Yes, The Knot Wedding Binder Is The Best Organizer for To-Be-Weds

Type A couples, this is for you.
The Knot wedding planning binder
Photo: Amazon
chapelle johnson the knot associate editor
by
Chapelle Johnson
chapelle johnson the knot associate editor
Chapelle Johnson
Associate Editor
  • Chapelle writes articles for The Knot Worldwide. She covers all things wedding-related and has a personal interest in covering celebrity engagements and fashion.
  • Before joining The Knot Worldwide, Chapelle was an editorial intern for Subvrt Magazine.
  • Chapelle has a degree in English writing from Loyola University New Orleans.
Updated Nov 30, 2023
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Trust us, planning your wedding doesn't have to be hard. Ease the stress and anxiety of it all by using a wedding planner book to keep you organized throughout the planning process. And yes, we might be a little biased, but we really do believe The Knot Wedding Binder is the best choice out there. From inspirational imagery to to-do lists, you and your partner will find everything you need to execute a memorable and beautiful wedding. But if customer reviews, photos and a short product description aren't enough for you, you've come to the right place. Below, we tell you about everything included in The Knot Wedding Planner Book, expand on its benefits and brief you on the best uses for it.

(Psst. If you love our wedding planner, you'll be obsessed with The Knot Honeymoon Journal and The Knot First Year of Marriage Journal.) Use the travel book to help plan your trip, then take advantage of the games and ideas section to keep yourselves entertained while on the plane or the beach and use the "Bringing It Home" portion to write down your honeymoon memories so you can revisit them in the future. And for later down the road, deepen your newlywed bond by tackling 365 questions and prompts that'll allow you to explore more about one another, keep things lighthearted and have deep conversations about family, career and more.

In this article:

What Is The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner and Organizer?

The Knot Wedding Planner Book is an essential tool for to-be-weds to learn everything there is to know about weddings and help organize their celebration. The Knot Wedding Binder is a portable resource for couples and makes finding important big-day info easily accessible. Here are some quick facts: The book weighs a light 2.71 pounds, has 144 pages and is 10.45 x 1.81 x 11.84 inches.

What's Included in The Knot Wedding Planner Book

There are lots of great things engaged newlyweds will love in The Knot Wedding Planning Book, which comes as a hardcover or ring-bound binder. Get a sneak peek at what you'll find below.

Inspiration Imagery and Ideas

The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner starts with the top tips for finding inspiration, a worksheet to help you figure out how you want your wedding to look and how to pick your color scheme. This inspiration tab, one of 14, also has a space for people to create a mini wedding vision board. And speaking of tabs, they divide each section and include beautiful pictures of real married couples and their weddings.

Wedding Planning Timelines

Lots of reviewers say the wedding planning checklists are their favorite part of The Knot Wedding Planner Binder. Whether you have a year to plan or three months, there's a checklist to guide you from beginning to end. Make edits and additions to the timelines provided to customize it to your special day.

Budget Tips and Tracking

It's crucial to create a wedding budget before getting too deep into planning. Our editors offer eight suggestions to set your budget, useful equations, cost-cutting ideas, a pie chart showing (typically) what percentage of each aspect of the wedding budget is allocated and finally, a comprehensive list of just about every possible wedding expense so you can write down the estimated and actual costs. Tracking your spending just got easier with this easy-to-use section.

Advice on Wedding Planners

The Knot Planning Binder also includes a segment that looks into everything you should know about working with a planner. You learn the difference between the common types of planners, what to ask your desired pro and what to look for in a wedding planner contract.

Guest List Flowchart

Curating your guest list is one of the most important planning tasks because other wedding decisions revolve around your guest count. Use our flowchart in The Knot Wedding Binder to determine who makes the cut so all your loved ones are present to celebrate.

Gift Registry Info and Checklist

Our editors provide readers with nine things to keep in mind while building and managing their registry. And as a super bonus, there's a complete (traditional and non-traditional) list of everything to-be-weds may want on their registry. From bath essentials to items for your hobbies, simply check things off as you add them to your collection.

Prewedding Events Break Down

If your wedding is your first nuptial experience, you probably don't know all the other wedding-related festivities that occur. From the engagement party to the welcome party, our editors explain what each event is, when it traditionally occurs, where, who hosts and who's typically invited.

Reception Venue Tips, Worksheet and Checklist

The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner and Organizer is just what you need to find your perfect wedding venue. We provide nine ways to choose your venue based on your wants and needs, a worksheet to help you determine what attributes matter the most to you, a venue shopping list (what you need to look for while touring), how reception seating works and to-do list for when it's time to book your reception venue.

Wedding Invitations 101

In the invitations tab of The Knot Wedding Planner Book, learn how to make the most of your wedding invitations. These tips include knowing when to order extras, checking for typos, how to address the envelopes and much more. There is also a stationery glossary (yes, you can finally learn what deckled edges are), a list of questions to ask a stationer, invitation wording techniques and a checklist you can use while you're ordering your stationery.

Wedding Website Info

There are so many benefits to creating a wedding website. Simply having a place to include crucial wedding details that can't fit on your invitations is a major advantage. Learn how to make the best wedding website using our expert advice in the book.

