Staying organized while planning a wedding is no small feat. 47% of engaged and newlywed couples said the process was so stressful they considered eloping or getting married at city hall, according to a 2018 survey of 500 engaged and newlywed couples by Zola, a wedding planning and registry website. 56% reported elevated anxiety, 37% difficulty sleeping, and 10% loss of sex drive because of wedding planning stress.
Photo credits: MykolaKhomenko
Clearly, wedding planning can be a mentally and physically taxing job, which may explain why one in three couples (29%) who married in 2018 hired a professional wedding planner, according to The Knot.
Related: 12 Reasons Why You Need to Hire a Wedding Planner
Not everyone can afford a professional wedding planner, but by implementing a few smart organization strategies, you can easily plan your own wedding without losing too much sleep.
There are a lot of vendors that will work together to create your wedding day in the most gorgeous way, just like you’ve envisioned and one of the best ways to help your vendors is by providing your inspiration with them.
1. Use Pinterest boards to organize your inspiration
Use Pinterest to collect inspiration and organize your ideas by creating a few boards by topic. These boards, with your saved pins, will be your reference when you’re preparing for meetings. For example, wedding dresses, hair and makeup, accessories, wedding party, gifts, flowers, stationery, music and lighting, so you can start organizing your inspiration, and later, you can invite your vendor to see your boards online.
TIP: Before your meeting with your vendor, select 7/10 photographs for each category instead of having 30 or more, because less is more, and your vendor will understand your ideas clearly.
2. You should get rid of the paper contracts and go digital-only
The better way to keep track of contracts, invoices, and other important paper documents is by storing them online, on Google Drive or iCloud. This way you’ll be able to access the files from your smartphone when you need them and share it when you need to.
TIP: If you don’t have a scanner at home, you can upload documents using a mobile app like Scanbot or Genius Scan.
Photo Credits: Viktoria Slowikowska
3. The easy way to collect guest addresses
Start collecting the guest’s addresses as soon as you start planning your wedding. You’ll need these addresses to firstly start sending your Save the Dates. Rather than spending hours texting and calling wedding guests to get their mailing addresses, you can save yourself time by using Postable.com. The website will create a customized link that you can email to your guests that allows them to add their mailing information directly into a digital address book that only you can access.
TIP: Try to collect the email and phone number of your guests on the same spreadsheet.
4. Create an email account for wedding-related communication
Having one inbox solely dedicated to your wedding planning will save you time and keep you super organized.
You’ll receive and send dozens of emails during your planning process and you’ll get all wedding-related emails in one dedicated email. Super easy and super organized for you.
TIP: Create folders on your email for each vendor, because you’ll easily know which vendor is sending you an email.
Photo credits: Matthew
5. Designing your seating chart online will be much easier
Deciding where everyone is going to sit is overwhelming, especially when planning a large wedding. All Seated is a website that offers a free seating-arrangement tool that lets you choose from a wide range of table arrangements, or upload a customized floor plan.
TIP: The site lets you log each guest’s meal information, giving you a seating chart that you can then provide to your caterer.
6. Set up automated payments with vendors
Many caterers, photographers, bands, florists, and other wedding vendors use a fee schedule, where couples pay a deposit upfront and then pay the remainder of the balance closer to the wedding. Instead of setting calendar reminders (and risk late payments), you can give vendors permission to keep your credit card or bank account information on file and process payment when it’s due. Most vendors will offer this option because it ensures they’ll be paid on time.
TIP: Some vendors charge additional service fees for credit card payments, so find out if there are any surcharges in advance and adjust your payment method if needed.
7. Create an inventory checklist for the big day
After months of planning, you don’t want to forget anything on your wedding day. It’s a joyous occasion, but there are still a lot of moving pieces that have to be assembled to make everything run smoothly. You can create a “day-of inventory checklist” that shows what supplies you need to bring to your wedding and who is responsible for bringing each item” such as wedding programs, photo booth props, and other essentials.
TIP: Create a checklist online using Todoist and share it with your partner. Print it just as a precaution and keep it close to you.
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