Whether youre a type A or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pantser, if youre set on pulling off a June wedding with 150 of your closest friends in attendance, youre going to have to get organized. And the sooner, the better.

Over the coming weeks and months youll be barraged by business cards, notes, swatches, photos, and more documentation essential in pulling off the perfect Big Day. Decide on an organization style early. Depending on the size and complexity of your wedding, you may even need several manners of cataloging. A single shoebox may not do it this time. Try a combination of these filing friends:

• Portable file box: Choose from several sizes of file boxes, complete with convenient carrying handle. Load up on file folders and spend an hour creating folders for each major component of your wedding: location, attire, flowers, music, etc.
• File sorter: Choose a file sorter that fits the complexity of your wedding. Theyre available in styles from magazine-size to desktop multitiered tray to 30-slot wall organizer.
• Binder: Select a sturdy binder and personalize it to your needs with accessories such as dividers, pockets, extra note paper, and other office supply essentials.
• E-mail folder: Set up a special wedding folder in your e-mail archive so you can save notes from potential vendors, ideas from your attendants, messages from your online registry, and more. Make subfolders if youll be doing a lot of your planning online.
• Spreadsheet: Use a basic spreadsheet program, like Microsoft Excel, for organizing your guest list, vendor phone numbers, catering choices, and more.

As you set up your organization system, youll probably start thinking about the timeline for securing your vendors, ordering your attire, planning your honeymoon, and the myriad to-dos on your list. Visit our Planning Checklist to get the lowdown of what to do when, so you dont miss a beat. Weve even built in a special note-taking capability so you can jot down phone numbers of vendors, additional to-dos, and any idea you just want to have on record. So, now you can cross off buy sticky notes from your list of things to do.

- Maile Bohlmann, Amazon.com Wedding Editor

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