Wedding Countdown: Thoughts & Organization

It’s crunch time. It’s the final countdown. Of course I get the song “The Final Countdown,” by Europe stuck in my head while writing this post. I promise you ladies it will be there all day. We are under the two month mark. There is so much to do and so little time to do it. When people say planning a wedding is another full time job, there is no joke with that. It’s definitely another full time job. I have found it to be a fabulous and fun job during the last year and a half, but I am ready for the double full time jobs to come to an end. Lately I feel like I have just been go go going. I am ready to celebrate with everyone and ready for our wedding.

While you may think I sound a bit bitter about saying I am ready for our wedding, I am not. I just have done everything I can, and am really ready to see all my hard work come to fruition. 

In talking to other girlfriends and brides I realized that with my thoughts “ready for the wedding,” I am not alone. I think every bride I have talked to said when it came down to the end they were ready for the big day to be here. They were ready to stop dealing with all the vendors and non-compliant RSVPs. They were ready to spread their wings, and open the next chapter of their life with their husbands. 

I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t stressed about our big day. I am a type A freak, and like everything to be perfect. Perfection is my middle name. It’s a middle name that is fabulous at times and sometimes not so fabulous. Perfection brings out the let’s do it right the first time in me. When the right or the errors come, I find myself kicking myself in the behind  and analyzing what caused the hiccup. 

I have heard more often than not from other brides that something went array at their wedding.  Attending these weddings I had no idea something didn’t go as planned until they told me. Which brings me to my next point ladies, brides, bridal party…something may go wrong, but don’t dwell on it. No one is going to notice, unless it’s something big like the caterer not showing up. Embrace your day and let the hiccup fly under the radar.

My first hiccup came this past week when I officially missed a meeting with our caterers and venue due to work. Thank the heavens we have a fabulous event director at our venue who stepped in on my behalf and got things done. I can tell you I have NEVER missed a meeting before until this one. I felt beside myself at first, but realized there was no reason to be upset about spilt milk. Everyone was ok and I had warned them I was running extremely behind, so it wasn’t like I just didn’t show up. 

Organization 

I have done quite a few things to keep myself organized during these last 2 months. One thing that has been very helpful to me and helped my brain ensure it’s not missing paying something is creating a payment tracker. 

Payment Organization

I created this beautiful spread sheet in google sheets with column headers:   

• Vendor
• Payment Due ($/Amount)
• Date Due
• Method of Payment (credit card, check, Venmo, etc.) 

After completing this spread sheet I sent it to my fiancé so that we BOTH were on point with when payments were due and how we had to pay them. This was very wishful thinking that he may actually take charge of these and pay them, but at the end of the day I will be the one writing the checks, hitting the pay now button in Venmo and typing in that credit card number. I mean at least he knows why our bills are crazy though right? 

Day of Wedding Timeline

I have officially wrote out a rough draft timeline of our wedding day. I have to say this task has been the most tricky. I wrote the draft timeline out about a month ago and it has been revised so many times. There are so many things I forgot to add in. 

I recommend taking the time and making your day of wedding timeline early. This way you have time to revamp it, add in as needed and you aren’t stressed out. You mentally then have a plan for the day. While I haven’t sent it out yet, all of my bridal party will be getting this timeline so they know exactly what is happening when. If you are one of my ladies get ready. 

Sanity

Why are you including sanity in the organization section Jessica? I love staying organized but your sanity at the end of the day is important and if you are running a bit crazy and non-stop like the energizer bunny your organization and planning isn’t going to be the best it can be. Take time for you. One of the things I love about our new house is I finally have a bathtub again. I have been taking at least 2 baths a week. I love the Dr. Teals, Relax and Relief bubble bath. You can find it at Target for under $5, and it’s the best bubble bath I have used in a long time, and the scent is super relaxing. 

Planner

Write everything down you need to know. I know we brides would like to think we will remember everything we need to do but the reality is we won’t. I have an Erin Condren Wedding planner as well as an everyday planner, between the two everything I need to keep up on is there. 

Calendar

Print a calendar for the last 2 months before your wedding. You can find calendar templates with a quick google search. Mark the days not the calendar you have walk throughs, meetings and payments due. I recommend color coding it. Such that walk throughs are one color, meetings are another color and payments due are another. This is a great visualization for you to have an eye on the bigger picture. 

The above is by no mean comprehensive, but where I have started. As I continue to learn and come up with new strategies on organization and keeping myself sane I will share with you guys. 

Happy Wedding Planning!