I have been, and always will be - a planner by nature. Although I may suck at chores and leave the kitchen in shambles when I bake - there is nothing like having an event turn out flawlessly to bring out my inner OCD.
So, this wedding planning business... I should be all over it, right?
Wrong.
I'm not sure if it's fear or internal panic or WHAT that has got me so worked up, but I have not done a single productive thing wedding-related since I got my rock.
Which makes absolutely no sense.
You see, I was dying for my little piece of bling. Begged for it. Told Mr. RH he should just slip it on my hand and call it a day.
So I'm not entirely sure why I have mentally gone on a wedding-strike.
Before we got engaged - I had details mentally planned. Now? I've got nothing.
So - this week, I take the first step: The Bridal Binder.
I am such a hot mess on a daily basis that I know I need a central location for all the 'big stuff.' It'll be nice to have it all in one, easy-to-use place.
I also plan on reading the crap out of my bridal magazine collection. That Mr. RH has provided to me.
My boss bought me a "Bride's Year Ahead" set of a bridal planner... but she also said she bought and returned many versions and that I should go peek at the selection before I start using this one.
Anybody used the Bride's Year Ahead?
Teach me your ways, wise brides-before-me.
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21 Classy Comments:
I thought I was going to be ALL OVER wedding planning. I found that once it was "real" all I REALLY cared about was marrying my best friend. Everything else was just icing on the cake. I definitely wasn't as ON it as I thought I would be. But, we just got married on Saturday and it was amazing so I can't complain!
Girl, I think every new bride-to-be looks at the MONUMENTAL task before her and has a secret or not-so-secret freak out. I looked at all of the wedding planning binders and ended up using elements of some I liked to make my own. This site has amazing free printables I used for mine: http://www.russellandhazel.com/content/wedding-templates
Go forth and wedding plan! Seriously, enjoy it. :) It's easy to get overwhelmed but at the end of the day, all that matters is you will be marrying Mr. RH! Woohoo!
Considering at the time I was wedding planning I WORKED for event planners, and was super type A by nature I thought I'd be all over it too. I ended up being WAY more laid back - it seemed all the little problems that kept popping up in my head took a backseat to actually getting to marry your best friend. Oh - and we ended up going all crazy on the guest list - it kept growing bigger and bigger (and more and more out of the budget) and finally we took all control over the list and cutting it from 150 to 45. Seriously. Best decision ever.
Girl. You are not alone.
I was a month out from graduating from law school when M proposed. So, you'd think- Type-A, super organized, going to hammer out this wedding. Let me tell you what though- it's way easier to plan an imaginary wedding then it is to plan a real one. I had a few weeks of "BLARGHHH I DON'T CARE" and "OMG I need a wedding planner because I don't want to do ANY of it." It seems daunting, overwhelming, and completely puts you off at first. I snapped out of it though-- you will too! Once you lock down the big thing: venue, the rest will be easy. and like someone above mentioned- before you're engaged it's all "omg I can't wait to plan!" and after? Really, I had that moment of "all I want to do is marry M." it's a funny little mental shift that takes place.
For me it was one thing to dream, but then when it came to actually COMMITTING to a theme/cake/dress etc. it was hard! What if I wanted to change my mind??
We started by figuring out what "vibe" we wanted (classic modern), choosing colors (navy & silver, Hubs chose) and then going from there.
Michaels and AC Moore coupons will be your best friends. You WILL buy things you don't need and change your mind, it's ok just sell them on the Knot classifieds. Do NOT not not choose your bridal party too early, even if you are 100% positive you know who you want.
I think that's all I got. LOL
Check out the Erin Condren wedding planner, I think it is awesome!
I liked my Martha Stewart planner, but it was customizable also. So cute that he have you a stack of bridal magazines!
Ok - so, don't tell anyone about this:
-My bridesmaids bought me the Erin Condren wedding planner
-My future sister-in-law got me TheKnot.com wedding planner
AND
-I made my own.
Guess what. I've NEVER USED ONE OF THEM.
I've found that almost EVERYTHING is paperless and I've found myself organizing my computer more than anything.
One tip that has helped a TON was to create a "wedding" folder on gmail and label every wedding email as such. Also - I've got about 19 excels so if my hard drive crashes, I am going to jump off my balcony.
I'm not engaged, but I'm already totally drooling over the Russel + Hazel wedding binder (awesome printables!) and the Erin Condren Wedding Planner. I have the Erin Condren Life Planner and ADORE it!
I know this is really weird becaues I'm super OCD about organization but I haven't used my wedding binder at all. I just made my own with a three ring binder and tabs with each vendor. And to be honest, I hardly have anything on there. All of it is on my computer.
I, too, made my own binder for inspiration pictures, print outs of the budget, table layouts, etc. I also used the online wedding calendar on the Martha Stewart Weddings website. Basically you put in your date and your budget, and it tells you roughly when you need to do certain tasks (order Save the Dates, book the florist, etc) and roughly how much to expect to spend based on percentages of your budget. It was very helpful, although not the most user friendly website. Perhaps they have improved it since then.
First things first though, you and Mr. RH need to figure out what type of wedding you want (big church wedding v outdoor, sit down dinner v buffet v cocktail, etc) AND do a rough guest list. The number of people and general style you are going for will help you determine a lot of things in the beginning such as venues, caterers, etc.
