Let’s be real: As fun and beautiful wedding days are, they can also be chaotic and overwhelming, especially as it nears. Questions like “Am I forgetting something?” “How many extras should I bring?” and “What am I missing?” will start to crowd your mind.

To dodge the stress and keep my sanity, I went full-on organizing nerd with labeled boxes for each part of the wedding.

Here’s the scoop on how this easy-peasy approach helped me relax and enjoy every minute of my wedding.

Just to preface this article, this “hack” is by no means new. Many brides do this, too, to help them stay, well, organized throughout the chaotic wedding day. This is just based on what I did and what worked for me, in the hopes that it helps keep you calm, too.

Now, I figured out early that I didn’t want to be running around looking for stuff on my wedding day. So, I got a bunch of boxes (preferably clear ones) and labeled each one with their contents. There was a box for church essentials, one for my bridal essentials, boxes for my bridesmaids, and even a box for things I wanted photographed, like our wedding stationery and gifts for the parents.

More than keeping things tidy, the boxes helped make sure that everyone, from my coordinator to the photographers, knew exactly where to find everything.

Take the “Church Essentials” box for example. Inside, it held our wedding bands, the Bible, the pillows for the rings and arras coins, the ceremonial cord, veil, and the unity candle. Basically everything that would be used during the ceremony, including the ribbons that our guests waved as we made our exit afterwards.

It was especially helpful to the coordinator assigned to the church, because having them in one dedicated place meant there was no last-minute scrambling.

My own Bridal Box was my wedding day go-to. It was stocked with makeup for touch-ups, two pairs of shoes—one for the ceremony and another comfy pair for dancing at the reception–and all those just-in-case items that you hope you won’t need but pack anyway (like safety pins, band aids, extra handkerchief, wet wipes, etc.) I also included both my ceremony and reception jewelry, as well as hair accessories.

As you might imagine, this box, in particular, was much appreciated by my makeup and hair artists.

I also created a Master List that had the lowdown on what was in each box. This list was my lifesaver when it came to setting things up and packing them up at the end of the night. It helped us make sure that nothing got left behind, no matter how crazy the day got. It kept track of all the moving parts—from the ceremony to the reception—and it gave everyone involved a clear roadmap of where things needed to be.

By the end of the night, checking items off the list was a breeze! It helped make sure that we were all wrapped up without any hiccups or lost items. It was such a relief to have everything organized.

These labeled boxes allowed me to kick back, relax, and actually enjoy my wedding, knowing everything was under control. If you’re in the wedding planning phase, give this box system a try. It’s straightforward, it’s effective, and it’ll let you focus on what really matters—having a blast on your big day!