I remember first publishing our official wedding website and thinking, “wow, only 450 days until I marry JB!”

Since then I have experienced both panic and excitement as the reality of our big day dawns closers. I have been focusing on the more glamorous wedding tasks such as dress fittings, shoe shopping and jetting off to my bachelorette. Although all of the above require a timeline, it is equally important to remember those other details which linger in background and cannot afford to be forgotten.

Here are two details which briefly escaped this bride-to-be:

Remembering the Registry

One of the first tasks to be completed after our engagement was registering at various home good stores such as Bloomingdale’s. It’s interesting to see how our taste has evolved as a couple over the past year. Before we lived together, we did not do well with two scanners in the same store. I was lost in the crystal section (vases, frames, ring holders, etc.), while JB was tagging one too many hardware products, or so I thought. When we moved to Savannah I quickly realized that our six year age difference does account for his wisdom in certain areas such as cooking, cleaning and a general understanding of houseware necessities. If he had left me in Bloomingdale’s to fend for myself I would have happily filled our registry with candy dishes, plush pillows and posh home décor. Thankfully we have updated the list since then with more practical products.

I thought this phrase applied, until I royally messed up our registry.

Photo credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/556053885213119188/

I advise couples to review their registry from time to time. Recently, one of our family members generously purchased two wonderful gifts in a set of four. When a friend visited our site in an effort to purchase the other half of the set, they were told that the designer was no longer sold in the department store. Since we had not updated our list in approximately seven months, there were many products that went out of season and off the shelves.

And so, even though the registry is not nearly top five on the list of most exciting wedding tasks, make sure to check and update your website periodically. Don’t be the couple to go out of style before your wedding. Thankfully the scanner can just as easily delete items as it can add. (As you might imagine, most of my crystal has been replaced by kitchenware.)

Learning the Master List 

Almost all brides-to-be can agree that wedding planning is similar to riding a rollercoaster. There are moments of extreme happiness and adventure such as saying “yes” to the dress. Seconds later the thrill has dwindled. I attribute bridal mood swings to certain stress-inducing tasks such as creating and managing the master list. Who will come to the rehearsal dinner? Is everyone invited to brunch? How many hotel rooms will we need to reserve for the out of state travelers?

I advise every happy couple to team up with a partner who is an expert all things excel. I thought I knew all the technical tricks from work experience, until I decided to sort the entire list. Addresses immediately switched and reproduced, basically leaving us at square one. When you have nearly three hundred people on the list, like ours, excel can quickly become a bride-to-be’s worst enemy. Thankfully my groom is both patient and excel savvy.

How JB may feel if I mess up our list of 300 guests one more time.

Photo credit: http://eatlaughcraft.com/tag/planning/

After your master list is in order (saved, e-mailed and backed up), I would suggest reviewing it periodically. As the wedding date grows closer we have eliminated and added certain people based on changing relationships, new friends and the total number of guests which seems to grow without warning.

Learn the best ways to create and manage your master list based on the timeline of mailing your invitations. Just yesterday we gave the green light on our invitation proofs. Soon enough, we will need to submit all addresses to our calligrapher. At the end of the work day, if you are sitting on the couch with your adorable fiancé, grab your computer and run through a section of the list.

I recently sent my mom a post from Posh Petals and Pearls where we are pictured selecting invitations. She loved the piece, but reminded me that I will soon be Dr. and Mrs. Peterman, not Mr. and Mrs. Peterman. Take some time to ensure that your friends and families names, titles and addresses are spelled properly.

As a bride-to-be I have learned that some of the most time consuming tasks are those with the least excitement. With that said, both the registry and the master list are ultimately more important than shoe shopping and planning an awesome honeymoon. If I did not spend time updating and revamping the registry, we would have been living in a new home without silverware and cooking supplies. Similarly, the time we spent organizing and reorganizing our master list will ensure that the invitations actually arrive at the correct doorsteps of our guests.

130 days is a wake-up call for brides-to-be in the wedding planning process!