Tips on Getting Organized For Your Wedding
Some people are natural born planners, while others…not so much. Whichever your planning style, when you are trying to pull together a wedding, you will have many details which you will need to stay on top of. These are some tips on getting organized for your wedding so that nothing falls through the cracks.
A great wedding planning book is a must for any bride. The timeline tool is one of the most important keys to keeping on track. After all, if you have never planned a wedding before, you may have no idea that you need to order your bridal gown at least six months in advance or that the most popular reception venues often book one to two years in advance. The other really useful thing about a wedding timeline is that it breaks the planning process down into more manageable bites. Brides who have a hard time wrapping their heads around big projects will find it much less overwhelming once they realize that during each month they only have to accomplish several specific tasks. Of course, if you are the type who likes to get things done early, by all means pick out your bridesmaid gifts eight months before the wedding when the timeline puts that task in the last two months. After all, anything you do early is one less thing to deal with during crunch time.
Checklists are another key organizational tool that every bride needs. It can be so easy to overlook details when your to-do list is about a mile long. Any good planning book will have checklists for you to fill in once you have finished a task. Bridesmaid gifts selected – check, honeymoon booked – check, programs ordered – check. Keep your checklists organized by setting up a computer program with monthly, weekly, possibly even daily lists. Some of the items on your list will be big picture stuff “hire a caterer”, while others will be more of the little details “remind fiance to buy dress socks”.
You will also want a way to keep all of your wedding materials organized and at your fingertips. If you a bride who actually enjoys sorting and organizing, you will find that a three ring binder is your best friend for wedding planning. Customize it in a way that makes sense to you. You can get dividers for different categories, plastic sleeves for contracts, even trading card pages to hold swatches of the bridesmaid dress fabrics, tablecloth material, and your wedding gown. Be sure to put your name and phone number in the front of your binder so it can be returned to you if you forget it somewhere.
Brides who like technology might prefer to store most of their wedding planning details electronically. It is a very accurate way to keep track of things like the R.s.v.p.s, due dates for vendor payments, and items which have been ordered along with their delivery dates. Some brides go as paper-free as possible, even going so far as to scan business cards from vendors, copies of contracts, and pictures of dresses from magazines into their wedding database. Just be sure not to have any photos of your wedding gown in a computer program where your fiance must stumble across them!
If you are the sort of person who cringes at the thought of binders and spreadsheets, you will still need a way to keep your wedding plans organized. You might be more comfortable having a box at home where you store stuff like contracts and swatches, to be pulled out only if you truly need them. Keep your to-do list organized by entering it in your Blackberry or in an old-fashioned date book. A fun project would be to take your favorite pictures to create a wedding inspiration board. You can make a very cute board by covering a regular cork bulletin board with fabric and crisscrossing ribbons across it diagonally to make a grid. Secure each cross of the ribbon with a pretty pushpin, and then slip your favorite images of dresses, cakes, flowers, and so on under the ribbons. Having the inspiration for your dream wedding in front of you is a great way to stay motivated to keep on top of the endless to-do lists!
