Wedding Planning Books, books, and more books!!!

Oh my gosh, have you ever noticed how many planning books, guides, and downloads there are out there??  TONS!! AND TONS AND MORE then TONS!!!

I love being organized and was excited about having "Workbooks"
I was worried that I would not be able to stay organized and forget something important!

I learned a few things from all my research into what one to buy!
I did not like any of them, so I bought a few of them!!! Not kidding, I liked different parts of 6 of them, so I bought all of them, then I saw things I could down load and got a binder to make yet another workbook, then I found a Yearly Planner, that had a Wedding Planner in it so you guessed it I bought that too.

What was my most valuable lessen I learned, I spent a LOT of money on a lot of things I did not need. In the end I kept, a Binder (The Bride's Essential Wedding Planner - BN)


I added the Colored Tabs - they hold our contracts and receipts
I also added the brochures to the different tabs (that are already part of the binder) Photography /The info from the hotel photographer,  Venue / Info about the different packages and the costumes, Flowers / the info provided about the flower selections

 I also kept the Yearly Planner I found at Michaels (sadly they no longer sell the one I bought, but they do have ones you can add the wedding planner part to) Then I decided that I knew what I needed the most and Made my own using a Spiral Notebook, I found the notebook at Ross and the Page Flags at Staples.



I will be honest I LOVE my spiral notebook the most! But YES I do still use the others.
The great part of this is that I have 2 Matrons of Honor and 1 Maid of Honor - and each one will have a book to use, to keep everything on track on the Big Day :)

I also learned that none of these are really set up for a Destination Wedding or for if you are doing DIY, which was extremely frustrating!!! Hello a lot of people are doing DIY weddings or at least some part of. I see examples of it all the time not only on Pinterest but on lots of Facebook group pages. Owning a Cricut has a lot of advantages, and seeing how creative other people are can really inspire others!

So my Notebook did best at keeping track of my "weird" stuff, the things I have made, need to make and where I packed the things that I finished.

My Main Tabs (7)

My Sub Tabs (29) Yes I might be a bit OCD 

I made tabs and Sub Tabs for
Our Ceremony
      Flower
      Music
      Photography
      Notes / Important
The Reception
      Our Suite
       Areas 1-5 (each had their own tab - the areas mean the different areas of the suite)
      Notes/ Important
The Bride (Tab for me and my stuff)
      Dress
      Timeline
       Bridesmaids
       Girls Spa
       Notes
       To Do
The Groom
        Outfit
        Groomsmen
        Notes
Blog
        Post Ideas
        Links
        Other Ideas
Lists
         To Do
         To Make
         Notes
Packing
         Bride
         Groom
         Ceremony Box
         Reception Box


Sounds like a lot of Tabs, and it might just be, but I LOVE how organized I feel, and that I can check and double check everything a bit better now.

Don't get me wrong I love the other books, and honestly there are things that are done in triplicate (like how the Suite will be set up for the reception) and again I love being this organized it will help keep everyone on the same page :)

The Binder not only keeps our Guest List in check I love that it is a binder and I could add the brochures in it as well as copies of our contracts and receipts of things we prepaid.

I like the Yearly Planner, it is great to bee able to look at the calendar and see what is going on, where we are and how much time is left.

I did pull out a few pages, from both, that I did not need just so I did not have to keep seeing pages that had nothing to do with our event.

The key thing I am hoping you take away from all this - Make it your own, not matter if it is a book you buy or one you make, make it yours!  Make it help you, in what ever way you need help!