The 5 Lists EVERY Bride Needs
Planning weddings is daunting at times! You know there is so much to keep up with and even the least organized bride knows there are important things you need to know off hand. We know that making lists helps brides and planners both, so we wanted to share the most essential lists you should be making. Here are 5 lists every bride needs to stay organized during your engagement!
photo by whit photography
1. Guest List & RSVPs
Your guest list is without a doubt the most important list you’ll make for your wedding. It determines your wedding budget and so many details: the amount of space you need at your venue, the amount of food your needs, and so much more! It affects every single thing about your wedding.
Do NOT try to guess how many people you have invited to your wedding or that have RSVP'd. You will probably forget a few people and either not get enough or get too much food, chairs, tables etc. Create a google sheet or excel sheet with everyone’s name, address, number of guests and response on it. And keep the list handy! This list is helpful for save the dates, invitations, thank you letters, seating arrangements, and even Christmas cards in the future. During planning if you need your friends and family's information it is right there ready to use.
2. To-Do
There are so many things that need to happen before your big day! Keep a to-do list of everything that needs to be accomplished and who is doing it can save you a lot of stress and unnecessary work. Creating a to do list also allows you to delegate or hand off the whole list if you need to do so.
Even if the tasks are something your planner or coordinator is helping you with it is nice to be able to check off the little things on your list as you go. And there are always things a planner can't do for you like applying for your marriage license. A planner also can’t pull together you guest list or go dress shopping for you so having a list of things you must do during the process is necessary. It is definitely helpful if you are feeling overwhelmed to see it as a list written down instead of trying to remember everything that needs to get done.
photo by shelby renee photo
3. Gifts Received
When you are getting married you will receive a lot of gifts. It seems every event is an occasion to shower you with love and new things to start your married life off right! Keeping a list of these gifts as you receive them is essential to being able to keep track of what you have received and send thank yous.
When you are at bridal showers or parties and people give you gifts normally someone will write it down for you, but not always, and you're bound to have multiple showers so keep a list of gifts received at each one. The Southerner in me wants to make sure you get those thank you letters out as quickly as you can so they don't pile up which means taking the list from each shower and sending thank you cards as soon as you can! It also helps to have a list of gifts received so that when you are a wedding guest at upcoming events you can remember what they bought you and what some of your favorite gifts were in order to gift well.
4. "Day Of" List
Being engaged flies by! One day you are getting engaged and then in the blink of an eye you are celebrating your wedding day! The big day comes before you can even blink and you want to be focused on being pampered, the morning mimosas, and all of the fun things that will happen that day. Creating a list of things you want to happen or need to do on your wedding day makes the day much more enjoyable.
Make sure you keep a list of the personal items you want to bring on your wedding day so nothing gets left behind. Nothing is worse than showing up at the venue to get ready and forgetting your deodorant or the marriage certificate (it has happened). You want to be calm, cool, and collected on the day of your wedding so keep a list of everything you need to make sure you have with you! Also, this list will help you remember what to take home with you after the night is over. You don’t want to have to find someone to run a last minute errand to throw off your positive pre-wedding vibes, or having to go back because you forgot your shoes!
photo by the hatches
5. Vendor List
Your wedding day will include a lot of moving parts including many different vendors working hard to pull everything together. Because so many vendors will be woking on one event it it important to have a vendor list created with everyone you have hired.
If you have planned a lot of the wedding yourself and are handing it off to a wedding coordinator please keep up with your vendors names, numbers and what they are supposed to be bringing or doing on the day of your wedding. Generally when planners or coordinators meet with you before your wedding they will go over everything you have planned and get this information from you. It goes much smoother if you have kept up with it as you went along and have a full vendor list ready to go.
Those are the five lists we highly recommend any bride creates for an easier and less stressful wedding.
