Wedding Wednesday: Getting Organized

Happy Wedding Wednesday!! Even before getting engaged and planning this wedding, I knew I wanted to make sure I was well organized and prepared for all the craziness that is wedding planning. After helping so many friends go through and plan their own weddings, I had a pretty good idea of what I need to focus on when I made my own binder. 

So I technically have 2 binders, but I use the one on the right for more of the day to day. I use the ready made wedding planner binder (purchased at Michael's) more to fill in stuff and stay on track, if that makes sense.

I take my homemade binder with me to any vendor meetings because I have my wedding inspiration already laid out in there. It's much lighter (for now) than the other one so bringing it around with me makes it easier for me as well. I'll do a breakdown of what's in each binder to help you get a better idea of how it helps keep brides organized and on track.

The first half of the binder purchased from Michael's is broken down into the following:

{Style} this section goes through the different styles of wedding, dresses, flowers, etc each bride has a choice between.

{Planning} this is one of my favorite sections because it has an area where you can keep passwords for websites, contact numbers for the bridal party and vendors, and DIY business cards to hand out to vendors.

{Calendar} this section has a great breakdown of what you need to get done at which point of your planning. Plus it has a calendar stickers to add to the 6 month calendar behind it. Organizers dream!

{Budget} this has a great cost break down and an estimated budgeting tool, really great.

{Guest List} honestly this section probably won't get used too much since I'm having a traditional Indian wedding and we have close to 400 guests, it just doesn't fit in the 2 page guest list they provide, I wish they had multiple pages of this.

{Locations} this section has some great tips in searching and securing a venue for the ceremony and reception. Along with some great ideas for party favors.

{Stationary} this is seriously awesome because it goes through all the different sections of stationary and how to do everything properly and politically correct.

{Photography} this is the section I have been focusing on as of the last week since I'm in the process of researching and securing a photographer. I love the tips to ask a photographer and money saving tips for the budget brides like myself!

{Flowers/Music} my favorite part of this section is the top 10 of popular choices in flower and music. It also goes through the different bridal styles and what type of flowers go well with that vision.

{Gifts} this is gonna be my holy grail when I do my wedding registry. It has an area where you can itemize your registry so you can keep track of what you get and don't get.

{Catering} great tips on what to ask a potential caterer and cake decorator. Love all the money saving tip since this is about 40% of the average wedding budget, nuts right?!

{Honeymoon} aka the best part of the whole wedding planning process right?? Well besides marrying the love of your life. This has some great travel tips along with popular honeymoon destinations along with money saving tips!

This is my homemade version of the binder which has some sections the other one doesn't.

{Guest List}

{Entertainment}

{Catering}

{Invitations}

{Estimates}

{Budget}

{Contracts}

{Wedding Inspirations}

For now the guest list and wedding inspirations sections are the only ones that have anything in it. I can't wait to meet with more vendors and add to my binder with contracts and vendor information!

Phew, this was a long winded organizing post, but hopefully this was helpful to any future or current brides looking to get organized. 

P.s. the Michael's planner was purchased with my own cash moolah, but I used a 50% off coupon and only paid $19 total for it. I'm trying to keep myself on a pretty strict budget because I don't want this wedding costing more than it should.

Linking up with Meg & Macy for Wedding Wednesday!