A wedding as a system: one source of truth for guests, the website, place cards, and the seating chart

We're planning a wedding for [80] guests, on [date], with the
ceremony [outdoors in a meadow] and the reception [in a barn].
Here's how we've been organizing it so far: [list everything that
honestly exists — a guest spreadsheet with your sister, a second
list with your mom, a budget in a notebook, a Messenger thread with
the band, catering quotes in email, accommodation notes on your
phone].

Do an inventory:
1. List every place information currently lives, and for each one:
   what it contains, who maintains it, and what it overlaps with.
2. Flag information that exists in more than one version, and for
   each one, write down why the duplication is dangerous (two guest
   lists = two different headcounts for catering and two different
   ideas about the budget).
3. Propose what should become the single source of truth for four
   areas: guests, schedule, vendors, budget — and what can stay
   where it is (old quotes, inspiration).
4. Rank the move by urgency: what's on fire because the date is
   approaching, and what can wait.
Don't set anything up yet, we're just mapping for now.

The wedding is on [date], today is [date]. We both work; realistically
we have [4] hours a week for planning, more only on some weekends.
What's already done: [venue booked / officiant confirmed / nothing].

Build a milestone plan working backward from the wedding date:
- for each milestone, a "no later than" date, exactly what needs to
  be done, and why then specifically (the dependency on other steps:
  printing invitations needs a final time and place, catering needs
  final headcounts, the ceremony's legal filing has its own deadline)
- separately flag the points that can't move: booking the venue and
  key vendors, the ceremony's legal requirements, the print deadline
- no more than 3 major tasks per month — anything more won't fit in
  our hours; if it doesn't add up, say so directly so we can cut
  somewhere else
- leave the last two weeks for confirming and small details only, no
  big tasks or decisions
Output as a table: month, milestone, tasks, what it feeds into.

I'm uploading [three] files with wedding guest lists that were built
independently of each other: [guests-veronika.xlsx,
list-mom.xlsx, and text copied from a Messenger thread].

Merge them into one table with columns: first name, last name, side
(bride/groom), relationship to us, group, plus-one, children and
ages, diet, contact, note, source (which list the row came from).

Rules:
- the same person written differently ("Jane Smith" vs. "J. Smith")
  belongs on one row — merge them, but flag that you guessed the
  merge; we'll check every one
- where the versions disagree (with a plus-one in one, without in
  another; a different diet), DON'T DECIDE: list both values in a
  CONFLICT column, we'll pick
- anyone who appears in only one version, mark "only on [source]" —
  those are guests we haven't discussed at home yet
- don't drop anyone, even if they look like an obvious duplicate
At the end, write a check: row count in each source, count after
merging, and count of conflicts — the numbers have to add up.

Here are our four source files: guests.csv, schedule.md, vendors.csv,
and budget.csv [upload]. The wedding is on [date] for [80] guests,
the ceremony is [outdoors in a meadow], the reception [in a barn],
[more context].

Go through them like an experienced wedding coordinator and list
what's missing:
1. In the data: guests with no contact info, vendors with no deposit
   date, budget items with no estimate, schedule steps with no
   responsible person.
2. In reality: what weddings like ours usually need that isn't in
   the files at all — sound for an outdoor ceremony? a rain plan?
   a late-night ride home for guests? flowers? someone watching the
   kids? Phrase these as questions for us, don't decide.
3. Mismatches between files: a vendor in the budget who isn't in
   vendors.csv; a schedule time that doesn't match the service
   window from a quote; a guest count that doesn't match the number
   of rows in guests.csv.
Output as three lists, sorted by severity. Don't fix anything
yourself — we'll make the fixes, so we know what changed.

We just changed the ceremony time in schedule.md from [12:00] to
[14:00]. Go through every file in the wedding/ folder and give me
three lists:
1. What's connected to the change and also needs to shift: guest
   arrival, photos (watch the light — sunset is at [time]), the
   hotel shuttle, the reception start, the evening program. Suggest
   new times, I'll approve them.
2. Which derived outputs are now outdated and need regenerating:
   the wedding website, the printed schedule for the coordinator,
   signage, the FAQ, the email to guests. For each one, note whether
   it's already been printed.
3. Which vendors the change affects and exactly what they need to
   know — draft short messages, we'll send them ourselves.
Don't change anything without approval, just return the lists.

Propose three visual directions for our wedding. Inputs: [venue — barn
/ garden estate / meadow], [season and month], [what we love —
colors, flowers, dress style, music], [what we're afraid of —
over-decoration, kitsch, cold elegance].

For each direction:
- a palette: 2 main and 2 accent colors with hex codes and a note on
  where each gets used (print, web, flowers, textiles)
- a pair of fonts (headline + body) that are free to use, print-ready,
  and note how well each handles diacritics — decorative fonts often
  fail on this
- a motif or ornament that can repeat across every material and still
  works in single-color print
- a sample invitation sentence, so we can hear how the direction reads
Make the directions actually differ in mood, not just three shades of
the same thing.

