It’s April and y’all know what that means… wedding season is officially upon us! My best friend actually got engaged about 2 weeks ago… which means we are in full planning mode at the Smith house! Her wedding is scheduled for June 18th 2016 and if you’ve ever been part of a wedding you’re likely freaking out the same way I did when she asked for help planning her wedding in just 2 short months!
Luckily it wasn’t too long ago that I planned my own wedding… May 17th 2014! Which means it’s almost time for my very own second wedding anniversary! So in honor of my own anniversary and planning Ashley’s very special day I’ve broken out the wedding binder.
Yup I was that kind of bride!
When you have the whole world to plan it pays to be organized! So here’s a look into my very own binder… and don’t forget to download your very own FREE wedding binder! I’ve put together 42 FREE printables to make planning your special day just a tad bit easier… just scroll down to grab your own copy!
I’ve gone through all of the printables, scraps of notebook paper and downloads in my own binder to pull together the absolute best printable binder possible… this baby will organize everything from your music to your flowers!
Take a look at how I used the original printables to organize my entire wedding!
Timeline
Alright ladies now depending on how many months your engagement lasts this little timeline might have to change a little bit… I was engaged for 11 months so this 12 month timeline was almost perfect! My friend Ashley’s wedding is coming up in two months so we’ll have to adjust just a tad to keep her on track! Either way the point is to keep everything in one place so when things get frazzled you know what to work on next… and you don’t end up at the airport for your honeymoon with an expired passport! Eek!
Girls Attire
This might have been my favorite section! There’s printables for everything from hair & nail appointments to the bridesmaid dresses and alterations… it seems like there’s a million pieces to the girls outfits! And my girls bought dresses at Burlington so there weren’t even any alterations! Don’t they look pretty?
Budget
Budget might as well be a dirty word when it comes to weddings… let’s face it unless you’re a billionaire weddings are a constant battle of “it comes how much?” Honestly how does one scrap of lace cost quite so much?! Either way I was able to keep everything straight in my handy dandy notebook… sometimes it feels redundent but go ahead and write it all down! You will appreciate the thoroughness when it’s 2 months away from the big day and you’re so busy you can’t even remember your middle name!
Men’s Attire
Now this is one I didn’t think I would have to worry about… I mean the Brides in charge of the girls and the Grooms in charge of his guys right? Nope! The hubs definitely picked his tux (with just a little help from the peanut gallery!) and luckily we rented from Men’s Warehouse so they kept track of everything but I was constantly getting texts from the groomsmen asking where they were suppose to go and what they were suppose to wear!
I finally just clipped the brochure right into my binder! (Psssst…. this is actually one of our fun add-on’s! After you grab your FREE binder see what other pages you might need to customize the content for your big day!)
Honeymoon
Now here’s the one you really want to keep track of… the honeymoon! Not only will you be frazzled after the wedding week but hey… it’s time for a vacation! It’s definitely not a time to forget your confirmation numbers or worry about which airline you booked 7 months ago. I definitely appreciated having it all written down!
Flowers
Now I don’t know about y’all but I absolutely love browsing through bouquets on Pinterest! Even now I find myself looking through all of the pretty flowers! I also found myself getting tired of pulling up pinterest for this that and the other thing every five minutes… so I printed out my favorites and clipped them right into the binder! Easy access! Now I just need another excuse for pretty flowers!
Ceremony
Now here’s where a pocket or two comes into play… the ceremony! I don’t know about y’all but my church had a surprisingly large amount of paperwork to go through! Between pre-marital counseling and processions, I had all types of information to store away. Go ahead and grab at least a few pocket dividers for those sections of the binder that have strange shaped pages!
The Freebie!
I hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek into my binder… just imagine that was only 7 sections! Now imagine what you can organize with 42 free printables, a few paperclips and a set of dividers!
EXTRA!
It’s been a few months since I released this little free binder and y’all have been downloading this baby like CRAZY! I am so happy that you are getting use out of all these fun pages! Of course not every wedding is the same so not every binder is the same… despite being 42 pages long several of you have asked for NEW pages.
Of course, I am more than happy to create new pages… if you need it I am on it! In addition to the Free Black Binder I’m now offering a few colors! You can pick from Blush, Hot Pink and Blue. Just head to the shop to snap up your favorite color.
If the 42 pages in the original binder aren’t enough I have created a seating chart printable, men’s attire worksheet, complete wedding registry, and gift list for your complete wedding party (friends and family included!). The best part? I’m still creating so if you’re looking for a certain page please feel free to email me at Betsy {at} Happilyeverafteretc {dot} com. I would love to make something just for you!
Of course, if you already have your entire wedding planned out I’ve gone a step further and created an undated Life Planner to match the wedding planner you’re already using! You can plan out your days and months… I’ve even included a notes page for all those little projects you need to keep track of! Grab yours here!
The best part of this fun little wedding post is that it’s the first post in The Wedding Series! I’ve teamed up with Caitlin to bring you a fantastic wedding post every Friday for the next 5 weeks! I can’t even wait! So take a look at what we have planned and don’t forget to tune in to catch every single bit of advice! Caitlin’s very first wedding anniversary is also coming up in May so we’ve both been there! (Fun Fact: Caitlin was married on May 17th 2015 and the hubby and I tied the knot on May 17th in 2014! So we’re anniversary buddies!) Feel free to ask any questions… we can’t wait to chat with you!
Caitlin’s very first wedding anniversary is also coming up in May so we’ve both been there! (Fun Fact: Caitlin was married on May 17th 2015 and the hubby and I tied the knot on May 17th in 2014! So we’re anniversary buddies!) Feel free to ask any questions… we can’t wait to chat with you!
P.S. The Wedding Registry: What we Registered for, What we use and What I wish we had and How to Put Together a Mood Board for your Perfect Wedding (& three free templates)
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Oh, where was this 6 years ago when I truly needed it!! 🙂
This is truly amazing, and very comprehensive. How wonderful of you to share this. I am definitely Pinning so others can find this!
Awesome!!
Tell me about it! My second wedding anniversary is this month so I was married recently but I had a hard time finding a comprehensive binder… So I just made one! Thanks for sharing… I hope it helps brides just starting out!
I cant find the link to download the printables
Bertha it’s the little email form, just pop in your name and email and they’ll be sent to your inbox!
Can I still get this binder?
Sure! Just follow the link to sign up and it will be delivered to your inbox. Email me at Betsy @ Happilyeverafteretc {dot} com if you have any trouble!
Planning my best friends wedding
Thanks for the printable! The links that go to collectivelybycaitlin do not work.
Emily, thanks for the heads up! Caitlin recently took her blog down as she was changing focus… now I have to figure out how to re-create her part of the series. We’ll get there!
I love this site! I’m planning a wedding for my daughter, I’m going through your site and will be ordering I need all the help I can get ? lol I’ve never planned a wedding this is my first thanks again
Sounds like you’re in for a world of fun!! Have fun planning the wedding! Let me know if I can help.
Thank you it looks very in depth.