With all the printed brochures, contracts, swatches, vendor notes, lists, appointment times, wedding ideas, workout schedules, and your diary/journal–not to mention the seemingly endless decisions to be made–staying organized while planning a wedding can be tough. There are ways to “keep it all together,” though. Here are some tips:
Make a Wedding Binder.
In today’s digital world, it’s nice to be able to pull up websites, notes, and photos on your phone or tablet, but there is still a lot of paper involved. To keep it all together in the most literal sense, as soon as you are engaged get a binder with pockets and decorate the outside with your engagement photo and gown inspiration (or other images that inspire you). This is where you will keep all written and physical materials–swatches, contracts, brochures, and your hand-written notes, schedules, etc.
Get a Day Planner / Organizer.
There is a lot of information to take in and appointments to make while planning your wedding. Most cannot mentally keep track of everything that needs doing. If you can, the stress of remembering it all can easily be avoided by having a place to write it down. My favorite? The My Life Matters Planner for Women, of course! (I co-created and co-own it.)
Set Milestones and Goals Each Month.
The steps to planning a wedding are all interlinked; earlier decisions and tasks are critical for keeping everything going smoothly as the wedding day approaches. Knowing what needs to be done when–and doing it–takes a lot of the pressure off. If you need a milestone checklist, ours is free, here.
Work Through Decisions or Conundrums In Writing.
Journaling or otherwise writing through your decisions can not only help you see the best decisions more clearly, but also eases stress (ie, helps you “keep it all together” mentally). Try it the old fashion way–handwriting. For most, this works better for introspective thinking.
Plan Workout Schedules and Keep a Food Diary. Nearly every bride wants to be thinner for her wedding. IMO, too many go the crash diet route, trying to lose too much too fast by cutting back eating to an unhealthy level. Plus, the added pressure of starving yourself only gets you more frazzled. Doing it “the right way”–through a well-balanced diet and exercise–helps you feel better both physically and mentally. Why not treat it as part of the wedding plans by scheduling in workouts as you would vendor appointments and keeping food diaries in your planner?
Keep Vendor Appointments and Deadlines on a Monthly Calendar.
Seeing the “bigger picture” as you plan is important, so you do not make overlapping apointments or inadvertently miss important dates. Keep these together on monthly calendars.
Take Notes and Make Lists.
Again, it is impossible to remember every detail, especially after you’ve talked to several vendors. The solution is to take notes and organize them either by day or by vendor type in your binder. That way, you will always have them at hand and can easily refer back to them later. Along the same lines, make yourself task lists to assure you hold up your end of the agreements!
If you follow the above steps in the months leading up to your wedding, you will find yourself more relaxed and happier on the Big Day!
I mentioned the My Life Matters planner earlier in the post. It’s a download you can print and put in your binder. It has room for everything I mentioned and is only $12.95 for 13 months (starts this month and goes through to same month next year). Go here to see more, watch me explain it, or buy.
Enjoy! ~Bobette Kyle