Weddings are a Project

OOk, let me just get this out of the way; I’m not a PMP® (Project Management Professional). I’m not even a project manager for that matter. I am a Marketing Communications Specialist at Systemation (a project management, business analysis, and agile development training company). I am also recently engaged and in the very early phases of planning a wedding.

Systemation has always operated under the belief that everything’s a project, from toasting a piece of bread to planning a wedding. Systemation ran a campaign a few years back that showed simple pictures like a couple walking down the aisle, a burnt piece of toast, and a martini with those very words, “everything’s a project,” underneath. I still have the bride and groom pin hanging in my cubicle ,which, I’ll admit, is an inspiration for this blog.

Systemation is right, and when you sit down to think about it, what one event is really in need of project management more than the biggest day of your life? There are so many minute details to keep track of and it has to turn out perfectly.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with project management, it is: The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project  requirements. In other words, project management gives structure to a project by using a specific set of tools and principles.

Even though I am not a project manager I sort of live and breathe this stuff every day at work. And I thought, “why not put it to use for myself and maybe even others?” There is so much information out there about how you should plan something of this magnitude: other blogs, books, websites, magazines… I mean really, we live in a time where everything we want to know is at our fingertips. And yet, I feel like planning a wedding with project management principles could be an untapped resource for those of us DIYers.

So, I have decided to plan my wedding by going through the entire project management process and see how it turns out. My hope is that by putting in a little extra elbow grease up front, the wedding day will proceed without a hitch and I will be prepared to handle all the challenges along the way. I would like to think of this as a little bit of an experiment… the blog, not the wedding of course. After all, I’m no professional. Worst case scenario: I turn into an overly prepared, overly organized, and overly controlling bridezilla. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

For you readers out there: project management isn’t rocket science; it just requires a lot of planning and dedication. Remember, this is my first project in any official sense and it is probably yours too. But I bet you can’t deny ever having made a slice of toast. See? There’s a project manager in all of us! SO, if you don’t know where to start with planning your wedding, are hoping for some structure in the planning process, or maybe you are just a bit of a control freak (I am), I hope you will find this blog helpful.

Let the planning begin! Only 57 weeks to go…