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I started packing last night. I started out as a whirlwind, going full speed, throwing sweaters and pictures and purses into boxes. It was a really great feeling! I started late, though, at about 10 PM (I’m a night owl) and by 11, something dawned on me…
I’m overwhelmed.
Did I tell you we are moving in together exactly one week before the wedding?
Awesome planning, Miss Brooch! Big no-no, right?
Well, if were up to Mr. Brooch we’d be moving in the week of our wedding!
Men! I tell ya!
If Niecy Nash were here, she’d set him straight!
She’d set me straight, too! She’d definitely call me out on all the clutter in my apartment! She’d definitely tell me it’s time to let go of the college books and clothes and shoes that never get worn. Why am I holding onto the note cards from my courses in Italian from college, Niecy? Um, well, in case I ever go to Italy! Her response would probably go a little something like this: “Mayhem and Foolishness!”
There’s no way I can bring all this junk into the little apartment we’re moving into together. We’re definitely downsizing and there’s no better time than the present to get rid of the excess junk! But man, thinking about all my stuff exhausts me! I am going to need at least a week to go threw it all!
The truth is that I’m not just overwhelmed by the cleaning and organizing, because I enjoy all of that. It’s the fact that I have a to-do list a mile long of wedding tasks, projects, events, and on top of working full-time, blogging (hey, these posts don’t write themselves), I definitely feel like my life is crazy!
I’m sure I will be OK and I’ll get it all done. One day at a time, right? I’m planning to tackle each task one at a time: packing, then projects, and meanwhile, breaks on the weekends for events.
What advice to have for someone like me who is packing and planning at the same time?
Are you packing to move in with your fiance before the wedding?
Are you overwhelmed?
We moved into a brand new place the day after the honeymoon and that was overwhelming too. Thinking of you and I hope it is as non-stressful as possible!
We moved into our house two weeks before this past Christmas. Not Fun. We had been living together for the last 2 years so merging of stuff wasn’t an issue.
I had to move everything pretty much by myself, not including furniture and I did 98% of the unpacking.
My advice…
1. buy as many different colored post-it notes as you have rooms and color label each box on the top and both sides. and number x out of x so you can keep track.
2. pack stuff that you need immediately… Sheets, clothes, towels, etc in different colored tubs/boxes so you know that you absolutely need to unpack that stuff to live. Don’t forget TP!
3. hire your family/friends to help with moving and feed them with beer and pizza/coffee and donuts. My cousin helped me most most of our stuff and I bought him lunch the days that he helped.
4. If you don’t want to deal with everything right away, put it in a storage place for a month or so you can worry about it after the wedding.
5. Put any wedding stuff in a highly visable area or move it to a friends/familys house for the week so it doesn’t get lost.
It absolutely is the worst, but if you can be over organized, it’ll go much faster. Promise. Just remember to sleep a bit.
Um ya…. me too. Except I am even crazier. I’m starting a new job two weeks before the wedding (next week), then FI and I are only taking a mini moon so we can move into our apartment the Wednesday after our wedding.
Yeah. Bad, bad timing on everything… but I figure, it’ll all get done eventually. 
I’m moving in with my boyfriend in the next month. Although I’m taking it easy on myself and moving boxes gradually before the big moving weekend. I still feel like my apartment is a huge mess and there are definitely A LOT of things like you mentioned that I can get rid of.
It’ll happen one day, I’m sure, I hope
ughhhh.. that reminds me - i have to clean our place before the relatives start arriving. not looking forward to it at all.
I am so not a fan of packing! I remember in our last move that I woke up super early our first morning so I could finish unpacking because I hated looking at all of the boxes everywhere. Good Luck!
Moving is my worst enemy….I am such a pack rat *sigh* . Could I get niecy’s number from you so she can help me clean my house too??? She’s so fierce!
Oh dear–I am right with you, Miss B. An entire side of our family room is filled with moving boxes right now, and that disaster is only going to grow over the next couple months. It’s surprising how much crap one small closet can hold.
