How to organize your wedding like a boss!

Planning your wedding day can be an incredibly stressful and chaotic time. It’s basically a Full-Time job, in fact, people have built careers doing it! We inherently want to do everything ourselves because we have a vision that only WE can make a reality. Right!? Or if your budget just doesn’t allow you to hire a pro wedding planner. I’ve got 7 tips to help you organize your wedding like a boss!

Organizing is my jam! As an entrepreneur with 13 years of experience in the wedding industry, I have seen and done it all. And there is nothing that gets my goat more than the feeling of being un-organized or living in chaos. It incredibly bums me out and messes with my flow and productivity.

The only way to combat the noise is to get yourself organized ahead of time. Over the years I have come up with different strategies that I use to keep my organizational mojo rockin. So when it comes to a DIY wedding I’ve got you covered. Here is a list of wedding planning strategies and tools that you can use to organize your wedding!

My Tips for Planning and Organizing Your Wedding Like a Boss

Tip 1 | Organize your wedding like you would a business

If you think about it, your wedding is just like a small business. You have a product (your wedding), you have a team (your bridal party and parents), there’s a budget, expenses, income (money and gifts), action items, deadlines, etc.

All the same moving pieces of a business that need to be planned, tracked and tweaked along the way! Did I just blow your mind!? I bet you never thought about your wedding in this way but it makes sense right? So if your wedding is like a small business then you need to run and organize it like the Boss that you are!

Tip 2 | Planning your wedding by creating a Mission Statement

It may sound a little hokey, but starting off with a carefully crafted mission statement will be the cornerstone of your day. With all the stress that comes into play when planning your day, it’s important that you and your boo stay focused on the goal. The ultimate goal here is that you guys just want to be married. This is actually a pretty fun exercise and you can come up with some cute statements if you’re a creative kind of couple!

Tip 3 | Create a Vision Statement

Before you even start calling vendors, dropping down deposits, sending out your save the dates you need to have an agreed upon idea of how your day will look and feel. Start with a serious brainstorming session with your boo and write down your vision of the “perfect day.” Make sure you do this on your computer so you can make changes later. This should be a “high-level” overview but will include the type of wedding, how many guests you’ll invite, the theme (formal, rustic, modern, vintage etc.), colour pallets you like and anything else that makes sense to you.

Tip 4 | Take Note

Did you know that you likely have access to an amazing organizational tool right on your computer!? It’s called Microsoft OneNote! If you’ve never used Microsoft One Note, it is the PERFECT tool for planning out your wedding and staying organized. I HIGHLY recommend using this common application that everyone who uses Microsoft Office has access to. It’s easy to learn and incredibly user-friendly, you can even sync it so that your boo and other key members of your bridal party all have access to view and edit the workbook! I use it every day for my business. Here is a link to an awesome easy tutorial on how you can use Microsft OneNote!

Tip 5 | Break it all down

Breaking down your perfect day into simple categories is going to really help minimize your stress. When we look at smaller tasks it becomes less overwhelming, and even rewarding when we start checking off those categories. Here is a sample of how you can break down your wedding day categories:

Organzine your wedding with a Mission/ Vision Statement

Action Items

Break this down by day to day, I like to plan my action items or “to dos” for the week every Sunday. I type out what I need to get done and when for each day and check them off as I accomplish.

The Team

Names/ Phone Numbers and Emails

Budget

Every couple has an idea of what they can “afford” to spend on their wedding. This will likely change as things evolve as most don’t know the actual costs of things when they start. Take note of your overall budget, where it will come from (loan, parents, savings etc.). Take note of how you will block that out for each area of the wedding.

Important Dates

List all of the important events and dates as pages. List them in order of occurrence leading up to your wedding, including engagement parties, stag and does, showers, etc.

Vendors

List all vendor types as pages ie. Venues, Photographers, Caterers, Decor, Wedding Attire, Florals, etc. Then you can keep track of all the vendors you are looking at for each area. Keep all of their contact and pricing info in here. Also, keep notes on your thoughts about them so that you can go back and compare when you’re ready to make a decision.

Guests

Keep track of your guest list, their mailing and contact info, their RSVP’s etc.

Gifts

Track all of the gifts you receive and who they came from so that you can easily send out your thank you cards!

Wedding Day Timeline

Start noting the start and end times from vendors that you have confirmed. this will come in handy when you have to start putting together your wedding day itinerary.

Tip 6 | Block your calendar and Set Reminders

Use your calendar to schedule out blocks of time for working on your wedding. Don’t try and do things here and there, commit the time to your calendar where you will dedicate yourself to strictly work on your wedding plans.

Stick to it and you’ll be much more productive then if you try to one-off tasks. On Sunday’s, my husband and I look at our calendars for the week and we block out our times for all of the things that we need to accomplish. Be realistic with how much time you want to spend working on your wedding. Maybe it’s an hour a day or 1 day a week for a few hours. The important thing is to make the time so you aren’t stressing later when things pile up.

Tip 7 | Communication

Communicate regularly with your team, aka, Fiancé, Bridal Party and Parents. This is a vital part of keeping organized, have a group chat or a sit-down meeting once a month with members of your team to review what’s been done so far and what is to come. Get feedback from your team and take lots of notes. Don’t forget to be thankful and celebrate all of the wins you’ve achieved thus far!

So that’s my 7 tips to organize your wedding day like a boss! I hope you found this article helpful and are now super pumped to plan your wedding day! It doesn’t have to be scary or arduous, it can actually be a lot of fun! Make a plan, check off your tasks 1 by 1, keep communication flowing and celebrate all of your successes!