5 Best Wedding Planning Tips That Will Keep You Organized
According to a survey of 500 recently married or engaged couples, 40% percent of them referred to wedding planning as “extremely stressful” – Jill Sieracki, Brides.com (All you brides best check out that website). Coming from a bride herself, I can tell you that the stress is very real. But it’s also fun, so don’t fret! In this blog I am going to discuss some of the best wedding planning tips that will help keep you organized and minimize the stress.
I know first hand that wedding planning is this never-ending stream of thoughts that run through your head all day, every day until your wedding is over. With the number of tasks and people involved in planning your wedding, it truly helps to be organized.
Now, if you have a wedding coordinator who is doing all the things and booking vendors for you, you may not have to be THIS organized.
However, having some sort of collection of information and lists to refer to will be helpful in keeping you on top of everything.
Here are the 5 best wedding planning tips for organization:
Wedding Email Folder
Planning a wedding requires lots and lots of emails. The easiest way for you to find specific emails pertaining to your wedding is to create a separate folder that you can keep all the important wedding information in.
I cannot tell you how many times I have gone back into my email searching for quotes and contracts. A designated folder makes it so much faster and easier to refer back to emails that you received or sent, instead of scrolling through all the emails you get on the daily.
All you have to do is create a new folder in your email. I suggest naming it “Wedding” of course. Then, transfer all of the emails that have to do with your wedding to that folder. Usually you can drag and drop emails into folders or if you just right click on the email there should be the option to “Move” a message.
Just remember to do the same for all future emails as well! Very simple tip, yet super effective!
Physical Binder
If you’re like me and think you need to spend money on a wedding planning book as soon as you get engaged, think again. The odds are, you won’t need it and you won’t use it. Mine is literally sitting at the bottom of a cabinet and has been touched maybe, once?
We have so much information in the palm of our hand at all times (cell phone). Always updating and filling in a wedding planning book just doesn’t make sense anymore.
AND, all the information you could ever need for wedding planning can be found in blogs and websites like this one for FREE!
However, if you are someone who enjoys handwriting notes and ideas, I totally get wanting a fill-in wedding planning book. So, to each his own.
If you do like the wedding planning book idea, go for it! Although, I still suggest keeping a hard copy of all your contracts and quotes. All you need to do is create your own binder and keep it simple.
Honestly, you could throw all your paperwork in a folder and call it day. But then that wouldn’t be organized and our goal is organization, right?! Right.
Supplies:
- Binder (1 – 1 ½ inch)
- Binder dividers. I suggest white because it’s clean looking, but you can go crazy with the colors if you want – it’s yours!
- OR, Sticky Index Tabs – instead of binder dividers you can always use the little tabs that stick to the edge of a piece of paper and they are easy to write on or attach a label to.
- (Optional) Clear, letter (8.5”x11”) sheet protectors
- 3 hole punch (only if you aren’t using sheet protectors)
- (Optional) Label maker and labels if you want to get fancy, but certainly don’t need to! Or you can always use paper labels – most binder dividers come with them
- Side note: If you use binder dividers and sheet protectors, it will be hard to see the tab/label area of the binder divider because the dividers and sheet protectors are the same width. If you do not use sheet protectors and punch holes in your papers, then the papers will be shorter than the dividers and you will be able to see your tabs sticking out and it is faster to find your categories.
- Therefore, I suggest using binder dividers if you are not using sheet protectors and the sticky index tabs if you are using sheet protectors.
I suggest making the first page a list of your vendors and their contact information so it’s easy to find.
Organize the binder by each category/vendor, however you’d like.
The following are some ideas:
- Coordinator
- Venue
- Florist
- Caterer
- DJ
- Rental companies
- Cake/Dessert
- Invitations
- Bridal party
Other things you may include but of course do not have to:
- Any inspiration you’re looking for, color schemes
- Bachelorette party ideas
- Bridal shower party ideas
Lists, lists, lists
Who doesn’t love lists?! They are so simple to make. This is defintely one of the top best wedding planning tips even if you aren’t naturally an organized person because they’re so easy!
The most common list people will have for their wedding is their guest list. A few other lists I suggest having are, a bridal shower guest list, registry items list, and a budget list (must have, in my opinion).
Before we get into the different types of lists, let’s discuss where you can make these lists.
How to Make Your Lists:
I personally use Google Sheets. If you have a gmail account you can use Google Sheets, Google Docs, etc. for free! On top of them being free, you will always have access to them from any device, anywhere, anytime, as long as you have internet connection.
If you do not have a gmail account, you can create one, again for free! They also have apps available for your phone so you can have access more easily through the apps instead of using a search engine.
You also have the option of using Microsoft Office programs such as, Microsoft Word and Excel. However, these programs are typically not free and have to be download to a specific device.