Decor Vendors Cheat Sheet, Checklist and Questions to Ask

In The Knot Wedding Binder, you'll find a rentals cheat sheet that explains the most commonly rented wedding items, but that's not all. The decor section also has an inventory checklist for rentals, lighting and florals, a questions-to-ask list for each vendor and a handy floral glossary so you can know what color and style you're going for.

Food and Drink Checklist, Worksheet and Questions to Ask

Here you'll find out the secret sauce to creating your wedding menu, choosing your catering style, finding the right bar service and picking a wedding cake. There's also advice on what essential questions to ask your desired caterer and baker, what should be on your catering and wedding cake checklist and how to stock the bar.

Photography and Videography Questions to Ask, Worksheets and Checklists

Having gorgeous photos and videos of your special day allows you to relive the joyous occasion that's why hiring the right pro to capture it is vital. Get tips and tricks for working with your wedding photographer and videographer, read which questions you need to ask them, use our worksheet for must-have wedding shots, the pros and cons of the first look and checklists of what to look for in your future visual vendors.

Wedding Attire, Hair and Makeup Checklists and Cheat Sheets

The Knot Wedding Planning Book speaks on wedding fashion basics, wedding dress and suits 101 and offers a wedding dress checklist. You'll find out how to choose your accessories, hair and makeup, what inquiries you should have for your hair and makeup artist, a beauty and wellness timeline, how to create a cohesive look for your wedding party and (our favorite part) a space to write down and keep track of what each VIP is wearing for the big day.

Ceremony Tips, Cheat Sheet and Break Down

The ceremony makes this special affair a wedding, that's why you should plan it with caution and care. Take the time to figure out where and how you want to marry using our ceremony style worksheet, learn which ways you can incorporate your culture, how to find the best ceremony venue for you, what kind of officiant you need, prompts for writing your vows and how to go about your wedding processional.

Wedding Entertainment Questions to Ask and To-Do List

Keeping yourself and your guests entertained will keep the energy high after the ceremony. Our editors advise on whether a live band or DJ is right for you, suggest what questions you need to ask your musicians or DJ before signing a contract and make a list of final entertainment to-dos before the wedding.

Transportation and Accommodations How-tos and Checklists

Your planning isn't done once you book your favorite Prince cover band. You and your partner must ensure your guests are well taken care of from the beginning until the end. We break down what types of wedding transportation exist, questions to ask the transportation company, how to hire them, how to block hotel rooms for guests and everything you should know about wedding welcome bags.

Wedding Countdown Timelines and Worksheets

Once you're at this point, pat yourself on the back because you've made it to the end of The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner. Get final tips for the last few weeks before the wedding, two-week and two-day timelines, a wedding weekend schedule worksheet, a cheat sheet for tipping your vendors and a checklist for your day-of emergency kit.

Wedding planning checklist
Photo: Prostock-studio

Benefits of The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner and Organizer

Wondering if it's worth getting a wedding planner book? The answer is yes, times three. But if everything we listed above didn't convince you, check out these benefits below.

You can keep everything in one place.

Having all your wedding notes organized in one place might not seem like a big deal at first, but once you get into the depths of planning you'll be grateful. Yes, you might have some of your wedding info online, but the book is a great visual aid that allows you to flip easily from tab to tab to find whatever you're looking for. And who doesn't love a wedding organizer that's in chronological order?

You can add your own pages to the (ring-bound) binder.

Wedding planning is all about making it your own. That's why we love the ring-bound binder option for those who want to add more notes, contact pages, photo inspiration and much more to their planners. Warning: Once you start adding things, you might not be able to stop.

There's a PVC pocket for extra storage.

Curious about the purpose of the clear PVC pocket in the back of The Knot Wedding Binder Printables? Use this plastic insert to hold vendor business cards, documents you don't want to punch holes in, pens, receipts, stamps and much more. And if you need more than the one provided, you can find PVC pockets at your local crafts and stationery supplies store.

Best Ways to Use Your Wedding Binder & Organizer

Let The Knot Wedding Binder be your best friend during the planning process. Here are our favorite ways to get full use out of the book.

Take advantage of the worksheets.

We know the word "worksheet" might bring you back to your early school days and boring multiplication problems, but try to put that at the back of your mind. Instead, use the wedding worksheets as lessons in figuring out what you and your partner want and need for your celebration. Think of these tasks as homework that will aid in making planning easier and your wedding exactly how you want it to be.

Let the planner help you stick to deadlines.

Missing a deadline is not an option when planning a wedding because it can throw off many to-dos down the line. Keep all your and your vendor's target dates in one place so you can reference them effortlessly and quickly. Once you write down those deadlines in the book, we also highly suggest setting reminders on all your electronic devices and calendars so you don't forget a thing––skipping the cake tasting would be tragic.

Show the binder to your wedding planner for easier communication.

While completing the worksheets and filling out every space possible in the organizer, we advise you to speak with your wedding planner about all your decisions and show them your binder. This way you and your pro can have another source of inspiration. Your wedding planner might even want to make copies of your notes, which can help both of you (literally) be on the same page.

Use the planner as a guide, then customize your planning process.

We always love to remind our readers that our planner is only a guide, not the be-all and end-all of wedding planning. If you feel like the ceremony tab needs to be more fleshed out because you're having a mixed faith wedding ceremony, feel free to add pages that address what traditions you and your partner want to include, which religious authorities you need to have and more. Use the planner as a foundation for your celebration and personal touches along the way.

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