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| Welcome to Bride 2 Bride Hosted by GuideGirl |
| Wedding Planning - Not for the Faint of Heart |
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| Help I'm Drowning in Paper! - At this point you have begun to collect quite a lot of paper. This is when it is time to get a binder. Just like when you were in school, you need a sturdy binder and a few folders would be good to have too. I used a 5 inch, d-ring binder to hold all of the information I collected. I also purchased simple dividers and sheet protectors. The dividers were labeled and I started breaking down all my information into the categories I created. - Budget - Locations & Caterers - Rentals - Flowers - Cakes - Music, Photo & Video - Bridal Party (this included all the clothes and duties for each member) - Wedding Dress & Groom�s Tux - Honeymoon Anytime I found a picture of a centerpiece in a magazine I would rip it out and slip into a page protector then file it in the flowers section, same with wedding gowns, and location ads. The binder will get pretty big and heavy soon, but just remind yourself this is the beginning, as you book vendors you will clean out the extraneous information and the daunting girth of the binder will decrease into a more reasonable size. Another fun thing about these binders, they make good exercise tools. And anytime your fianc� tries to make a crack about planning not being a big deal, drop that binder in his lap. That will snap him back to reality real quick. The binder will also help you focus your attention on the smaller sections. Remember, the big picture can be scary, keep the focus small to keep it realistic. At the front of your binder have a check list, this way you will know what has been done and what should be done. It�s amazing how seeing a list with lots of check marks on it can make you feel more accomplished. When you make this check list don�t go getting all detail oriented with it and making a box for each item you need to purchase. Keep it simple, lump small things together like Gifts. This will encompass the bridal party and family gifts you plan to give out. It can also include favors, if you choose to do them. Accessories can be the guest book, pen, bubbles, unity candles, aisle runner, etc. By now I think you are getting the picture, and can handle your To Do list all on your own. But just in case, here is an example of the check list I used for my own wedding. |
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Most of the wedding websites have check lists, guest list managers, and all sorts of other information that you can download or use directly from their site. I looked at them all but found most of them to be too detail oriented for me when I first stared my planning. But you should check them out, even the bridal magazines have little pages you can rip out to use. If you have computer skills set them to work making tally sheets, you can use Excel to create a guest tabulator. The examples in here are the things I found that worked for me. So, whatever works for you, do it. |
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