Additionally, since they are downloaded to a specific device you won’t have easy access to them from anywhere you want. You can always email the documents to yourself, but it becomes difficult when you want to make edits and the device you are viewing it from does not have the programs installed. To put it simply, it’s complicated.
Another easy place to make lists, is the “Notes” app in your phone. You most likely always have your phone on you so you will have access to your lists/information whenever and wherever you need.
Lastly, you can always use a pen and paper/notebook. I enjoy handwriting a lot of my to-do stuff so I totally get it if this is more up your alley. AND, you can keep your handwritten lists in your handy dandy binder that you already made. 😉
Time to get into the types of lists you can create to help you stay organized during wedding planning!
WEDDING GUEST LIST:
Who the heck are you inviting to your wedding?!
The first thing I would do, is create two columns and label them with you and your signficant other’s name. This way each person getting married has their own list of guests technically.
Begin your list with the most important people you would want at your wedding. This would most likely be each of your immediate families and close friends. Then you can branch out to more distant family and friends.
Some things to keep in mind when creating your guest list:
Will you be inviting children? What is your venue’s capacity? Do you have a limited budget? Just remember the more guests, equals more food, more tables, more decorations, and so on.
Once you have everyone you would like to invite listed, determine if the total number of guests is something you can accommodate. Remember that not everyone on your guest list will probably come. I would expect at least 15% to not be able to make it, but that does not mean you should invite even more people. You don’t want to bite off more than you can chew!
Once you get closer to your wedding date, you can use this guest list to make your seating arrangements also. I personally use the same document so that it is all in one place!
BRIDAL SHOWER GUEST LIST:
Same idea as creating your Wedding Guest List, but a little less complicated. This one is all about you girlfriend. The guests you invite to your bridal shower are traditionally your closest family members and friends. As well as, some of your future in-laws. But remember, you can invite whoever the heck you want to be there to celebrate YOU!
Creating a list of all the guests you plan to invite will definitely help you when it comes to sending out invites, calculating food/drink amounts, how many tables, chairs and decor you will need, etc.
Quick tips:
- You do not need to invite every single woman or person to your bridal shower that you are planning on inviting to your wedding. Unless, your wedding overall is very small. Bridal showers are typcially just for those who are closest to you.
- Please do not invite anyone to your shower that is not invited to your wedding. You may be thinking, “Who would ever do that?!” Well it happens, and it’s not a good idea.
REGISTRY ITEMS LIST:
This one is the most fun in my opinion! A registry item list is great way to start thinking about all the items you need/want to register for.
Everytime I think of something new that we need, I add it to my registry list. This way I don’t forget to register for it when the time comes!
I would categorize your list by the areas in your home and/or personal needed items. For example, Kitchen Items, Bedroom Items, Bathroom Items, Outdoor Items, etc. Then when you are ready to go register take your list with you!
BUDGET/COST LIST:
If you are trying to stick to a budget, then I highly recommend creating a budget list. Even if you don’t have a strict budget, it still is helpful to keep a list of all the wedding costs. Especially if multiple people are paying.
You can pre-plan your budget and list out all your vendors with how much you are willing to spend for each specific category. Or you can just keep a cost list and continuously update it as you book vendors.
If you pre-plan your budget, you should still update your costs as you go. This allows you to keep a tab on what downpayments you have made and what you have left to pay for.
I plan on writing a blog post entirely dedicated to creating a budget/cost list for your wedding. So stay tuned for that if it is something you are interested in or need help with!
Wedding Pinterest Board
Pinterest is an amazing tool you can use to help you plan your wedding. The Pinterest app allows you to search for anything and everything. You can organize your Pinterest boards into subcategories so it is very easy to find what you are looking for.
I have been asked by multiple wedding vendors if I have a Pinterest board they can look at. It is a quick and easy way for them to really capture what your style is and what you are looking for.
You can check out my personal “Wedding” Pinterest board here, to give you some ideas on how to organize your own.
Notes Folder On Your Phone
I touched on creating lists in your “Notes” app on your phone earlier. However, I wanted to give it it’s own category for my last organizational tip.
When you are on the go and you get a random idea for your wedding, the easiest thing you can do is jot it down in your phone.
All you need to do is create a “Wedding” folder in your Notes app on your phone. This way you can keep all your notes pertaining to your wedding in that folder. Very similar to what we did with your emails!
You can always add to these notes and they are there anytime you need them.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed these few organizational tips for wedding planning!
I discussed creating a binder for all your contracts/quotes, creating lists to organize your guests, registry items and costs, making a wedding Pinterest board, jotting down all your notes and ideas, and creating an email folder for all your wedding inquiries.
These are truly some of the best wedding planning tips I have found for keeping your wedding information organized in easy ways. I hope it gave you some great ideas! They may sound so simple but they are very effective and sometimes over looked.
I look forward to sharing more wedding planning tips and information with you!
Always, Morgan