Using the Canva connector, set up a set of wedding templates based on
the attached visual/identity.md (colors, fonts, motif):
1. invitation [A6 portrait] — names, date, venue, link to the
   website with a QR code
2. table place card [folded 9 x 5 cm] — guest name, motif
3. table menu [DL] — courses, allergen labels, drinks
4. information sign [A3] — big headline + text (will double as the
   day's schedule, "this way to the ceremony," and the seating chart
   at the entrance)
5. card [A7] — wifi, photo hashtag, link to the album
Same palette everywhere, same pair of fonts, motif from identity.md.
Leave the copy as placeholder text — we'll fill in the content from
the data. Send links to the drafts, I'll fine-tune the details in the
editor myself.

From guests.csv, take every guest with rsvp_status = confirmed and
generate a data file for bulk place cards:
- columns: name for the card (first + last name; children get first
  name only), table number, diet abbreviated (V = vegetarian,
  GF = gluten-free, A = allergy per note), so serving staff can read
  it off the back of the card
- check lengths: flag any name longer than [18] characters and
  suggest a line break or smaller font, so it's not left to the
  printer to decide
- list plus-ones we don't have a name for yet separately — a card
  that just says "+1" at a table won't work, we need to get those
  names
- sort by table number, and within each table by seating order
Save as place-cards.csv — this feeds the bulk-fill feature in the
Canva template.

Build a single-page wedding website. Sources in the wedding/ folder:
schedule.md (use only the "guest version" section),
visual/identity.md (colors, fonts, tone of voice), faq.md.

Page structure:
- intro: [Klára and Martin], [date], venue [town] — no last names
- how to get to us: map, address, parking [where], hotel shuttle
  [times], contact for the coordinator [first name and phone — I'll
  fill in the number myself, it doesn't belong hardcoded in the code]
- the day's schedule, guest version
- FAQ from faq.md
- RSVP form: first and last name, attending yes/no, plus-one (names),
  children and ages, diet (dropdown + free text field), interest in
  accommodation and the shuttle, a message — answers get saved to
  [Google Sheets / Supabase], not to email
Rules: no guest names or seating info anywhere; copy in the tone from
identity.md; the site has to work perfectly on a phone — guests will
open it from the QR code on the invitation.

Write an FAQ for the wedding website. Context: [ceremony outdoors in
a meadow, reception in a barn, kids welcome, dress code "summer
formal," gifts — a contribution to the honeymoon is preferred,
parking at the town hall 300m away, shuttle to the hotel at 23:00 and
1:00, breakfast for guests staying overnight].

Write 10 to 14 questions guests actually ask, with short answers:
what to wear (especially for men — jacket or not), what happens if
it rains, can I bring kids / a partner, how do gifts work, what time
should I arrive, where do I park, how do I get home at night, by
when and how do I confirm attendance, who do I contact on the day,
is there somewhere to change a diaper. Keep the answers specific and
in our tone per identity.md, no vague "use your own judgment."
Wherever you don't know the answer from the context, write QUESTION
FOR US — don't guess.

Design an RSVP form for our wedding and how it links back to the
guest list.

1. Form fields: first and last name, attending yes/no, names of
   anyone in your party, children and their ages, diet and allergies
   (dropdown + free text), interest in accommodation, interest in the
   late-night shuttle, a message. For each field, write the exact
   wording of the label so guests answer unambiguously — for the
   plus-one field, for instance, we want names, not just a headcount,
   because of the place cards.
2. What NOT to ask for: addresses, dates of birth, anything we don't
   actually need for organizing — the fewer personal details we
   collect, the fewer we have to protect.
3. Matching against guests.csv: what to do if a guest fills in a
   nickname, if they confirm a whole family in one submission, if
   they submit the form twice with different answers. Propose rules
   so we handle it the same way every time.
4. Guest statuses in guests.csv: invited → confirmed / declined / no
   response, plus date of last update. Write down when each status
   gets set, and by whom.

Here's the current export of RSVP responses and our guests.csv
[upload]. Give me a weekly review:
- how many guests have confirmed, declined, and not responded — in
  PEOPLE, including plus-ones and children, not in row counts;
  separately, a count of children by age (for portions and childcare)
- what's changed since last week, and what task that creates (another
  gluten-free diet → tell the caterer; confirmed accommodation →
  book the room)
- mismatches: a confirmed plus-one who was never invited; a diet
  that doesn't match what's in the guest list; a guest who submitted
  the form twice with different answers
- guests who haven't responded and have fewer than [14] days left
  before the RSVP deadline [date] — sort by how much they matter to
  planning (a family of 5 needing accommodation ranks above one
  coworker)
Don't send anyone anything, just the review and the task list.

