Filo of Honor

My Filofax has been very busy these past few weeks. In about two months, my best friend will be getting married. I was chosen as maid of honor. So, many tasks fall to me, especially since I am the only bridesmaid. Therefore, I have list upon list going, some just to serve as reminders and some with more detailed information. Here’s what my Filo has been up to:

In my personal Guildford, I have two lists for this event, both on green note paper since that is the color I have designated for this project. (Of course both of these lists are filed away behind my “Projects” tab.) The first sheet is a simple list of things that need to be done in general: choose a dress, shoes and bag; plan a shower; plan a bachelorette party; find someone to do hair and makeup for the event and go for a trial; make an appointment for a manicure and pedicure; have dress altered; and write a speech.

At this point, most of these items have been completed or are in the process of being completed. If something has been started it gets a check mark. When the item is complete, it gets crossed off the list entirely. Then there are those items that have been checked (in progress) but also have a note attached to see another list. For example, “Plan a shower” has a check mark because it is in the process of being planned. But because there are many items that accompany planning a shower, it needs a separate list. On that list belongs: find venue, choose date, send invitations and take RSVPs, buy decorations, favors and gift. Then there’s the issue of getting the bride to the shower while trying to keep it a surprise, which leads me to ask, why do we bother trying to keep such a thing a surprise when all brides know they’re bound to get one? I hate coming up with excuses and stories to try and keep something a surprise when really, ultimately, it’s not a surprise at all. But I digress.

I also have a separate list for the bachelorette party as well. In many cases, bachelorette parties are a surprise, but this one is not. The bride is very much like me in that we don’t like the traditional American bachelorette party theme (strippers and clubbing and drinking one’s self into an embarrassing oblivion). So I wanted to confer with her on the type of celebration she would like. After all, it is for her, so I wanted to make sure she would enjoy the day. Plus, I don’t know many of her work friends, so I wanted to know who she would want to include. We decided on an afternoon at the spa and a sunset picnic dinner at the beach with five others. So my list for the bachelorette party is as follows: choose a date and time, invite the participants, find a spa and make appointments, order food, and choose a beach.

Finally, there are the lists for all the money spent. These lists are kept in my A5 Finchley under my “Financial” tab. I keep all of my financial information here, so it only made sense for me to keep the wedding financial lists here, too. I am using a separate “Bank Account” sheet – on one side is all financial information in general (the costs of the dress and its alterations and accessories, the money I put towards the shower and bachelorette day). On the back of this sheet goes specific information. So here, I have the details for the shower: the cost of the decorations, favors, etc. I will do this for the bachelorette day as well and move the totals for each to the front side under the general information. When all is said and done, I will have a grand total of all the money I spent for my job as maid of honor. (Though, I’m not sure I want to know that.)

I got married almost 4 years ago now. That was before I found Filofax, so while I was very organized with my planning, I did not have a beautiful Filo to place all of my information. It almost makes me want to go back and plan a wedding all over again. Almost.

One final thought: Thank God I don’t ever need to plan a wedding again - too much money, stress and planning goes into one day that is over entirely too fast anyway. But it sure is fun keeping it all organized in my Filos.