Wedding Binder. Is it Worth It?

I bought two planners early on and haven’t used either of them. They may be helpful to some people but I just found them more annoying to deal with than helpful. Instead I have a regular notebook and bin I keep everything in and a spreadsheet for all budget stuff and deadlines.

They were more of a burden than helpful. That’s what I was trying to say and couldn’t think of until I hit reply. LOL

I think binders are a great idea for keeping vendor contracts and other important documents in it! I personally use a checklist online to keep track of everything, so I don't need a binder for much of the planning part. I have one that I keep the color swatches, copies of our vendor contracts, and other physical items that aren't online, but for the most part, I mostly use online planning. If you're the type of person who loves to write notes down, print out inspiration pictures, have a physical list of important phone numbers, etc, a binder would be a good idea!


The Knot has a binder with all kinds of questions to ask potential vendors, color ideas, checklists, etc, which may be useful, though you can also find all the info online.

I used a 3 ring binder to put most of my planning in it, but it was great at first, haven’t touched it in 3 months

You don’t have to buy anything fancy. The idea is just to have all of your important documents like contracts and what not in one place for you do you have easily

You can if you want, but I organized everything on my computer and found that to be much easier

Mine has been a LIFE SAVER!! I am a super organized person though, so this sorta thing is right up my alley.

A regular 3 ring binder that you can customize with your own dividers and plastic sleeves is well worth it to keep track of contracts, notes, paint chips for colors, etc. You don't need to pay extra for one specific to a wedding.

I guess I should elaborate... I didn’t get one of those pre-made binders, I constructed my own. I had a 3-ring binder made and then typed up the lists & spread sheets on my computer. I have all my vendor’s info (names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, etc.), all my signed contracts, receipts, our guest list, to do list, to buy list, budget spread sheets, list of songs, etc. etc. It’s just great having everything wedding related in one place. Any time I speak to a vendor I make sure I have my binder so I can answer any questions they may have.

Here’s my binder

I made my own.

I have all my contracts, receipts, detail packets, guest list, budget, and day of timeline in the binder. I have them organized by type and seperated with tabs. Didn't cost more than $15 compared to the binders/planners you can buy. The checklists and timelines on WeddingWire are helpful and very customizable unlike the ones in binders.

My FH and I are both business people, so we have been keeping everything in a Google Sheet. We don't really like to cut things out of magazines and all that, it is just easier to copy/paste things from googling and searching and throwing it into the relevant tabs on our Google spreadsheet. Everything is color coded and we can easily keep our guest list there and make updates to it. We can update our budget pretty easily here and track payments on things we've paid for (between vendors, favors, flowers, etc).

But this option doesn't work for those who are not tech savvy.

I bought a big wedding planning binder a year ago from B&N, read through it, and used a checklist or two, then never touched it again. We found it cleaning yesterday and laughed at our failed attempt at keeping a binder. I don't want to remember how much it cost because it was a waste. Luckily, we know someone who just got engaged and is happy to take it off our hands for free.


All of our contracts are digital with digital signatures and most of the things we're buying online, so a folder on our computer with saved items, contracts, receipts, documents, and pictures along with a budget spreadsheet is plenty. I also have a travelers notebook to keep handwritten notes when needed.

My fiancé ordered me a wedding planning book from amazon and our venue gave us a folder with information about the package that we chose. I keep all of our receipts etc in the folder. I don’t have a binder

Honestly, you can keep track of everything on your phone or a wedding app. I didn’t use the binder I purchased.

I've tried doing one and it caused me to be more stressed out rather than being helpful.

Yes, it was for me. We bought the Knot's binder.

1. It had folders for cards, contracts, and other paperwork we needed to keep track of

2. It had great starter questions, and places to take notes. If I'd tried to do it all on my phone, it just would have been confusing.

3. It offered etiquette and ideas to help guide us.

4. I could drop it on DH's head when he said something particularly inane, like, "I don't know what to do next, or how to do it." ... because it had whole lists and helpful tips.

I just used a spiral notebook that I got at Target (they had some cute weddingy ones in the Spot shop when I was getting married)

It depends on your personality. I was super excited to use mine and then I realized it wasn't 1995 and Pinterest was a thing. I have just been using Pinterest and Google Drive and my wedding email to organize things. Nobody cuts things out of magazines anymore, sadly.

I have two binders, a memory scrapbook, and a wedding planning guide.

My binders are the Knot binder and a 3-ring binder that holds all of our contracts and the paraphernalia we got from various vendors. The guide was called A Practical Wedding Planner, and the scrapbook is called the Bride to Be Book. I also have a Pinterest.

The Knot - lots of useful information on questions to ask, things to think about, tips, etc. Downside is it can be hard to customize to your wedding if you have or don't have certain things, not as useful for a heavily DIY-d wedding.

3-ring binder - I would definitely suggest you have one of these and a bunch of clear sheet protectors to keep your contracts in one place. Hands down.

The wedding planning books I found were good for getting you off the ground. We've been engaged for over a year now and I find I don't need as much help anymore.

I posted here a while back that I was having trouble figuring out how to make a scrapbook because everything is online...still haven't figured that out.