One of the first steps when
planning a wedding should be
setting up an organizing system for all your
wedding planning details.
I know you’re anxious
to jump right into all the great wedding planning
decisions you want to make to create your dream wedding.
But hold on, before any decisions are made, I suggest you have
your wedding planning organizing system in place
before you put pencil to paper. If you have a system in place
from the beginning it will allow you to keep on top of all the
wedding planning details and it will save you
time, hours of stressing out, hard work, unnecessary steps, mistakes
and money.
It is essential that you
setup a system that works for you and one that you will stick
with it. I'm suggesting that you keep it simple. One of the easiest
and most economical systems is to use a large 2 or 3 inch zippered
binder with dividers for each key wedding planning category
including Budget, Wedding Party, Ceremony (location,
decor, officiant, music, rehearsal, ceremony, wedding
ceremony, reception location, food, men's attire, women's attire,
decor, rentals, ceremony music, reception music, wedding cake,
gifts, flowers, photography, videography, jewellery, stationery,
transportation, wedding party and honeymoon.
Throughout the wedding planning
stage, there will be an overwhelming amount of information coming
your way. If you have a system in place that organizes
it and allows you to refer to the information quickly and proficiently,
it will be a real advantage. You will be tracking all your wedding
vendors’ information including contact information, event
details, payments, balances and dates payments are due, final
payment information, receipts, notes on the products and services
they offer, questions to ask, meetings with wedding
vendors and vendor contracts. You will be monitoring your wedding
budget, wedding gifts and wedding
guests' RSVP's you will also have to keep samples of fabrics,
advertisements, brochures, pictures, all alone collecting great
wedding planning ideas and information, wedding
show details, and so much more. Once you have a system in place
to organize your wedding planning
information, your ready to start making wedding planning
decisions. Use the Wedding
Planning Master Worksheet to help discuss and plan
all your wedding planning details.
Print off the printable wedding
planning worksheets included in this wedding
planner and include them in their coordinating wedding
category. Wedding planning worksheets are great
for organizing all sorts of information and can
give you a clearer vision of the wedding planning
process. Some the wedding planning worksheets
available include wedding guests tracking worksheet
to track RSVP's and thank you cards, the wedding
guests seating worksheets helps you organize your wedding
guests’ tables at your wedding reception.
There are contact forms so you can have all your wedding
vendor’s and wedding party's contact information
at a glance, wedding budgeting worksheets, wedding
schedules plus so many more. So print them out and copy as many
as you need for your wedding. You'll find them
invaluable.
Most zippered binders have extra pockets
for items that can't go on paper and they secure everything so
nothing can fall out.
You can carry the binder with you to wedding
vendor meetings, wedding shows, or just to make
notes. In your wedding planning system you will
want to have these other essential items to assist you in your
wedding planning. Here are a few things you may
want to include in your wedding planning system
to help you stay organized.
A Wedding
Planning Master Worksheet placed in the front of
the binder. This will be like an index. It will allow you to ask
yourself some vital questions and expand on each segment of the
wedding planning process. Since there won't be
any page numbers, you can designate each subject a colour and
highlight the wedding planning master plan
with the colour of divider that coordinates with that subject.
You will want to use a spreadsheet to
enter and track all your receipts for each wedding
category to manage your wedding budget. Staple
or tape all your wedding related receipts to
paper in your binder under the coordinating wedding
category. This will allow you to find receipts quickly incase
returns are needed.
Depending on your wedding,
some of the main wedding categories can be divided
into subcategories as follows:
A large enclosed accordion
style file folder will also keep things together, but a binder
makes it much easier to open and read the information. If you
already use an electronic PA, it might be an excellent tool to
use to keep appointments and keep on top of events and other information.
The most important point is that you find a system that works
for you and that you will consistently use it throughout your
wedding planning.
Always write down the names,
phone numbers, and addresses of all the contact people, all your
appointments, any ideas you have or like, important notes, all
payments and the total cost of everything you buy and order. You
may wish to print our contact
list form for easy reference of your professionals or our
events
at a glance page to help keep everyone that is involved with
the wedding informed of the upcoming events.
Keeping a calendar with all your appointments
on it can give you an overall look at how full your schedule is
getting.
Finally, it's a great idea to keep a notebook
and pen or pocket voice recorder with you for times when thoughts,
things that need to be done, and great ideas hit you. This way
you can make note of it and not have to stress about remembering
it later.
Cell phones today are also a great place
to organize wedding planning information. Most cell phones are
more like PDA's with to do list, planner, calendar, calculator,
phone book, online capabilities and you can even voice record
on some with ideas and task you might need reminding of later.
Some cell phones are even able to download and use spread sheets
and word processing programs. It's important to choose the system
that works for you. Whatever method and tools you use to get and
stay organized, make sure they're easy to use so you will use
it for the complete wedding planning process and keep your information
together and readily available to you.
Next Step Wedding Planning
Step: Choosing Your Wedding Party
Choosing
Your Wedding Party
Wedding
Party Contact List – Printable
Roles
of the Wedding Party
Roles of Parents / Guardians
