Stressed bride

I used the checklist to decide what was done each month. I modified the list to my wedding specifically, and my monthly goals. After the 'monthly task' benchmarks were completed, I stop wedding planning. I gave myself and my husband a break. Any wedding talk was just getting excited over things happening, but we did not talk about planning until the next month began. We went on date nights, I went out to hang out with friends, read, and just continued my life.

I bought a printable wedding planner on Etsy. It’s totally customizable. I printed relevant pages and stuck them in a binder, along with sheet protectors to hold swatches, inspiration photos, and contracts.

View Quoted Comment That’s a great idea, I have OCD so I tend to hyper focus on things especially when planning. If I allow myself a schedule for time to let it go that would probably help a lot. Right now my problem is that I have so many ideas it’s hard to keep track of!

I definitely think the earlier the better. Time will fly by. Utilize the wedding checklist on this website. I also use Zola's website. Book your major vendors early so you have that stress off your plate and you can start paying them down faster. Don't listen to what other people tell you about planning your day. You know what you want and what needs to go into. Block out the negativity and keep it moving. You'll find that sometimes it's best not to give too much detail when people ask. Good luck.

View Quoted Comment Great idea. So you just made your own version of a planning binder? My venue gave me a binder to start to pick out the basics since they do all the set and provide basic decor but I need a bit more. I’ll check Etsy and see if I can set up my own binder. That may help with my overwhelming amount of ideas

View Quoted Comment Yup! I used this one! I’m pretty anxious and definitely have OCD tendencies and it’s been working perfectly.


http://etsy.me/2nAV7NH

Buy a binder and add tabs to it and name them venue bridal party etc etc. put all notes and contracts that correspond with the tabs. Pics, ideas anything. I started planning in July 2018 for my Aug 2019 wedding everything is booked bought and sent out already do it early less stress im not saying NO stress lol just less.

I made an excel workbook that literally has everything. One page has our guest list with all addresses, and a column that tracks who was invited to what event and their rsvp, including tentative wedding rsvps, a tab with every vendor I’ve ever contacted with what kind of vendor hey are, where I’m at with them, and notes. One tab is a detailed agenda for the 3 days before the wedding, one is for gift tracking and thank you notes, and my favorite tab is basically an overall calendar that lists out deadlines between now and my wedding.

I
ussed the checklist on m
here. Honestly a year is not that far out venue can be booked up a year in advance.

I should add that we also track spending - every cent that is paid toward the wedding, what it was, the store, the date, and most importantly who paid and what form of payment.

View Quoted Comment We just booked our venue a few days ago and that’s when the panic set in lol

I wish I had a little over a year left... I have 3 months ago and the stress is ON. You will get it together you have time but remember it comes so fast.

Hey there! Were getting married October 23rd 2020, so pretty close to your date! I also am an over thinker and think its better to get things done early...but id say also dont do to much, because then you wont have anything wedding related to do closer to the wedding or next year.
Start by making a list of things that need to be done-guest list, budget, wedding party, etc.
Wedding wire has a great checklist that ive been checking things off as we go and plus it tells when you should have certain things done by! HUGE help!
We also used wedding wires budget calculator and put it the amounts we want to spend for each category, everytime we make a payment we add it to the calculator and it updates our amount due. Its such a help!
Over all id say go buy a large notebook, binder and some pens and start with your lists. It will definitely help you get organized and stay on track. October 2020 is far away, but its sooner then we think. I can totally relate!lol

View Quoted Comment Ok so that is the main thing. I loved a long engagement cause it let us price check ore. If you are not crafty Etsy has done great stuff for a good price,

A wedding planner binder first! Organzize everything you're wanting to do, make sure you aren't doing too much and start doing those projects when you know for sure your plans for colors, seasons, etc so you're busying yourself with work thats proactive for the wedding!

I use the checklists on here and on the knot. I also purchased the knot wedding planner book on Amazon, which I love, but I'm not as organized as I should be so I don't use it as often as I thought I would. However, if you like to be organized, I definitely recommend it! It has tips on questions to ask every vendor and tabs for everything, along with questionnaires, checklists, etc! Also, I don't think it is too early to start planning! I started about a year in advance and honestly wish I had begun sooner.

I literally made myself a timeline on a word document that was easy to adjust as I went. I could add or erase as needed. Start monthly, give yourself goals you want to acheive that month, along with the cost and a budget. As you get closer, maybe 6 months out, break it down to weekly. This kept me sane I swear! Organization keeps it from getting overwhelming.

Daughter had a binder for printed info in the early stages when she was interviewing vendors and then a series of Google docs that she and I shared that helped tremendously for tracking budget, contracts, multiple to-do lists, eventually the guest list, RSVPs and seating assignments, etc. Also, one thing to keep in mind is you don't have to TELL other people what you're working on! If you don't talk about what you're doing, people aren't likely to tell you you're wrong to be doing it. Really, only you and FH have to know. Then, you can work on your DIYs to your heart's content without inviting other's comments.... (Also, at the beginning, my husband/FOB couldn't understand why daughter and I were working on major wedding decisions 18 months before the wedding. We just told him we really needed to, because things book early and/or we were getting better prices by comparison shopping. When the wedding finally happened, it was absolutely perfect. It's funny to hear him talk about it now because he tells people how great it was because daughter and I "were so organized and planned every detail." It makes me laugh, but I appreciate that in hindsight, he gets it.) Good luck!

I bought a wedding planning book/binder. It has a bunch of sections to get ideas, write your thoughts, gives advice, and has a timeline. I also bought a notebook to write in and get things out of my head. I found this helpful because it helped me remember things without driving myself crazy.


I also started buying and making whatever I could as early as I could so I didn't have it all to do last minute. It made me feel like I was getting stuff done even though I had plenty of time to do them. I felt like if I did a little here and there I wouldn't have to spend my last couple of months shutting myself in the house working on everything.

Last bit of advice for you is to do what you feel you need to and just keep yourself organized as best you can. 😊

I just got engaged on my birthday last month and we already have our venue and I have my fitting next month and my bridesmaids fitting is in September. It your first wedding so your excited mixed with a little stress and that’s okay. I’m getting Married next July and honestly it’s going to come by so quick!! Plan how you want to plan, and let them know if they aren’t contributing (money wise) then tell them to sit back and let you be great lol. Make sure you send out your save the dates 8-6 months prior to your event and the invitations 8-10 weeks before. Good luck!!!!!