Getting Organized for Your Wedding | Organizing CU
Today’s I’m sharing a guest post from my friend Maggie of Organizing CU. Enjoy!
Within moments of being engaged, you’ll immediately start getting questions about your wedding: When is it? Where will it be? How many guests? What are you wearing?
There will be hundreds of decisions and even more moving parts, all requiring some level of attention at different times, culminating in your big day.
Everything Stems from This One Decision
The first part to having an organized wedding is to figure out is the budget, which dictates every other big decision you will make. Venue – dependent on budget. Guest list – dependent on budget. Dress – dependent on budget.
Without a budget, the possibilities seems endless! Setting a budget will narrow your searches on the other decisions and help clarify your vision.
Next, figure out what is important to you and put all your priorities in order. When a decision has to be made because of the budget, you and your partner will be on the same page and have a much easier time sacrificing something.
If it comes down to your dream dress or inviting an extra 20 cousins of your parents, you’ll want that to be something you’ve already considered.
All Those Emails!
Before you start looking at your dream wedding Pinterest board or reaching out to venues, I recommend making a free email account for everything wedding related. If you have your wedding hashtag already figured out, turn it into a Gmail account. Use this email for every single wedding related item you do. From potential vendors to registries to bridal expos, the emails will take over your ENTIRE inbox.
[Editor’s note: be sure to check that email address AFTER the wedding too. Your photographer is one of the few vendors who will still need to contact you after your wedding day.]
Make sure you’re taking advantage of tags for each vendor and category. Think “flowers,” “venue,” “bridesmaids,” “guest lists”, etc. It will make it easier to find what you need, when you need it. Trying to remember if you ever got confirmation from the DJ about the date? You’ll have your answer in seconds.
Bound Together (in a Binder)
No matter how much you love to deal with everything electronically, there will some things you’ll want to have a paper copy of. Putting all of it in one spot will make it a breeze to keep track of everything.
At the very front of the binder, create a master checklist (in chronological order) of every single thing that needs to be done so you can continue to stay on top of it as you get closer to the wedding. Some things can be done well in advance, but many must happen the week of, such as picking up flowers. Getting as much done as soon as you can will make the last week much calmer and enjoyable for you. To keep everything consistent, get some tabs as dividers and use the same categories you used in your email.
The Big Day
You will want to make sure you’ve fully thought out the wedding day if you don’t have either a wedding planner or day-of wedding coordinator. Spend some time the week of the wedding going over your binder with someone close to you (but not an immediate relative or member of the bridal party) that you can refer all questions to. When you get a text from your cousin wondering what the address of the reception is, you’ll be grateful to have someone to delegate it to.
Some small details that can easily be forgotten: tips for vendors, moving gifts to your home, getting to your destination after the reception. Having your binder and checklist will ensure that everything will go smoothly, especially when you’re busy having your first dance.
Planning your wedding can feel overwhelming. But taking it one step at a time, keeping everything organized in one place, can make it a truly incredible day that you can truly enjoy and remember forever!
Maggie is the owner of Organizing CU, a local Champaign-Urbana professional organizer who helps busy moms go from overwhelmed to organized. She loves everything in its place and looking at before & after photos. You can find out more at: www.organizingcu.com.