How to stay (kinda) relaxed while planning your wedding

If someone had told me five months ago that planning my wedding would be a reasonably relaxing stage of my life, I might not believe them. I still might not, for that matter... but one month in and I'm feeling in control and organized! I need to let you in on a secret:

Being obseseively organized has been my saving grace. I started off with this Google Doc and simplified the tabs to reflect what I needed most. I did some conditional formatting (perfect for shading a cell based on whether it's in your budget or out of your budget) and formulas (great to multiply bridesmaids x bouquet cost + groomsmen x boutonniere cost + bridal bouquet cost... you get what I mean!) to stay as organized as possible.

I'm a very visual person, and most times I prefer to use a pen and paper to get things organized as opposed to spending time in front of a screen. I also have been using a Wedding Planner binder that my lovely mom gave me! Once things are finalized with a vendor, I record all of their information in the binder so that it's the end all be all of wedding-related information. I plan to use the binder as something to hand off on the big day to let someone else be in charge and let me relax and enjoy the most important day of my life! It'll also be a nice memento to have to reflect on all my hard work after the wedding has come and gone.

I'm fortunate enough to have a decent amount of experience with Excel at work, so while some of these things I mention above might not be basic knowledge, anytime I've wanted to learn something new in Excel/Google Docs, I've managed to find a YouTube video or tutorial to help me get what I need.

The flexibility of the Google Doc proved invaluable to me when I was away from home and my fiance mentioned a few people he wanted to add to the list. I was able to use his laptop to access the spreadsheet and add as we went along. I've done this from my phone, and even at work (oops). I grouped the rows by households (the gray rows), which is helpful for knowing how many invites and save the dates we will need to order), as we won't need to order an invitation for every guest! As people start to RSVP, I can easily fill in each row and start estimating our total, as well as who will be coming from out of town and likely using the hotel room block.

My Google Doc was able to help keep me organized when I was getting prices and quotes from vendors. As I've started to narrow down our choices and begin booking with various vendors, I find that I am relying more on the binder, as I'm looking at physical contracts and lists of services each vendor is able to provide. My DJ tab is still going strong, as this is one of the last things we are figuring out before we're able to relax!

My biggest piece of advice to offer to any bride-to-be would be to delegate as much as possible! I have been leaning on my bridesmaids to help me with their insight and Googling abilities. Two of my girls sent out info to get proposals from any and all venues that fit into our vision within the Chicagoland area. All of the emails started coming to me and I was able to sift through from there! Another friend researched bridal boutiques that carried designers I was interested in, and used their automated contact forms to schedule appointments for us to try things on. Don't be afraid to ask for help!

I'm not normally someone who delegates tasks well, but once I realized everyone's enthusiasm, I knew that I had a great group of friends & family who were willing to help make this process as easy as possible for everyone involved.

Any guesses on if I'll be this calm come July and August this summer? :)