The Easiest DIY Wedding Planning Binder Ever (that only has the stuff you ACTUALLY need)

I don't know about you but for me, wedding planning can easily become overwhelming. There are tons of resources and tools and books out there that it can be easy to get lost in all of the mess! Not to mention, spend a ton of money on these wedding planning tools that might not even work for you. When I think back to how much money I spent that could have gone to the actual wedding than to wedding planning tools, I cringe a little. Not even going to lie to Y'all. 

The thing is, I kept realizing that the wedding planning binders you can buy are seriously overwhelming. I don't know about you, but most of my inspiration was kept somewhere digitally so I didn't need six different pages asking about my inspiration, two whole worksheets about wedding dresses, etc. This DIY wedding planning binder that I'm sharing with y'all today is something I recently made up for myself after I got tired of searching through email after email trying to find something. But I wish it was the wedding planning binder I had been using from the beginning!

Also, this post was done super last minute because it's been a WILD week trying to come up with blog content. That's what I get for not sticking to my workflow schedule. Anyways, the reason this post is spur-of-the-moment is actually really great and I can't wait to share it with you guys. I hope you appreciate the fact that Gatsby really wanted in on these pictures last night when I tried to take them at 8pm...

PS: Before I jump into this (in case you haven't been reading to the end to catch my ACTUAL PS...) I'm doing a Wedding themed edition of #AskDar next week! You can fill out this little form right here to ask me a wedding related question! (Not getting married, no problem! You can also use that form to ask me anything for an upcoming #AskDar). I try to do these #AskDar posts once a month and I figured a wedding version would be a fun way to change things up. Okay, back to the regularly scheduled blog post!

DIY Wedding Planning Binder Supplies

• A three-ring binder (I chose this cute one from Target)

• Page protectors (also purchased from Target)

• A wedding planning checklist

• Sticky notes (these wedding themed ones are from Paper Source)

• Various other accessories (knock yourself out with making this binder yours)

Putting this wedding planning binder together is pretty self-explanatory but I figured I would walk you through what I decided to put in my DIY wedding planning binder. Anything I made in excel or word wasn't made to be pretty because, if we're being honest, nobody has time for that. I was focused on having the information I needed easily accessible, not only for myself but for anyone else who takes over this wedding planning binder as the wedding day approaches! I will be adding to this wedding planning binder as the day approaches, I'm sure so I'll keep this post updated if I do. Anyways, let's get into what I've actually got stashed in my DIY wedding planning binder.

Wedding Planning Checklist

The wedding planning checklist that I have in my DIY wedding planning binder is actually the one I got out of The Knot's Wedding Planning Binder that I purchased right after we got engaged (save your money though!). You can find TONS of wedding checklists all over the internet, including The Knot's website so I suggest searching until you find one that seems most true to you. 

Vendor Contact List

The very next item in my wedding planning binder is my vendor contact list. I literally just created a two column Word document that includes the vendor, the name of the point of contact, their email address, and phone number. Not only is this helpful for me when I need to get in touch with vendors to schedule meetings but this will also come in handy when I need to pass on a vendor list to our venue, my Maid/Matron of Honor, and anyone else who needs a copy.

Payment Schedule

The next item I created for my DIY wedding planning binder was also made in Word. I wanted an easy way to keep track of who had been paid, who still needed to be paid, and what the due dates were for payments. I plan on updating this sheet a few times as the date draws closer and we get more information like final guest counts and the florist bill.

Vendor Contracts

The most important part of this DIY Wedding Binder is the vendor contracts. Each vendor contract has been printed and put into a protector that way I can easily access them when I need to answer a question or to find out when to make a payment. The very first one is our venue contract which easily displays the ceremony start time, minimum guest count, hotel block information and more. I can't tell you how helpful it has been to just have these ready to pull out on a moment's notice. THIS is what I wish I had been doing the entire wedding planning process.

Misc. Documents

My binder came with a folder on each side of the cover once opened so I figured this would be a perfect location in my wedding planning binder to store miscellaneous documents that I may need to use as quick references, worksheets that need to be filled out and returned to vendors as our date approaches, or quotes that have not been finalized yet.

Have you created a DIY wedding planning binder for your wedding? What would you add to mine?