How to stay organized

I printed everything out so I could look at them all together. Make a list of venue "must haves" and go down your list comparing to what the venue offers. If it doesn't meet your expectations, toss it. This was the only way I was able to weed through everything!

As far as organizing everything else, I made a wedding planning binder divided into vendor sections. I saved every receipt, contract, email, etc. and filed it away in my planning binder so I always knew where everything was.

We made a wedding email specifically for wedding things. That helped with organization and so we didn’t have to scroll through our other emails. This is the email we gave to all of our vendors. We printed things out and compared other venues/vendors side by side. It made it easier to toss ones that didn’t compare as best to the ones we wanted.

I would create a spreadsheet of the different venue options, and list all of your "must haves" and "nice to haves" and such (for example, "includes chair and table rentals", "includes uplighting", etc), and also include costs for each. Breakdown the costs into "deposit amount", "ceremony rental fee" (if your ceremony and reception will be at the same place), "reception room rental fee", "cost per person - food" (if the venue requires you to use their caterer), "cost per person - alcohol", "total food/beverage cost", and "total venue cost". This way, you can see where costs are different, what the out-the-door cost is for each, and what each venue includes. If you rule out a venue, you can hide or delete that column so you only ever are comparing the venues you are seriously considering.

I created an excel spreadsheet, and I have different tabs/categories. I listed each vendor we were interested in the specific tab it went under (DJ, CAKE, CATERER..etc.). Then I laid out the specifics (price, what was offered in the package, and extra fees). For our caterer options, I have headings for: price per plate/serving, total price, extra fees, breakdown/set up cost (if any).

This is the basic layout of what I'm doing for all of our vendors, and I find it very helpful to have the data in spreadsheet form for me to compare on one sheet!. I also have been printing out their information, package pricings etc. and keeping them in their designated spot in our wedding planner.

When it comes to a venue, I'd def. look at what all they offer for the price they're charging. That was what became the deciding factor on our venue. We had two we were in love with, and both were the same price...BUT venue #1 only came with tables and chairs, no linens, fine china etc. Venue #2 had wooden tables, chairs, table linens, fine china, full use of any decorations in their storage, and so much more. Venue #1 just couldn't beat venue #2 based on that alone.

I used binders to stay organized.

Utilize Google Docs/Sheets which can be shared with anyone as you need to.


Create a new email specifically for wedding planning. Wix.com lets you pick a custom domain email to go with your website through them.
Purchase a plain 3 ring binder from Target with folders and pocket protectors to keep track of receipts, contracts, any loose paperwork/advertising material. Print your own check lists to go with that

I would either create an entirely wedding email only or create a label or tag specifically for those wedding emails

Creating a wedding email is a lifesaver. I'm using that for everything, including RSVPs. A spreadsheet is easy to organize vendors and easily compare basic things like cost and other needed services. I also have a wedding binder but that is mostly full of fabric and invitation samples.

If you send me your email, I have a 3 page document that I created when I was venue hunting. It has all the questions to ask with space to write the answers and room for contact information and pricing. I printed out a copy for each venue we researched/visited and kept them all in a binder. I prefer being able to lay out papers for comparison purposes, so this really helped me.

We had both a book and a spreadsheet.

The book was for brochures, notes taken during the tour/interview, cards, and such. The spreadsheet was sharable with our families and to compare.

Everyone's brain is different, so fiddle around with a couple of methods to find one you like!