I’ve never been more grateful for my Type A personality or intensive Humber PR event & project management training than during the process of wedding planning. With so many people to manage – family, bridal party, vendors, your fiance -, lists of deadlines to meet and things to consider, wedding planning can become consuming and anxiety-inducing. There are a few things that have made a huge difference when planning our wedding so today I’m sharing them with you. Less stress and more organization for all!
Secret Boards on Pinterest
Secret Pinterest Boards are a godsend, especially when you’re planning a wedding (or don’t want anyone to know you’re secretly saving things for the future…). Add the Pinterest Pin It bookmarklet to your browser and save any inspirational images you find while combing through wedding blogs to your boards. The secret boards are also a great place to keep tabs on vendors you’re considering and items you plan to order – think signage, favors and gifts for your bridal party.
Having a single board for everything can be overwhelming, so create multiples and make sure to curate them regularly by deleting things you no longer love. Thanks to Pinterest’s collaboration feature, you can also open up your secret boards to trusted friends & members of your bridal party. Suggested boards: Wedding Inspiration (decor, themes, small personal touches) / The Dress / Vendors / Order this! / Bridal Party
Make sure to install the Pinterest app on your phone so you can show off your inspiration during vendor meetings. It can be hard to articulate exactly what you love, so let the photos do the talking for you.
A Wedding Binder
Yes, a 3-ring binder is a modern-day wedding planning tool. This may feel a bit old-fashioned but I promise having a hands-on binder to flip through is necessary. Bonus: it can also make a great keepsake, especially if you splurge on a luxe wedding binder like I did! Fill your binder with top-loading page protectors and include the pages pulled from magazines, business cards, swatches of fabric and contracts you’re sure to accumulate throughout the planning process. As much as Pinterest is awesome, you’ll want to keep tabs on your absolute favourites in hard copy. My suggestion? Print out your absolute favourite items saved to your Pinterest boards and include them here.
Other necessary items for your wedding binder: a comprehensive to-do list (find them online or in magazines) that lays out what you have to do each month up until your wedding day and dividers (to stay organized).
A Comprehensive Google Docs spreadsheet
And now, for la piece de resistance: the Google Docs spreadsheet! This spreadsheet has been my saving grace during wedding planning and it’s an absolute necessity. Use it to keep all important information in once place (print out a copy for your binder) and to track deadlines, deliverables and budgets.
Above is a sample of our wedding to-do list (we have a bunch of stuff completed! Hooray!) and a peek at the tabs in our comprehensive wedding planning spreadsheet. Our spreadsheet is populated with a To-Do List, Budget, Vendors and Guestlist. My dad did a great job at estimating the budget initially and we’ve been updating it with actual costs as we sign contracts with vendors. When you’re deciding on vendors, using this spreadsheet is a great way to compare & contrast what vendors are offering you and track prices as well.
When the wedding gets closer, we’ll be adding tabs for Itinerary, Day-Of To-Do list, Key Contacts and Play/Do Not Play lists for the band to the spreadsheet. We’ll also add in addresses for all of our guests (I’ve been using Postable to collect them) and columns to track RSVPS, any gifts received and whether or not a thank you card has been sent. And yes, the honeymoon and everything that comes with it will have its own tab as well!
If there’s interest, I’m happy to make the spreadsheet public & downloadable to help you with your planning! Let me know in the comments or shoot me an email.
[line]What are your must-haves for staying organized during wedding planning?
