Marziplanner Reviewer's Comments

The folks from down under have out shined the competition with Marziplanner, the “TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award” winning Wedding Planning Software. The software is well organized, aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.

The opening screen shows a quick glance of tasks for the week, over due budgets and appointments. Marziplanner includes the best seating feature we reviewed, a great calendar feature and tasks can be assigned to various guests.

Marziplanner’s shortcomings include the inability to import a guest list from another program. It does not have a section to track the accommodations of out of towners and you have to contact the company to change your wedding date. Also, at about $80.00, this was the most expensive software we reviewed.

Marziplanner Screenshots. Click for more
       


Features Set:  

When adding a guest you can include all important information including formal title, full name, address, email address and phone. Information like spouse and children are all located on the same screen. Much like the #2 product, Smart Wedding, Marziplanner allows you to invite different members of the same household to various events. However, we were disappointed you could not import guest lists, but you could export them. Additionally, a section is not provided to track the accommodations of out of town guests, like flight or hotel information.

Marziplanner does include a few invitation templates to illustrate proper wording for various situations including parents together, divorced parents, from the bride and groom directly, these templates are very simple and can be modified using MS Word.

The budget section is simple and effective. You can record an item’s budget quote, actual price and paid. The section is slightly confusing because the information on the main budget screen doesn’t exactly match the information on the payment tracking screen. For example, the main screen indicates the word “paid” assuming this is the amount already paid to the vendor; however, in the payment screen this field is labeled “deposit.” One feature particularly unique to this program is that you can assign anyone the responsibility of payment not just bride’s family, groom’s family, etc.

Marziplanner includes a great vendor section that works closely with the budget section. You can track all pertinent information including name, address and contact person, as well as email and website addresses. Additionally, you can add vendors without leaving the budget section.

Marziplanner includes an extensive list of pre–loaded tasks common to weddings. Each task is assigned a due date and a status report. You can assign any task to anyone, not just the bride, groom or wedding party. The task list works closely with Marziplanner’s calendar feature. Everything in the calendar section is drag and drop. Tasks or appointments added to either section is automatically updated in the others. For example, if you switch the date of a particular task on the calendar, the date will automatically update on the task list.

This software includes the best seating assignment feature we reviewed. Not only can you assign guest to their tables, but you can design the entire reception hall including a stage, dance floor, cake table and bar precisely laid out exactly how you envision it. This is especially handy for those using smaller venues to understand how their reception would be designed. However, you can only choose to have four or eight seat tables.

We were disappointed you could not include a menu, or menu tracker. However, you can create a specific music list for your DJ including all of your favorite songs. Additionally, the program has a link to the iTunes store.

Reports include guest list, RSVPs, seating, gifts, task lists, budget, vendors, events and calendars. They can be printed in program, or exported to excel or PDF.

Although the program saves everything every time you close out of it, there is a way to create a manual backup; however, we found it difficult to do—it required us to follow the specific directions located in the help section.

Theoretically, you can change your wedding date, but it doesn’t work. You have to contact the company and they will provide you with another registration number. This is for serial number and theft issues.

Ease of Use:  

We found Marziplanner to be the most easy–to–use wedding planning software we reviewed. Everything is well organized and clearly labeled. The interface is simple and up to date.

Ease of Installation/Setup:  

The installation only took a few moments and we didn’t have any problems.

Help/Support:  

Marziplanner includes email and telephone support. However, the phone number is located in Australia and only one of our two emails was answered and that was about a week later. They provide a comprehensive help section online, but we found this feature would be more beneficial if it included a search function.

Summary:  

Marziplanner’s welcoming and organized interface made this the easiest piece of wedding planning software we reviewed. Additionally, their seating feature and calendar feature blow the competition out of the water; however, with an $80.00 price tag, it was also the most expensive software we reviewed.