Doscientos.  199 + 1. 100 x 2. Any way you slice it, it’s still the same — 200 days. Yasss, honey, that good ole’ app from The Knot reminded me that I am rapidly approaching with great anxiety excitement that my wedding is a little over 6 months away! It seems like only yesterday that I was saying “yes” on Christmas Day 2015…how did we make it to 2017 already? After deep breaths, cocktails and phone calls to my besties I’m feeling like I can manage this 200-day countdown. I mean, 6 months plus a couple of weeks is still a lot of time right?

Although I’m staring at my wedding head on, and I have tons left to do, I feel as if I have a pretty good grasp on things.  Thanks to my somewhat neurotic, OCD tendencies and my super fabulous Soror/wedding planner, my “to-do” list, albeit still rather long, is still very manageable and only slightly intimidating. I’m not sure what the standard “this-is-where-you-should-be-at-200-days” checklist looks like, but here’s mine:

Venue: (check)

Photographer: (check)

DJ: (check)

Wedding Singer: (check)

Florist: (check)

Photobooth rental: (check)

Officiant: (check)

Wedding Dress: (check)

Host hotel: (check)

So, we have most of the large items secured, but I swear, there are still at least 1,572 items on my list that need to have a check next to them. What’s my plan of action you say? Well, as much as I enjoy late night strolls in the park and Woodford Reserves with ginger ale, unfortunately those pleasures of life will not efficiently assist me in completing the remaining lists on my to-do list. Therefore, I’ve developed a more sober practical approach.

Working in conjunction with my wedding planner, a few hand dandy online checklists I found and my boyfriend Pinterest, I think I have a handle on how to tackle the outstanding items on my to-do list. For the items that are more time sensitive (e.g., booking rehearsal dinner venue, linen rentals, bakery, hair and makeup) I moved them to the top of my list and assigned rather aggressive due dates for completion. Other items (wedding shoes, wedding day jewelry, wedding party gifts) were assigned later due dates —  we assessed that these items were not as time sensitive and could be secured at a later date.

It is truly amazing how fast “6 months until our wedding date” has arrived. Even more amazing is how accurate every person was that told me that our engagement period would fly by. Of course, when they were dropping their gems of wisdom upon me, I felt as if I was somehow exempt to the swiftness of time (blame my know-it-all-attorney-type-A personality and not my heart).

200 days to go and about 200 items to cross of my list, but I know I’ll get there. I know that it won’t come without a little stress, some frustration and several nights concluding with glass of Cab, but we will see the light. Fortunately, for today’s brides, there are so many resources to make our 200-day, 100-day, 50-day and day of countdowns so much easier. Blackbridalbliss.com is a wealth of knowledge and allows brides to connect with so many other online resources. There are several apps and countless magazines that allow brides to keep track of their outstanding tasks and prioritize the items on their to-do list. Let’s not forget about Pinterest. Yes, it will have you believing that you too can create that not-so-difficult but hella intricate DIY project that only costs $50 (but ends up hitting you up for 3x as much), nonetheless it is a great tool for organization and planning. I will continue to utilize all of the resources available to chip away at my list and do it with a smile and a red ink pen. (check)

How effective are online wedding planning resources? Do you think these technology based tools are helpful or are you using more traditional organizational tools?

Check out Triple B’s nifty wedding planning timeline checklist here.

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