Weddingbee Blog

I bought an accordian folder and a small day planner with a calendar section, a notes section, and a 3 page address section. The calendar section of course contains appointments, but also payment dates and other deadlines, which I have listed both on the monthly view and on the day of. In the address section I have written in my vendor info as I acquire them. The notes section is full of random things that I didn’t want to forget, including some checklists, budget notes, and even song ideas.

All contracts and full-sized documents go into the accordian folder. All my wedding items are in these two things, and they are relatively compact.

i do what linnybride does, a la our other comic-sans-hating friend. the clear plastic sleeves are clutch, as you can just throw the note you jotted down, the ripped magazine page, or the printout in. i, however, do not paste the smaller pieces onto color coordinated paper before slipping them into the sleeves.

I was like you, but I couldn’t handle it any more. I have probably gone a bit overboard. I have a 3 ring with tons of tabs for all official info (contracts, menus, receipts, etc), a small scrapbook that I paste ideas into (magazine cutouts, articles, what not), and a small little spiral that I carry on me all the time (to jot notes if I get an idea or to right down a vendor name when i hear it, etc).

I went and bought inexpensive “artist” portfolio books - the black plastic cover type. Each binder was then dedicated to flowers, favours, cake, dress/hair, and invitations etc. (Ok, invitations spilled into 3 books. I couldn’t stop.)

This system made it easy to recycle all those magazines instead of having them sitting around.

It sounds as if I have similar organizational issues and I used an accordian file. I just put everything into the last pocket and then, when I had time, I would reorganize and put things into their designated pockets within the accordian file. I also kept a notebook and pen in there.

Mock all you will, but my crazy 3-ring binder with plastic sleeves and color-coordinated paper was da bomb! Ha! Seriously, though, the sleeves are great for fabric swatches, ribbon, business cards, etc.

Aside from The Infamous Binder, I found it useful to PDF all of my contracts and keep them on my computer and also in my Gmail. This way, I could access them not only from my computer but also from any other computer with Internet access. It was also really easy to send all my contracts to my coordinator — all I had to do was forward them in emails. No faxing or mailing necessary.