, reimbursements, and category-level budget drift.
• outfits - Decide dress codes, wedding-party looks, and outfit constraints.
• plan - Structure large projects when the wedding also includes travel, moves, or other parallel logistics.

Feedback#

• If useful: clawhub star wedding-planner
• Stay updated: clawhub sync