Good luck!
I bought a wedding planner. Never used it-- gave it to my half-sister a few months ago. I created spreadsheets and Word documents on my computer to stay organized.
I planned our entire wedding, mostly by myself. And I DIYed so many aspects of our wedding my head is still spinning.
I found that I'd have planning and DIYing spurts. I'd hardcore plan for a couple weeks and take a couple weeks off.
Determine your budget first. Find out your side will contribute, how much his side can contribute, and how much you two will contribute. You can't do anything until you know your budget.
One thing I did with our wedding was prioritizing. I prioritized the things I thought were most important. And that's how I divvied up our budget. The bulk of our budget? Photography and food. Food is naturally going to cost you and arm and a leg. Flowers weren't that important to me so I found ways to make the most from the flower budget.
Meet with 3+ photographers!!! OMG. We had to fire our first photog because our engagement photos were so bad. Then she threatened to sue us. We had to get lawyers involved. Make sure you get e-pics taken. If you don't like your e-pics, you WON'T like your wedding pics.
I could do on for days about planning your wedding from the ground up... It was my life for 15 months.
I work for a wedding coordinator and let me tell you it's one thing to help plan other peoples weddings and another to do your own. I got engaged over Labour Day weekend and can't even think about where to start my own!
But advice for you...start small! Lots of list are going to help. Ceremony and reception as the 2 big categories and then start thinking about things from there. I'd be happy to email with you about it.
I got married in August and had two planners. Didn't use either. I did use my Erin Condren life Planner. I highly recommend that. It'll keep all the hair and nail appointments straight plus remind you when Payments are due. Theknot.com is good too. My advise is choose a few things to spend more money on. For us, it was the cake and photographer. Those were important so we spent more there and skimped on centerpieces (I painted wine glasses and used beer bottles we already were drinking). Just have fun with it and get help. Your friends would love to help - just ask!
As a wedding planner as well as a nonprofit event planner, and someone who planned her own wedding five years ago, I would suggest setting up your own binder and not using the premade ones. Steal their ideas on the sections but allow yourself flexibility to make the binder what YOU need.
If you want any help, I'd be happy to chat with you. ;) actingadult@ gmail.com if you're interested!
Once you get into the swing of things, it will get easier as details fall into place.
the hubs bought me a planner to surprise me with after he proposed...it was awesome to look at for timelines and such, but i did ALL of my stuff online. i'm pretty sure i would have died if i had pinterest back then!
don't stress about doing too much too soon...start with something small. like picking a date. then everything else can follow.
Steve & I got engaged last november and are getting married this november. so like... in two months. which means i am smack in the middle of 348537402 DIY projects and am about 70 tasks behind where The Knot thinks i should be. When i got engaged I made my self a seriously wonderful wedding binder which i used for exactly 14 minutes before i created a pinterest account and forgot about my binder completely. my best wedding planning advice would be to know your vision inside and out before you commit to anything. my vision for the wedding--the colors, the dresses, the food--changed drastically since i started planning and of course i was already committed to certain things and so most of my wedding planning time now is spent trying to pull everything together. I also made the mistake of doing a lot of things in the first month and then forgetting about wedding planning for the next 8 which has left me with a lot to do in a short amount of time--best to pace yourself so you don't lose yourself in the details towards the end of your engagement. ALSO, BEING ENGAGED IS THE BEST. such a sweet time in our lives, it's been the best year ever so far.
Email me if you have questions, I'll help you out! :)
CONGRATS!!! :D
Here's my advice…try to have fun with it. It can be stressful (money, time, etc), but don't let that ruin this time of planning.
We used Excel sheets to try to keep everything organized.
Don't set a date until you coordinate the photographer, videographer, DJ , & venue that you want. Or whatever vendor(s) are most important to you! Speaking of that, we do photo & video if you are interested. ;) www.twoarebetter.us.
Take everything one step at a time. Otherwise it is really overwhelming! Make lists and keep them organized.
Take care of the big things first (venues & vendors) and then move on to the smaller things (like decor).
We didn't set a budget, but we chose to get what we wanted within reason. We knew what was important to us and where we would spend the most money and the least.
Good luck!!! :)
I just got married in June, we were engaged for one year and I'm surprised to say, I was not into planning at all. I dreamt about my Wedding all my life and like you, couldn't wait to become engaged. I started off with a Wedding binder where I organized all the details like, hair ideas, flowers, guests, seating etc... I started to see planning the Wedding as a chore and just waited for it to all come together on it's own. It was a dream of a day that I'll never forget, but I regret not using Pinterest and Wedding mags to their full potential! Either way, it's important not to sweat the small stuff, stick to a budget and work as a team.
I'm glad I found your Blog, I think I'm going to like it :)
My Blog features a collection of Wedding posts if you're interested!
Rachel
I got married last summer and I have to say, I was relieved when the planning was done! I started off with file holder of wedding stuff, but rarely used it. I liked Wedding Wire as they have an online checklist, and made spreadsheets in Google Docs. Google Docs was great because my husband and I could both add entries to the guestlist without having to email back and forth. My best piece of advice is to not feel the need to check out dozens of vendors. I asked for recommendations, checked out a few vendors in each area, and made a decision. Also, don't be afraid to tell a vendor "this is my budget, can we make this work?" Good luck!
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