Event planning tools, week by week
Count back from your date, set a budget, send an invite and plan the food.Count back from your date, set a budget, send a calendar invite and work out the food. Free, and it all runs in your browser.
- FreeFree, no sign-up
- Sources shownSources shown for every number
- On your deviceYour data stays on your device
What to do first when you plan an event
The short answer, then the stages.
Start from the date. Fix the budget and the guest list first, because every other choice depends on them, then book the biggest suppliers, send the invitations, chase replies, confirm numbers a week before and use the last day for details.
Event Fellows turns that order into a line you can see. The timeline above runs from 12 weeks before to the day itself. The first tool, the planning timeline, puts a date on each stage once you enter yours; the others sit at the points where you usually need them. Nothing here is a standard: the stages are our own template, and we say where a number comes from or that we could not confirm it.
| Stage | Days before | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| 12 weeks | 84 | Budget, guest list, date and a venue shortlist. |
| 8 weeks | 56 | Signed contracts, invitation wording, outfits, places to stay. |
| 4 weeks | 28 | Invitations out with a reply-by date, menu and music brief. |
| 2 weeks | 14 | Chasing replies, seating plan, written plan for the day. |
| 1 week | 7 | Final numbers to suppliers, rehearsal, packing. |
| The day before | 1 | Confirm every supplier, hand over decor, rest. |
| The day | 0 | One person answers questions; photos; clear-up. |
Four tools, in the order you need them
Each one is a stop on the line above.
First
Planning timeline
Enter the date and pick a wedding, birthday, company event or graduation party. You get seven stages, from 12 weeks before to the day itself, each with a calendar date and a checklist you can tick off.
Open the planning timelineNext
Budget calculator
Seven empty categories with planned and actual cost, the total and the cost per guest. No average prices are filled in for you, and you can download the sheet as a CSV file.
Open the budget calculatorThen
Calendar invite
Type the title, date, time, time zone and place, and download a standard calendar file (.ics) your guests can open, with links for Google Calendar and Outlook. Daylight saving is handled for you.
Open the calendar inviteBefore you buy
Food calculator
How much food and drink for your guests and your hours. The amounts are rules of thumb from open guides, shown as a range with the sources, and every value can be changed.
Open the food calculator
Example: an event on December 12, 2026
How the dates fall when you count back.
- December 12, 2026 is a Saturday. Counting back 84 days gives Saturday, September 19, the 12-week stage.
- 56 days back is October 17, 28 days back is November 14, 14 days back is November 28, a week back is December 5.
- Seen from October 11, the event is 62 days away: 8 weeks and 6 days. The 12-week stage has already passed, so it shows as "do now".
What is different here
Starts empty, no invented prices
The budget has no average costs. You enter the quotes you receive, and the sheet adds them up.
Rules of thumb are labelled
Food amounts are shown as a range from the guides we opened, with the link and the date, and you can edit each one.
A calendar file that works
The invite is a standard .ics file with the time zone and daylight saving handled, checked by two independent readers in our tests.
Looking for a countdown or a count of days between two dates? That lives on our sister site: daycounting.com/countdown.
Frequently asked questions
What is the order for planning an event?
Start from the date and work backwards. Fix the budget and the guest list first, because every other choice depends on them. Then book the venue and the biggest suppliers, send invitations, chase replies, confirm numbers a week before, and keep the last day for checking details. The planning timeline puts dates on each stage once you enter the event date.
Do I need to create an account or give an e-mail address?
No. Nothing is asked and nothing is sent to a server. The date, budget and guest numbers stay in your browser, and the Clear buttons erase them.
How do I count down to the day of my event?
Enter the date in the box at the top of this page to see the days and weeks left. For a countdown you can share, use the countdown page on our sister site daycounting.com.
Are the food and budget numbers real averages?
No. The budget starts empty, with no average prices, because prices depend on your city, the season and your suppliers. The food amounts are rules of thumb from open guides, shown as a range with their sources, and you can change every value.
Can I send guests a save-the-date?
Yes. The calendar invite generator makes a standard .ics file and links for Google Calendar and Outlook, with the time zone handled, so a guest in another city sees the right local time.
Nothing on this site is professional, legal or financial advice. Confirm quantities, prices and dates with your suppliers.