ChatGPT prompts for wedding planning that actually work
18 tested prompts for speeches, timelines, seating and budget, plus the details you have to supply so the output is worth using.
Most articles about planning a wedding with AI stop at “just ask ChatGPT”, which is about as useful as “just use the internet”. So here are concrete prompts we have used ourselves, plus the part almost everyone leaves out: which details you have to supply so the output is not generic mush.
An honest framing first. ChatGPT is strong at everything that is text and weak at everything that has a state. It will write you a good speech. It will not remember that you marry on 12 June, have 74 acceptances and already paid the venue deposit. For the second part you need something else, more on that below.
The four inputs without which any prompt fails
The most common mistake is too little context. “Write me a wedding speech” produces text that fits every wedding and therefore none. Always supply these four things:
- Role. Who should answer? An experienced wedding planner sounds different from a best man.
- Context. Date, guest count, budget range, style, place, anything unusual. The more the better.
- Task. What exactly should come out? A list, prose, a schedule?
- Format. Length, structure, tone, language. “Maximum 400 words, warm, no grand gestures.”
A prompt with all four parts is three lines longer and produces ten times more usable results.
Prompts for speeches and text
This is where ChatGPT is strongest. Treat the output as a first draft, not a finished speech.
1. Best man or maid of honour speech, first draft
You are an experienced speechwriter. I am giving a speech as maid of honour at the wedding of [names]. I have known the bride for [time], we met [where]. Three memories I could tell: [1], [2], [3]. The speech should run at most 4 minutes, be warm and funny but never embarrassing. Write a draft and mark the places where I should insert my own anecdote.
2. Cut a speech without ruining it
Here is my wedding speech, it runs 8 minutes. Cut it to 4 without removing the three anecdotes. Tell me what you left out and why.
3. Thank-you card wording
Write five variants of a thank-you card text for after our wedding. We are [names], married on [date] in [place]. Tone: warm, not sentimental. 3 to 4 sentences each. One variant should also suit guests who could not come.
4. Invitation text with all the essentials
Write an invitation text for our wedding. Details: [date, time, registry office, venue, address, RSVP deadline, dress code]. It has to fit an A6 card and contain every detail without reading like a form. Give me two variants, one classic and one relaxed.
5. Congratulations for other people’s weddings
Write 10 short wedding congratulations, 1 to 2 sentences each, for a card. Five warm and classic, five funny without puns. No rhymes.
Prompts for structure and timing
6. Draft a running order
Draft a running order for our wedding. Registry office [time], ceremony [time], venue [place], [number] guests, dinner from [time], music until [time]. Account for travel time, photographs and a break for us. Output it as a table with time, item and who is responsible.
7. Check the buffers
Here is our running order. Check it for transitions that are too tight. Name the three points most likely to slip and what I can do about each.
8. Seating plan with conflicts
I am planning seating for [number] guests at [number] round tables of [number] seats. These people should not share a table: [list]. These groups belong together: [list]. These guests are coming alone: [list]. Propose an arrangement and explain briefly per table why the combination works.
9. Order of speeches
We have [number] speakers: [list with relationship to the couple]. Propose an order across the evening so there are never three speeches in a row and the emotional peak lands at the right moment.
Prompts for decisions
10. Shorten the guest list
We have to cut from [number] to [number] guests. Give me five questions I can use to go through my list objectively myself. Do not judge anyone for me, just give me the criteria.
11. Compare venues
I am comparing three wedding venues. Venue A: [details]. Venue B: [details]. Venue C: [details]. What matters to us: [priorities]. Build a comparison table using the criteria that matter to us, and name the biggest drawback of each venue.
12. Questions for a venue visit
I am visiting a wedding venue on [date], a [type of venue], for [number] guests in [month]. Give me 15 questions that matter specifically for this type of venue and this season, and tell me in one sentence what to listen for in each answer.
13. DJ or band
Help me decide between a DJ and a band. Our situation: [budget, guest count, music taste, venue, noise restriction]. Give me three arguments for each side that relate to exactly this situation, not general ones.
Prompts for communication
14. Turning down a venue
Write a friendly rejection to a wedding venue that sent us a quote. We are going with another one. Short, appreciative, no excuses. 4 to 5 sentences.
15. Chasing a supplier
I sent an enquiry to [supplier] [time] ago and heard nothing back. Write a follow-up email that stays polite but makes clear we will otherwise decide elsewhere.
16. Announcing a child-free wedding
Write a note for our invitation saying we are celebrating without children. Warm, not preachy, no justification. Two variants, a shorter one and a longer one that mentions childcare options.
17. Raising a difficult family situation
My parents are divorced and do not speak. Both are coming to the wedding. Write how I open the conversation with each of them separately, without taking sides.
18. Asking for money instead of gifts
Write a discreet note for the invitation saying we would prefer money to physical gifts. Three variants, varying in directness. No rhymes.
Where not to trust ChatGPT
Three categories where the answers regularly miss:
Prices. Regional and current pricing is the least reliable category there is. The model mixes numbers from different years and countries. Take quotes or a calculator with maintained values, such as our wedding budget calculator, rather than an estimate from a chat window.
Legal matters and official deadlines. Which documents a registry office requires is set locally and changes. Ask the office, not the model. Our article on registering at the registry office lists the usual documents, but only your office is binding.
Recommendations for specific suppliers. If ChatGPT names a photographer in your city, that may be a real person or an invented one. Check every name.
The point where prompts stop being enough
All 18 prompts above share one thing: they work once. Next time you open the app you start from zero, re-enter date, guest count and budget, and hope you forgot nothing.
That is exactly the limit. Wedding planning is not a text problem, it is a state problem: 74 acceptances, 6 of them vegetarian, venue deposit paid, photographer still open, RSVP deadline in 3 weeks. A chat window cannot hold that.
So the sensible division is not “either or”: ChatGPT for text and ideas, a planning tool for everything with a state. How an AI wedding planner solves that, and where it hits its own limits, is covered there. And if you want to know how far ChatGPT alone gets you, we tried it: Can ChatGPT plan our wedding?
