Back to basics
Planning a wedding is essentially a numbers game. First of all you need to know your budget, as this will affect all the other decisions. Primarily, consider the timescale you've got and how much you can realistically save. Then work from there: once you've nailed your budget, you can decide how many people you can afford to invite and begin to draw up your guest list. Once these two significant decisions have been made, you have the basis for making the next key decisions: for example, venue hunting now becomes easier as you can discount anywhere that doesn't a) fit your budget or b) cater to your guest numbers.
Put a to-do list on your to-do list
The to-do list is the simple but secret weapon behind every highly organised person out there. At its most basic, you simply stick the day's must-dos on the list and cross them off as you go. However, depending on your schedule you might prefer to have lists broken down into weeks, or even by the hour! If you're starting from scratch, write down everything you can think of that needs doing. Known as a 'brain dump', this will automatically make you feel better (once you've got over the sheer length of it!) as you've got everything of importance recorded somewhere tangible, rather than it just rattling around in your mind! Once you've got everything down on paper, you can then start to prioritise: finding a venue, for example, is more time sensitive than deciding on your bridesmaids' dresses.
Get online
If you're an ink pen and leather Smythson notebook kinda gal - we fully worship at the temple of stylish script - feel free to skip this next section. But there is a lot to be said for a neatly formatted spreadsheet when it comes to wedding planning. Using Google Drive to host all of your documents and spreadsheets is a great idea, as both you and your partner can access and update them at any time. You can also get the apps for your phone, meaning you can make quick changes on the go - and you won't spoil that beautifully crafted notebook with ink splodges or hurried handwriting. There are also a whole host of other apps out there you can use to digitalise your wedding planning: Wunderlist and Evernote both allow you to share and collate lists, images, notes and reminders. It's a good idea to streamline your process though, and stick to one place for everything, otherwise it gets a little bit tricky to keep track of where everything is.
Schedule it
Scared of schedules? Don't be: you'll need to learn to love them! Venues need to be viewed, suppliers need to be met and an overall timeline needs to be constructed. The only way you can get everything done is by setting yourself deadlines and giving everything a time slot. A calendar is obviously a useful tool here, either a good old-fashioned paper version, or opt for an online version, which you can easily share with your other half.
Divide and conquer
And speaking of your partner - you need to work together to stay on top of the wedmin. The best way to do this is to make sure you're both involved in the process. So go through your to-do list and decide which task each person is responsible for. Taking on jobs you're individually interested in is a good way to divvy it up. For example, if you're a foodie and your partner doesn't know his Gouda from his goat's cheese, you might want to research the caterers. Make sure you communicate with one another and update the other person when making decisions and securing bookings, though. No one wants to have to pay two lots of caterers, or sack a forlorn florist.
Scrap it!
Many brides-to-be like to pull together a scrapbook to garner inspiration and get a clearer idea of the design, theme and atmosphere of the day they're hoping to create. You can create an actual scrapbook by tearing ideas that catch your eye out of magazines and pasting them into a book. Otherwise you can start up a Pinterest board - basically an online scrapbook tool with oodles of dreamy inspirational photography. You simply type in a few keywords (e.g. summer wedding, country bride etc.) and then scroll through the endless inspiration, 'pinning' anything you like the look of to your personalised board (beware, it's pretty addictive!). Either way, both of these methods will help you nail the look and feel of your big day.
Take it easy
If you've got plenty of lead time in the run up to W-day, you don't need to be drowning in wedmin every single second. Instead, allow yourself a chunk of dedicated time each week to focus on wedding planning and moving things forward. Bonus points if you schedule this time with your partner, so you can both check in and make sure you're on the same page. Likewise, there's no need to stress yourself silly by trying to do a million things at once, which is all too often counterproductive. Instead, focus on one task at a time. This will eventually add up and you'll zoom through your to-do list at efficient speed (and there aren't many sweeter pleasures in life than a fully crossed off to-do list!).
Prep a planner
We get it: you're already super-busy without having to coordinate the diaries of a million venues and vendors. So, if this is you, why not consider hiring a wedding planner? They have Little Black Books filled with industry links for every eventuality so they'll be able to speed things up and save you a lot of time.
But, ultimately, whether you choose to fill notebooks with pre-nuptial ramblings; log on and pin an assortment of ideas; go it alone or hire a professional planner, we wish you the very best of luck planning your wedding. And who knows, you might even become a self-confessed spreadsheet fan by the end of it all!
words Abby Driver
Copyright Wed magazine 2016
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