Being organized during your wedding planning months is way more important than you might expect. It’s more than just the ease of being able to find a fabric swatch when you need it. As time goes on, your stress levels will start to climb, and needing to search everywhere for your photographer’s contract could send you into a torrent of tears. Even worse, if you lose that contract, you might forget a deposit due date that you never wrote in your datebook, and you’ll be charged a hefty late fee. Some disorganized brides even lose their vendors when they don’t send a contract back.

So, clearly, being organized is going to save you: 1). Time, 2). Aggravation, and 3). Money. It’s also going to make working with others, like your bridal party and parents, a lot easier when you know exactly where you put that packet on the morning-after breakfast catering or the size cards the groomsmen sent in. When you organize yourself, it’s a 1-2-3-voila! situation, and you feel confident and secure in being able to handle all the steps of the wedding planning process. Your groom also benefits from your organization method, since his tasks become easier as well.

How do you set up the perfect organization system to hold all of your receipts, contracts, online research printouts, checklists and the like? There’s no one perfect way! Only you can create your perfect method, based on what’s worked for you in the past. So think about the following top organizing styles to decide which is the perfect fit:

1.  The binder with colored folders and subject tabs. Some people love the ultra-organized feel of a binder separated into such topics as Gown, Catering, Flowers, Tuxes, and so on. They love flipping to the right section, sliding a swatch into the pocket folder, and closing the binder with a sigh of relief that everything is in its place. Often, the bride who favors this system was very much like this back in school, with a super-efficient binder system and notes taken in different colored pens for each subject.

2.  Online organizing systems. Some bridal registries offer free interactive planning tools that allow you to upload your guest list, click their names into seating charts, keep track of RSVPs, remind about upcoming deadlines, and provide a calendar of what you’ve accomplished already. You can also buy software that will let you organize in this same fashion. If you’re the techno-type who plans everything by computer, and you know how to send alerts to your cell phone, you’re going to get far more use and effect out of this method than trying to train yourself to organize a color-folder binder. You’re happiest with different folders and files on your computer for Gown, Cake, Flowers, and so on, with links to the site where you found that gown, and copies of all of your e-mails sent to your wedding coordinator and experts.

3.  A big bag. At first glance, it might seem like a terrible idea to just dump all of your caterer’s folders and computer printouts into a colorful oversized gift bag (with your choice of theme graphic on the front – mine is an Aloha Hello Kitty that my fiancée gave to me for my birthday last year…it means the world for me to use it in my own wedding planning organizing system!). For you, organizing is best done by having everything in one place, in one bag, not spread all over the house. So just the fact that everything’s in that bag is your perfect organizing system. You know where everything is, from the relatives’ addresses on the yellow legal pad at the back of the bag (you can see it from here) to the printouts of your potential bridesmaids’ dresses (towards the front), and keepsakes such as shower invitations, cocktail napkins with ideas you scribbled down, ribbon samples, the receipt from your shoes, etc. It’s all in there, no matter how big or small.

The truth is, you couldn’t pay me to upkeep a colored-folder binder. I’d never keep it up. The bag works great for me, and when my fiancé needs an address, he knows right where to look for it, without having to log into the computerized online account or ask me to look in an overwhelming, color-coded binder. I’m using the system that works best for me, the system that’s worked best for me in the past, and it’s perfect.

One thing to note: you can use parts of several planning systems, such as the bag and a computer folder to keep track of e-mails sent to your wedding coordinator or florist. No need to print them all out and stash them in the bag. That much I can do. But ask me to upload my guest list to have the computer sort out the seating chart? Nah. Not for me.

Talk to your groom about his organization style. Since he’s a full planning partner, the method he’s most comfortable with is a big factor, too.