How to Make it Work Without the Headaches

by Pat Esden

Keeping organized with a few easy tips

The first key is to keep your numbers down

... Assigning duties to family and friends can eliminate headaches, but make sure to keep a list of who is doing what and when

Whether you are a last minute bride or have allowed yourself a year or more to plan your wedding, there are two keys to eliminating the headaches--organization and simplicity.

Organization should begin the moment you get engaged. The easiest way to do it is with the help of a binder and a large storage box.

There are binders specifically made for this purpose, but any ring binder will work. Also purchase a dozen pocket folders to put in the binder. The first item in your binder should be a checklist of what needs to be done and by what date (a checklist that you can clip out and use has been included at the end of this article). Besides the checklist, you’ll want to include a calendar for appointments and reminders. Divide the rest of the binder into sections with a pocket folder for each vender you will be using. Put anything the vendors give you into these labeled sections: price li sts, contact information, brochures, contracts, color swatches… I also suggest you add blank pages, so you can jot down questions specific to each vendors when they occur to you--this will make remember what you want to ask easier when you meet or contact the vendor . You can keep track of some of this information on a computer, but I still suggest you also keep a hard copy in the binder. Imagine the wedding headache a crashed computer could cause!

Another hint is that when you get fabric swatches or are copying off pictures of cakes or centerpieces, be sure you have a copy for every vendor you are using--extras won’t hurt, but too few can cause extra work. Put these swatches and copies in the folders kept in the binder. You may be surprised by some of the vendors who could benefit from a swatch, like a DJ who wants to coordinate with your wedding.

The storage box is where you will put everything that you can’t fit in your binder. If there isn’t enough room in the box, you can designate a specific closet space for larger items. Being this organized may seems a bit over-the-top for the first few months of wedding planning, but you will be grateful to have everything in one place as the days pass and the dribble of necessary items rises to mountainous heights. Catalogues, rolls of ribbon and tulle, invitations, thank you cards. favors, candles, votives, flower girl baskets, cake topper, attendant gifts, guestbook, garter, CDs . . . all should go in your storage box.

The simpler a wedding is, the less chance there is that things will go wrong—and thus fewer headaches.

The first key is to keep your numbers down. The fewer attendants you have the fewer people will have to agree on dress style and color, the less likely it is that a small disagreement will turn into an ongoing argument. It also simplifies details, like getting hair appointments for the wedding day, finding times when everyone can get together to go dress or shoe shopping, choosing coordinating gifts for all the attendants, organizing who will sit where at the head table . . . Having very few attendants is one of the best ways to cut back on wedding stress.

Cutting back on the guest list will expand the number of reception locations you can choose from while reducing the need for hotel rooms. It will lower the number of invitation and favors you’ll need, and thus make these parts of the wedding less time-consuming and less expensive. With fewer guests you will be able to make your budget stretch further—a huge headache reducer.

One of the easiest ways to stop stress before it happens is to choose ceremony and reception locations that are by nature trouble free.

An indoor wedding can often be less problematic than an outdoor wedding. Having the ceremony and reception locations close to one another and close to where you will be getting dressed avoids delays and hassles, like late limousines, bad road conditions and flat tires. Some ceremony and reception sites have their own wedding coordinators. The coordinator’s job is to shoulder organization, and to eliminate and prevent problems without you even knowing they have arisen.

Assigning duties to family and friends can eliminate headaches, but make sure to keep a list of who is doing what and when—and give your volunteers a list of times and what you expect of them. Volunteer help can be wonderful, but it can be a disaster if the person you assign is not reliable or unsure of what you expect.

Wedding colors are another place you can simplify. Black and white are by far the easiest colors to work with. Other colors come and go out of fashion. The caterers deep pink napkins that matched every wedding last year, may clash with this year’s shade of pink. Dresses, ties, vests, shoes, napkins, table clothes, cakes, ribbons, flowers and many more items will need to be coordinated. Black and white will never change and will never be mistaken for something else by any of your wedding vendors.

Being organized and keeping your wedding simple will make planning fun and give you time to relax and enjoy this very special time with your friends and family.

 

Vermont Bride Magazine - Vermont's Most Trusted Wedding Resource Since 1990

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