You just got engaged! Yay! After the initial celebrating some lovely brides to-be kick right into huge gear. They’ve been secretly planning their wedding for years; so getting things done is a little bit easier for them. But for some of us planning and making decisions about a day that’s 9 to 12 months away isn’t so easy. Planning your big day can be stressful and over whelming. Hiring a planner can alleviate the majority of the day-to-day stress of planning a wedding. They take all that on for you and make your dream a reality, you just have to sign the checks and give finally approvals. But many of us can’t afford to spend the money on a wedding planner for the whole planning process. A lot of brides tend to go the DIY route when it comes to planning these days. You can have the wedding of your dreams and do it all yourself and with the help of friends and family. I do suggest setting aside some of you budget to hire a planner for the day of, this way you have a point of contact to handle minor issues while you and your beloved enjoy the day.
Here are a few things to help you get your planning started:
Step 1: Start A Wedding Binder!
A Wedding Binder is essential to organizing each and every aspect of your wedding. You want everything to be together and portable and a binder makes that possible. There several cool options for wedding binder.
The Pre-Made Binder Option: The Queen of DIY …Martha Stewart has created this Wedding Planner that comes with some basic things to get you started: checklists, diagrams, informational chapters, and timelines.
Another option is The Bride’s Essential Wedding Planner: Deluxe Edition it has more information and is extremely helpful but in terms of practicality to holding papers etc, it doesn’t work.
The Custom-Made Binder Option: I found this cute little vendor on Etsy called AmpersandInk that makes a personalized wedding binder for you. It is totally adorable, if you want to go that route.
Do-It-Yourself Binder Option: Last but not least. Make it yourself. The materials are available at any office supply store. And nowadays plenty of companies make cute and fashionable binders , folders and dividers. Blogger Kyla Rodriguez gives a breakdown of how you can make your own binder with step by step instructions that leave breaks for wine (love it!).
Step 2: Look At Your Timeline (and see what you need to get started on.)
If you purchase one of the binders mentioned above, they already have timelines/checklists. If you’re going the DIY route I recommend using this awesome template from Russell and Hazel. The template is perfect, stylish and has everything you need to think about in planning for your day. It goes great with their well-crafted and attractive binders.
Another great timeline that I found and absolutely love is Brittany Kimmel’s Bridal Beauty Timeline. Her timeline gives brides-to-be an idea what they need to do to make sure they feel and look their best on their big day. It’s fun and motivating.
Step 3: Create An Inspiration Board
Inspiration is key in the planning process and a inspiration board helps you find yours. Whether is be a virtual board like on Pinterest or real life bulletin board with cut-out images, make sure you have one of some kind. That way you can see what you like, don’t like or find a way to make something your own.
Step 4: Relax and Enjoy Yourself!
Last but not least on our steps to kicking off your planning is to…relax! Remember the point of having a wedding isn’t for any other reason but to symbolize the love you feel for your mate and you commitment to each other for the rest of your lives. It’s not about pleasing anyone else or making yourself go crazy. While there may be little stress here and there, the point is for you to enjoy the process and ultimately the end result…wedded bliss.
Additional Links:
http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/pdfs/pdf3/wedding_workbook.pdf
http://www.realsimple.com/weddings/planning/wedding-planning-checklist-00000000000222/