Information Binders

jcrew_shopaholic

Is anyone making a "binder" for their bridesmaids with all of the information about the wedding, bridesmaid dresses, dates and times, etc?  I figured it might be a good idea for me, since two of my four bridesmaids live out of town/state and two of my bridesmaids have never met before.  This way everyone will have each other's names, phones numbers, etc.  Is this too much, or will it be useful?  Also, if anyone has done something like this, what have all included in it?  Thank you for your help!

1104*Celsius

It's too much, IMO. All of my BMs were out of state from me and where the wedding was (one lives in Asia) and they did not need this. Email is sufficient, I promise.  

Leah&Christian09

No, that's overkill.  I sent them all an email at the beginning: Here's everyone's name/number/email address if you want to talk to them.  Wedding date is X, rehearsal is Y.  What are your thoughts on dresses?  Budget, style requirements?  As we progressed, I sent necessary info via email.  I think I sent 3 total.  The next was voting on a dress, and my shoe request.  Then asking if they wanted hair/make up done.  Then asking for flight details from the OOT people so that I could pick them up. 

jeannigirl

Total overkill. Email works wonders for conveying that info to yout OOT BP.

mbcdefg

Just my take on it ... honestly, if a bride gave me a big binder or folder full of stuff, I'd find it a bit pretentious. Like she was making a big deal out of her wedding. That's not saying that you intend it to be pretentious, because it seems like you just want to give them info. Which is great. But I think e-mail would be plenty to put them in touch with each other, and I think I would only give them the rest of the info as needed (or if they request it). I have two BMs - my sister and a friend, both of whom live in the same city as me and they've already met before. My friend asked for my sister's contact info early on in the planning, and I'm sure they can find each other on Facebook if they wish. Once my sister gets home from her summer job out-of-state, then I'll coordinate with them for a free weekend when we can go dress shopping. Maybe it's different for me since I only have two girls and they're both local, but this process has been working for me so far.

bablingbrooke

If I ever needed to communicate with my BMs about the wedding, I just sent an email to everyone, so they all had each other's emails. If they needed to call each other and didn't have the number, they asked me and I gave it to them. Giving them a binder is a little too much like a first day on the job orientation. Way overboard, totally unnecessary, and sends a message you don't want to send.

banana468

Ditto PPs - that's WAY overkill.  A wee bit too Monica Geller.  :-)An email is perfect.  

peachkins

Nah, I didn't have to make binders or anything- my MOH seems to be cracking the whip just fine.    No really, I just made sure everyone had each other's e-mail addresses and reminded them to order their dresses in a timely enough manner to allow for alterations if needed.  The only other details they really need are for the rehearsal and wedding day, and I'll give them times for those things when they get closer- even I only have a general idea about those things right now.

alora365

We have just emailed & Facebook was actually a great tool for a few of the girls who had never met each other before.

jlstewart

I agree with everyone that email works wonders. To supplement emails that I am sending, I will be adding a page for the bridesmaid and a page for the groomsmen on our wedding website that will be password protected and will include information just for the bridal party about the dresses, tux rentals, bachelor/bachelorette parties, bridal party luncheon, etc.

BeenthereDonethat04

I sent out newsletters (2 of them never checked their email back then!) and I think I sent 3.  They contained updated info for locations, times, dresses, etc. Whatever they needed to know, and only when they needed to know it.  They said it was helpful to put on the bulletin board or wherever to check it when they needed to know something.

mam677

I set up a Facebook group for the wedding and so far it seems to be working OK. That way everyone in the WP has kind of a clue who the other people are and if they need to communicate or have a question, they can e-mail or post it.