I wish that I could tell you all that our wedding planning is going wonderfully, or be able to share with you our date or venue, but that isn't yet the case. As organized as I am, some things are just out of my hands. Like finding a darn place to get married! It seems that every place we visit is too expensive, too small for our wedding, or looks too much like a wedding factory. I never thought it would be so hard to find a simple, rustic, outdoor spot to say I do!
Despite the lack of perhaps the two most important aspects of any wedding, we are moving ahead with planning and ideas anyway. And this led to yet another problem... fortunately this one was much easier to solve.
I love my wedding planner. The three ring binder is full of ideas, worksheets, and space galore for doodles, number crunching, and the like. But all of these wonderful pages also create back breaking bulk. I'm talking an A5 Filo on steroids here! I think I carried it around for two days right after I got it, thinking about how great it would be to have all of my ideas at my fingertips. That ended pretty quickly. I realized I needed something small and portable where I could jot down quick ideas and add to lists. My first thought was my Malden- I presently have an "Etc." section that could easily be turned into a "wedding" section. But I quickly realized that what I really wanted was a bound book where I could write ideas, but also use as a journal of sorts once the wedding was over.
Determined not to shell out any cash on my little endeavor, I looked around for what I already had and came across two contenders, a black Moleskine cahier, or a red Piccadilly notebook. I went back and forth with both- testing pens, portability, etc. Long story short, the Piccadilly won. In the end, it came down to its appearance, portability, paper quality, and the fact that it looked a bit nicer than the Mole. I'm imagining looking back at it years down the line, and showing it to my kids someday. I'm sure they'll just be thrilled about that!
So, here is my new wedding planner sidekick in all of its glory:
Ok, it's not all that amazing. But it is very practical, plus I received it as a birthday gift from B's mom last year so it also has some sentimental meaning. And really, I didn't need an extravagant book for this purpose. This notebook will just serve as a portable arm of my jumbo wedding book- I plan to use it for lists and journal entries throughout the wedding planning process. I haven't written any journal entries yet, but I have already started lists including a pros & cons list of a backyard reception:
And a list of places I'll need to change my name after the wedding (this list is already way too long for my liking!):
I've also started lists of the pros & cons of another wedding venue we visited recently, ideas of items we'd like to register for at certain stores, and a list of songs we want to have on our reception playlist. I've got to say, it's great having this little notebook in my bag when a song comes on the radio, or when I see an item in the store I know we'd love to have. It's way easier than carrying around a giant binder, and much more secure than sticking a Post-it in my Filo and hoping I don't lose it before I transfer the details over.
So, all of my married readers, do you have any ideas for lists or sections that I need to have in my new wedding notebook? I'm sure I'll come up with more, but it would be lovely to have your ideas!Labels: Bri, Filofax, Malden, Wedding