This might sound silly, but it helped having identically sized boxes to pack stuff up in. When we first started I was using random boxes I scrounged from work, and the different shapes just made the piles of boxes look even more cluttered. Good luck, and hang in there!
I told the FH that he gets one more move out of me, and that will be to our newly built home. If he ever wants to move again, then he gets to move the whole house. Lock, Stock, and Barrel.
At least you recongize that you have to dump some clutter, lol! Some of those people on Clean House are horrible and don’t want to get rid of anything!!!!
hey! That’s craziness moving in together the week before your wedding! My advice would be to tackle one room at a time.
hey girlfriend! slow down, relax, and enjoy all the fun that can come out of packing/moving! tackle like items at a time: clothes, office/school things, kitchen, childhood stuff..etc. Just when you are thnk you are done throwing away everything you can, throw away MORE! it will be ok. and ps,throw away the notecards. when you do go to italy, you can use your iphone or a sleek little handbook to brush up on your language skills!
I totally know what you mean! I’ve only been married 2 months, and I’m still trying to organize and clean out things that are unnecessary.
I didn’t move in until after I got married and never realized how messy he kept his place.. ahh
It will get organized eventually right?
Best luck to you!
I think we’re the same person…. currently packing up for our move in a few weeks. You can do it, B! Once I get into that “cleaning out” mode, no one can stop me! I’m hoping this isn’t a stressful time for you… you’re going to be just fine, I know it!
We’ll be moving in together before the wedding too. I’m already anticipating the stress levels rising!
I’m definately overwhelmed for the same reasons you wrote about! Getting rid of stuff and packing is my biggest stress right now. I’ve been chipping away, but my fear is that it’ll suddenly be the week of my wedding and my apartment will be in chaos. I wish I had really good advice. I’ll let you know if I have an epiphany Just know you’re not the only one going through this process. Just think–in three months from now we’ll be all moved and newly married and can start making fun summer plans with our new husbands!
I’ve moved often, and just moved the last stuff out of my FI’s old apartment. I can give you this advice: let go of what you don’t need, of all the clutter, and keep yourself light. This means, when in doubt, throw out!
I’m a hoarder, so I’m always saving everything. But when I’m cleaning out, the act of accepting that I don’t need something and letting it go is very liberating.
Good luck and have fun with the move! Sounds like it’ll be a memorable week
Well aside from all the other great advice PP’s have listed, the one thing that helps me pair stuff down is a tip that they always used on that show “clean sweep” with Peter Walsh (who now has an amazing line of organizational items at Office Max btw!).
In every show, he the people create keep, donate/sell, and trash piles. If you organize all your stuff into these three categories, you can see if your “keep” pile is a bit too big and try to part with a few more things. It really helps pare down the clutter!
As you go through your stuff 15 mins at a time think, “do I LOVE it, do I USE it and do I HONOUR it”? It needs to be two out of the three to stay in your house. If you have a vase that you love but never use and don’t look after, then why do you have it? Give it to an op-shop so someone else can have it, someone that will love it AND use it. Or if you have something that you were given but you never liked or use, pass it on.
That is the flylady.net rule and seriously it has made the biggest difference in my life.
Good luck!
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Mrs. Brooch, Arlington, VA Age and Occupation: 25, Writer/Editor Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Front Desk Manager Engagement Date: October 3, 2009 Wedding Date: April 2011 Venue: Oxon Hill Manor About Me: I’m an indecisive girlie-girl with a motor mouth, can-do attitude, and knack for making others laugh. I dream of becoming a best selling novelist like Elizabeth Gilbert or Julie Powell (a girl can dream, right?), and love long road trips, a beautiful countryside, music, blogs, books, and all things vintage/thrift/antique/or homemade. I’m a Virgo, i.e. overly sensitive, emotional, and critical, and there’s no such thing as short and sweet in my world. I want to say and do it all. Mr. Brooch grounds me. I point where to go and he figures out the way. He’s a pragmatic fancy-pants who enjoys video games and movies. We both adore our mutt, Rocky, and spending time with our amazingly supportive family and friends. We’re planning a garden wedding with a formal reception with lots of whimsy and unique, Southern-inspired details.
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