We show you how to get a good binder system going to keep track of all your checklists, and pictures of your dream dress, flowers, and other wedding items. A great recording keeping system will keep you on-track, and remind you of what you have priced out, what decisions you have made, and what still needs to be done to have a great wedding celebration.
The following article is an EXAMPLE of the content we have in our online wedding planning membership site HappyWeddings.ca under the heading of Let’s Get Organized. To learn more and get useful wedding planning tools for FREE, click here!
You have completed the first module, and already you have pages of lists, so it is time to get organized. Doing this now will make your life a lot easier and less stressful.
Get yourself a good quality binder that can withstand a lot of action—in the next year it will get a lot of use. Into this binder will go all of your SmartBride Checklists, a well as copies of your vendor contracts, and pictures of everything from wedding dresses to flower bouquets. The binder will be the home of your record keeping system, where you list the gifts you receive and when you sent out thank you notes. It will hold all of your checklists.
So you will need a good three-inch binder to hold everything. Also, pick up some 3 ring binder pockets. These are plastic folders that can hold pictures of flower bouquets, or pictures of table centrepieces and so forth. You will want to collect pictures of all those things that you like, so you can narrow your choices down over the next year. Because you will have loose pictures and other things, I recommend that you choose a zippered three ring binder to keep everything in one place.
I suggest using these 3 ring binder pockets to separate each section of your binder. Your wedding dress section, for example, will have wedding dress pictures in the pockets, and if you are having your gown custom made, fabric samples also. Following the binder pockets, you will have your SmartBride Checklists with questions to ask the bridal salon, your Wedding Gown Budget Sheet, your contract when you purchase the gown, your personal notes on the gowns you’ve tried on and liked, etc.
You get the idea. Keep everything in one place in your binder and make notes if you think you might forget something. And speaking of making notes—make sure your binder has a pad of paper. Your SmartBride Checklists will have space for all of these things, but there may be things that aren’t on the list or you may just want to make a note of some of your ideas.
It is also handy to put a pencil pouch into your binder to keep some pens, and pencils.
Another thing that is useful is a business card file holder that you can put into your binder. That way you will have all your business cards nice and handy. Business card holders come in many forms, but you can get a 3 ring standard letter sized plastic business card holder which will hold many of your business cards in one place. If you have more than one caterer business card, for example, make little notes on the back of the card that will remind you of which person is which. After awhile, you will start to forget and you will be glad of those little notes to yourself.
And last, but no means least on the list, is a calendar with lots of space to write things down. I personally like the AT A GLANCE QUICK NOTES calendar that gives you a whole page to make notes to yourself, as well as nice big boxes to write in—and the three holes already punched in make it perfect to fit into your binder. You will want to PENCIL in all your appointments, pick up dates and times, wedding parties, and more. In fact, every week should be moving you towards your goal, so you should have your timeline clearly marked on your calendar. In fact, we will give you a SmartBride TIMELINE so you can identify your personal timeline, and enter it into your calendar.
But first, let’s talk about organizing your relationships with your family and friends—and that will be our next video.