The Benefits of a Wedding Planning Journal: How it Can Help You Stay Focused and On Task
Wedding planning can be among the most stressful and worrisome tasks for newly engaged brides and grooms. With so many moving pieces and little details to think about, you’ll undoubtedly need something to help keep you organized and on track.
A wedding planning journal is an excellent tool and is up to the task. It can help you set up lists and quickly identify and prioritize the necessary details, such as contacts, deadlines, guest lists, your budget, and much more.
As part of our wedding planning tips for brides and grooms, here are all the benefits of using a journal for your wedding planning needs, including how to set it up to be the most efficient. There are plenty of options to help you utilize the journal effectively and to suit your needs.
How to Use A Wedding Planner
You can use almost any planner as a wedding planner unless you want to get one that’s specifically for wedding planning. It can be handy to use undated productivity planners since they offer more flexibility in customizing your tasks and what you want to track.
Wedding planning journals are a way to write everything down and keep track of important items, dates and times, meetings, purchases, and more. You can also add pictures, photos, and fabric swatches to create a visual to help you discover things like color schemes, table designs, and other decorations.
Consider dedicating different sections of the journal for certain tasks. For example, one area can be your wedding guest list, another can be the different vendors you’re looking to use, one spot can just be tracking your budget, and another can be important deadlines for things like the caterer headcount and when deposits need to be made.
One last method you can use in the journal is adding lists. Lists are great for helping you stay on task, and it can feel good to check off items as you go and keep your priorities aligned. You can even create a timeline checklist or itinerary for the days leading up to, and on the wedding day!
Benefits of a Wedding Planning Journal
There are many advantages that come with ensuring the success of your wedding when you use a planner. Here are some of the best ways you can utilize any planner to become a handy tool when putting together your wedding.
Decision-Making
When making decisions about your wedding, a planner is a handy tool for you to quickly jot down ideas and assess the pros and cons. This can help you be more decisive when exploring various vendors, venues, or design ideas.
Budget Tracking
A critical part of any wedding is sticking to the budget, which can be challenging when considering everything you need! Having a planner to keep track of your spending and allocate different amounts to each category, like decorations, dress, food, etc, is a great way to monitor your spending for an overall budget.
Tracking your budget can also ensure that you stick to it better because you can see it and know what you’re spending as you go. So many couples fall into the trap of going over their budget, especially if they aren’t tracking how they’re spending. A whopping 56% of couples in a study reported spending more than they had planned by an average of $7,900.
Central Location
Having a planner around when setting up your wedding is a great way to keep yourself organized and have everything in one place for reference. There are so many things to think about and take care of, from vendors to floral arrangements and everything in between, that there’s no way to keep it all in your head.
Having a planner helps you keep everything together, so you eliminate tons of random notes or going through emails. It’s your one destination for all things wedding.
Brainstorming
You can be creative with your wedding planning journal by using it to brainstorm all your ideas for your big day. You can easily create color palettes, design concepts, and even make sketches of your vision. It helps cultivate the creative side and gives you endless possibilities to develop and make your dream day come alive.
For instance, if you know certain poses or photos with specific family members and friends you’d like to get for your wedding, write all of those ideas down. Later, you can go over them with your wedding photographer so they aren’t forgotten and your photographer can keep track.
Stress Reliever
Keeping everything in your journal can also go a long way to help relieve some of the worries that come from wedding planning. Journaling has been a long-standing way to help you express thoughts, emotions, and feelings, and getting all of these things written down helps reduce stress and anxiety.
Collaborating
It’s easy to share your wedding planning journal with your partner or any others who might be helping you during the decision-making process. Your journal is an organized way to keep all those who need to be informed of what’s being done, and what still needs to be done and follow your vision.
Keepsake
After the wedding is done it’s a great keepsake to reflect on all that went into your special day. You can make it special by writing down special moments and things you want to remember forever, so you have a wonderful place to visit with sentimental thoughts to cherish.
Want to make your own wedding journal? Watch this:
Keep Organized and Stay On Task
Your wedding planning journal can be your most valued tool for making your dream day a reality. It helps you keep everything in one centralized location for easy access, allows you to stay organized with every aspect of your wedding, and relieves stress while keeping within your intended budget.
Your wedding day is an important milestone, and you don’t want to miss out on any crucial elements. Ensure you record things down and stay on task with a wedding planner journal.