Wedding Duties in the Digital Age
“Bridesmaids” Copyright Universal Pictures
It’s coming!!!! A special wedding date! My sister is getting married in October. So, we have to start checking those big events off our to do lists: our Bridesmaid dresses, planning decorations and activities for the bridal shower, and arranging the all-important bachelorette. Arranging one party is a lot of work, but two monumental events, as well as the rest of the to do’s before the big day? So many things to do, so little time. How does one manage it all?
My sister can be a bit of a control freak, and that might prove to be a good thing for the rest of us. If she needs to know every detail, we have to find a way to quickly share that information, and force everyone to stay on the same page. Time to collaborate with a little bit of group transparency!
Google Docs makes sharing plans very easy. You can create a community-supported document or excel spreadsheet, and add email addresses for all the participants you want or need to “chime in” on details. It’s a one-stop-shop for concurrent group members to add and review plans, how great is that?- For dresses, we used Pinterest for group idea-sharing and cute suggestions. Pinterest was also a great place for activities and games, and even thematic decorations.
- Facebook groups and Google groups provide great outlets for link shares, quick comments, and photo sharing (before and after the parties).
- Evites and Paperless Post are great options for party invites, if you’re looking to go digital.
- Need to have a face-to-face reality check with the bride, or Mother of the Bride, or wayward bridesmaid who is slacking? Jump on Skype, or Google Plus video (just don’t share the Google Plus video… unless you’re trying to go viral?).
Thank goodness social networking has taken over the dreaded headache of gathering a ton of directions, explanations, plans, and other necessary items months in advance, combining all the information into thorough documents, and then mailing them to people individually. When your sister lives in Florida, and you live in California, hanging out on a sofa with pen and paper and doing this all by hand is not an option. This way I can help proactively, without the added airfare costs or scheduling nightmares, too!
Do yourself a favor and checkout the awesome sharing-capabilities Google Drive, Pinterest, and Evite have to offer. I promise you won’t regret it! Planning can be tough, so explore digital alternatives and take proactive control of the management side, you just might find some ideas you never would have known about before!
Savannah Lewis
Project Manager