For the guests in "no response" status [paste the list with
relationships], draft reminders. Context: the RSVP deadline is
[date], catering needs final numbers [10 days] before the wedding,
the form is on the website at [address].

- split guests into groups by relationship: close family, friends,
  coworkers, our parents' friends — and write a different message
  for each group: warm and personal for family, short and to the
  point for coworkers, all of it in our tone per identity.md
- in every message: a reminder of the deadline, a link to the form,
  and a line saying that even "sorry, we can't make it" is a
  genuinely useful answer — nobody should feel awkward declining
- for guests who don't fill out forms [grandma, uncle Jarda], suggest
  who in the family should call instead, and exactly what to find out
- no guilt-tripping, no "we already asked" — write it as if this is
  the first time, even when it isn't
We'll send the messages ourselves, each one after reading it and
adding something personal.

Help us write down the constraints for the seating chart. Go through
guests.csv (the relationship and group columns) and ask us one
question at a time about what's not in the data:
- who absolutely CANNOT sit at the same table (divorced parents?
  cousins who had a falling out? exes who are both invited?)
- who MUST sit together: couples and families in one place, kids
  with their parents, [grandma] near the exit and away from the
  speakers
- who knows whom: for guests with no obvious ties (coworkers, our
  parents' friends), suggest who they might sit with based on the
  data — same workplace, similar age, kids the same age — and ask
  us if it fits
Write every rule into seating-constraints.md in this format: rule,
type (hard/soft), reason. Phrase the reasons neutrally and briefly —
someone in the family might end up seeing this file.

Propose three seating-chart variants. Inputs: guests.csv (confirmed
guests only, headcounts including plus-ones and children),
seating-constraints.md, and the room layout: [10 tables of 8, head
table for 6, dance floor on the right, entrance and bar at the back].

Rules:
- hard constraints are non-negotiable; if they can't all be satisfied
  at once, say so and list which ones conflict — don't bend any of
  them
- satisfy as many soft constraints as you can; for each variant, list
  which ones you had to sacrifice and why
- make the variants differ in philosophy: 1) families and groups kept
  together, 2) mix the bride's and groom's sides so the families get
  to know each other, 3) grouped by age and interests (younger guests
  near the dance floor, older guests farther from the music)
- for each table: names, number of children, a summary of diets (for
  serving staff)
- for each variant, 3 risks ("table 6 has no shared common ground,"
  "table 2 has two strong personalities")
We'll pick ourselves, probably by mixing elements of more than one.

Change in guests.csv: [Aunt Alena's family (4 people) canceled,
coworker Tom confirmed a plus-one]. Update the chosen seating chart
with the SMALLEST possible number of moves:
- every hard constraint still has to hold
- list each move separately with a reason — I'll approve them one
  by one
- if a table ends up half-empty after the cancellation, suggest
  merging tables and what to do with the freed-up one (gifts?
  desserts?)
- once approved, regenerate place-cards.csv (names and table
  numbers) and flag which cards have already been printed and need
  reprinting

Write an inquiry email for [a photographer]. Facts: wedding on [date],
[town and venue], [80] guests, ceremony [at 14:00] outdoors, reception
until [around 2am], getting-ready starting [9:00] at [location]. We
want [a documentary style, minimal posed group shots, an emphasis on
kids and grandparents].

Structure:
- who we are and what we're planning (2 sentences, enough for them to
  picture us)
- exactly what we're asking for: number of hours, expected
  deliverables (number of edited photos, delivery timeline, delivery
  format)
- our questions: do you have the date free? what's included in the
  base package and what costs extra? how do deposits and
  cancellations work? how long is the quote valid? can you send a
  full gallery from one past wedding, not just portfolio highlights?
- when we'd appreciate a reply by
Tone: friendly and to the point, no flattery or superlatives. Give me
the text, I'll review and send it myself.

I'm uploading [three] quotes for [catering] from documents/ [files].
Build a row-by-row comparison table that shows what each quote
doesn't say:
- what's included: number of courses, drinks, staffing (how many
  servers per how many guests), dishware and glassware, delivery,
  corkage, overtime hours, kids' portions, cleanup
- what costs extra, and what the quote doesn't address at all — an
  empty cell in the table is a question, not a point in that vendor's
  favor
- deadlines: deposit, balance, final headcount and diet deadline,
  cancellation terms and how they're staged
- for each quote, a list of questions to ask before deciding —
  especially wherever the wording is vague
Don't just compare the totals: normalize the quotes to the same scope
(80 guests, same number of courses and hours) and flag anywhere the
scope differs enough that a direct comparison doesn't really hold.

