Wedding Wednesday {Wedding Binder}

Happy hump day ladies! And Happy Halloween! I posted my Halloween post on Monday, check it out here!   I'm writing another wedding post today to share one of my favorite parts of wedding planning thus far---my wedding planning binder!

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Let me start off by saying that my wedding binder didn't start off that way. I thought I could get away with a simple file full of folders. That wasn't the case! The amount of information that I ended up compiling {contracts, printed ideas, copies of menus, etc.} just couldn't be contained in those files.

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 So, I headed out to Staples with a few ideas in mind. I decided that I wanted a 1" binder, cute dividers, and sleeve protectors. I decided on some super cute Carolina Pad binder dividers that had a pretty pattern, along with some extra pockets on a few of the dividers.

Aren't they cute?

I used the sheet protectors to hold things like contracts, fabric samples, menus, and stationary samples. It's really helpful for those items that I don't want to hole punch.  

Here are the divisions of my binder:

General Information

Overall timeline, The Knot checklist, and worksheets that still need to be filled out.

Ceremony

Ceremony site photos, our color scheme samples, flower ideas, etc.

Reception

Cake ideas, reception decoration ideas, etc.

Bridal Party

Bridal party contact information, bridesmaids dress ideas, groomsmen tux ideas, sizes, etc.

Guest Information

Guest lists, hotel details, map sketches, etc.

Parties/Showers

All ideas that pertain to showers, parties, and rehearsal dinner.

Paper (Invites)

All invitation ideas, including ones that are in the works and ones I'm trying to decide on.

Vendors

All vendor contracts and contact sheets go here.

Details

All small details, especially ones I haven't finalized, are stored here.

Honeymoon

This is pretty self explanatory, right? ;)

  Also, I found some really great printables from I-Do-It-Yourself that helped me get super organized. The contact forms, song lists, and flower worksheets are my favorites {so far}.   {I would have used the Martha Stewart wedding binder sets, but they weren't on sale and I just couldn't pay double for the same things (though they were prettier and came in the perfect wedding blue)!}
------- What were your must-haves for your wedding binder? I'd love your suggestions!