Here's a draft contract from [vendor] [upload]. You're not my lawyer
and I don't want legal advice — I want to understand the contract and
ask good questions:
1. Summarize it in plain language: what we're committing to, what
   they're committing to, when payments are due, and what happens if
   either side backs out.
2. List anything one-sided or unusual: cancellation terms that only
   protect them, the right to change the menu without our consent,
   penalty clauses that only apply to us, uncapped overtime.
3. What's missing that weddings typically need to address: a delayed
   ceremony, a backup for a sick photographer, rain affecting the
   outdoor portion, damage caused by guests, how late headcounts can
   change.
4. A list of questions to clarify by email — so we have the answers
   in writing, not over the phone.

Build a detailed wedding-day schedule into schedule.md. Inputs:
ceremony [14:00, meadow by the barn], reception [barn, 200m walk],
sunset [19:40 — for photo timing], bride's prep [starting 9:00 at
the inn], vendor times from vendors.csv, evening program [first
dance, cake cutting, band until 2am], shuttles [23:00 and 1:00].

Rules:
- cover from the morning (prep, decor delivery) through the last
  guests leaving, and what happens to the decor and gifts overnight
- for each item: time from–to, what's happening, who's responsible
  (by name), where, and what needs to be ready beforehand
- buffers: build in [15–20] minutes of slack around the ceremony,
  congratulating the couple, photos, and transitions — a schedule
  with no slack is fiction
- flag the ANCHORS that can't move (catering's arrival, sunset,
  shuttle times), and the blocks that can safely stretch or get
  dropped
- at the end, list the 5 places weddings most commonly run late, and
  what we're doing about each one in our plan

From the master schedule in schedule.md, derive three versions:
1. FOR GUESTS (for the website and signage): only what they need —
   when and where to be, the ceremony, the meal, the cake, the first
   dance, the shuttles. No logistics, no vendors, 10 lines max, times
   rounded.
2. FOR THE COORDINATOR (printed, fits in a hand, A4): everything,
   including vendor phone numbers, what needs to be ready where,
   anchors highlighted, and for risky blocks, a note on "if this runs
   late, then…".
3. FOR VENDORS: each one gets only their own window — arrival, setup,
   the event itself, teardown — plus the coordinator's contact, so
   on the day they call her, not us.
Save the versions as sections in schedule.md below the master. When
the master changes, all three get regenerated — never edit them
separately.

Here are budget.csv and vendors.csv [upload]. Run a monthly financial
review:
- which line items don't have an agreed price yet, even though their
  deadline (per the prep schedule) is coming up — those are estimates
  about to stop being estimates
- a payment calendar for the next [3] months: what, to whom, when,
  deposit or balance, sorted by date — so we know what's going out
  each month
- where the agreed price differs from the estimate by more than [15]
  percent, and what that does to the total and to the contingency
- cross-check: a vendor with a contract who's not in the budget; a
  budget line with no vendor; a deposit that's overdue
- what wedding budgets typically include that ours is missing:
  tipping, transport, flowers and last-minute extras, band overtime,
  next-day breakfast
Don't pay anything and don't log anything — just give us the review,
we handle the payments and the entries.

Prepare plan Bs for our wedding: [ceremony outdoors in a meadow,
reception in a barn, 80 guests, August, photographer + band +
catering all external]. For each scenario, spell out: the trigger
(when we activate the plan, and WHO decides), exactly what changes,
who we tell and how, and what has to be ready beforehand.

Scenarios:
1. Rain on the ceremony day — where the covered backup is, how fast
   it can be set up, when the call gets made (8am? two hours before?),
   and who tells the officiant and the guests
2. A vendor doesn't show — especially catering, the photographer, the
   band: a backup plan for each, and how late it can realistically be
   activated
3. A key person gets sick — best man/maid of honour, the coordinator,
   the officiant
4. A power or sound outage in the barn
5. Temperatures above 90°F — shade at the ceremony, water for guests,
   ice cream for kids, moving photos
For each scenario, end with the contents of one A5 card with the
procedure for the coordinator — she'll be the one deciding, we'll be
at the ceremony.

We want to send thank-yous after the wedding. Here's guests.csv with
the gift/help column filled in [upload] — wherever it's blank, we'll
fill it in before anything goes out.

- split guests into groups by relationship and by type of gift or
  help, and for each group, write a thank-you template in our tone
  per identity.md: personal and specific ("thank you for helping
  move the benches in the rain"), no generic "thanks for coming and
  for the lovely gift"
- in every template, leave one [bracket] for a personal line or
  memory — no thank-you goes out without it
- separately, draft thank-yous for vendors who did great work, and
  for each one, a short public review to go with it — for small
  vendors, a review is worth more than a tip
- suggest an order and pace: who gets one within a week, who can wait
  a month
We'll send them ourselves, gradually; nothing goes out as a mass
message.