Tips on how to plan a wedding at work.

(Without Getting Fired!)

We all know what it’s like to sneak onto Facebook or Instagram at work—but planning your wedding on the job is a whole other ballgame.

Here are a few tips on how to plan a wedding when you are working.

Wedding planning might be a full-time job, but chances are you’ve also got that other full-time job—you know, the one you had long before he put that ring on your finger.

Even if you’ve hired a hands-on wedding planner, you probably still need to decide some things yourself. How to deal?

Plan for some serious, um… let’s call it multitasking. Here’s how to find the time do it all without winding up in hot water with your boss.

3 Tricks for Not Getting Caught

Stay on Task: You want to fly under the radar—if it’s blatantly obvious that your work time has become wedding time, you risk the wrath of your coworkers or even worse, your boss.

You can’t let wedding planning take up your entire day, but you can definitely let it replace the time you would have spent instant messaging.

The key: Stay on top of your normal tasks and goals, and don’t let planning affect your performance.

Go Online: Do not, we repeat, do not bring your wedding binder to work. A notebook full of decor ideas and fabric swatches is way too obvious (unless perhaps you’re an interior decorator).

Leave the real deal at home and add ideas at work on your phone to The Knot Wedding Planner app.

You can save articles, photos and gowns you like—and remember, if you really need something you can actually hang onto, you can always print out the pics.

Watch Your Back:

It should be obvious but use your best judgment when it comes to planning your wedding while you’re supposed to be working on your work (you know, the stuff they’re actually paying you to do).

Don’t leave a wedding-related web page or document on your screen if you have to step away from your desk—close or minimize it.

And keep more than one window open so if someone comes by it’s easy to tab over from your reception site’s floor plan to something more legit. And for those who have a private office or a computer privacy screen, consider yourselves a little luckier!

When to Do What

Finding Vendors: Daytime

Researching vendors online—checking out sites, listings on The Knot Marketplace or reading other to-be-weds’ recommendations—is an obvious one for that spare five minutes before you have to run into a meeting.

One warning: Make sure the volume on your computer is turned off, or at least way down! If Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” starts blasting, you are so busted.

Finding Inspiration: Daytime

Here’s another instance where the Internet is your best friend—browse for gowns, bouquets and more online (just check out the image search onTheKnot.com for thousands of wedding photos of, well, everything).

You’re more likely to have an aha! the moment the more you see, so spending time online is a good way to get through the doldrums of your workday (like mid-afternoon, when lunch is ancient history and it feels like the end of the day is never going to come).

Visiting Vendors: Free time

Unless you’re just doing a drive-by to check out their digs, keep actual vendor visits to your days off or weekends.

You’re going to want to visit most vendors as a tag team, so you’ll need your fiance with you.

More importantly, if you really like the vendor, you can talk much longer without worrying about going over your lunch hour. Better to play it safe and plan visits for when you know you don’t have work commitments.

DIY Stuff: Nighttime

Did you really think you’d be able to assemble programs at your desk? Or that your boss won’t notice you printing out 200 favour cards on the colour printer?

Wedding projects (like tying the bows on all those favour boxes) are definitely a nighttime activity—kick back with a glass of wine and Netflix while you fold 300 sheets of vellum.

Making Lists: Anytime

Playlists, guest lists and even to-do lists—whether you manage them online or on paper, keep these at your fingertips so whenever you think of something, you can update them.

4 Ways to Max Out Your Free Time

Your Commute: In the subway? Read wedding magazines or go over your lists. On the train or a bus?

Use the time to email or, if it’s not too loud, make a few quick check-in phone calls with vendors before their day gets too busy. Driving?

Use the voice notes feature on your cell phone to record any sudden bursts of inspiration.

No matter how you commute, load your potential playlist on your phone to preview potential ceremony or first dance tunes—you’d feel lazy sitting around your house doing it, but if you’re stuck in traffic, why not crank up Pachelbel’s Canon in D?

Your Lunch Hour:

Plan to devote at least a few days a week to vendor phone calls. The key is to plan out your conversation beforehand and make a list so it can be swift and tactful. That way, you’ll still have time to enjoy that grilled chicken salad.

Your Workout:

Don’t just watch CNN scroll by while you’re pedalling away on a stationary bike. Instead, use some of the time for wedding-related reading (for example, print out a bunch of ceremony or vow ideas to read over).

If you go to the gym at the end of the day, that’s a good time to read back over your to-do lists, check off what you’ve completed, and jot down notes for what you need to do next.

Making Dinner:

Whether you’re waiting for the oven to preheat or unwinding while your fiance does the work, use the time in between prep work and mealtime to hop online. A watched pot never boils anyway, right? Make that spare 5 or 10 minutes count.

3 Things to Watch Out For

Limit Your Sources: If you’re asking your coworkers for a bit of wedding advice—even something simple like, “Do you like periwinkle better than a peach?

make sure they’re on your invite list. The more a work pal feels involved in your wedding, the more she’ll feel snubbed when that big square envelope doesn’t arrive.

The exception: if you’ve already made it clear your guest list is going to be limited, or if you’re all extremely close.

Get Your Apology Accepted:

You’re running late handing in an update on a project, your boss comes over to check on you, and—uh-oh—you’re onTheKnot.com. How do you deal?

First, fess up. In this case, honesty is the best policy. Tell her the project’s actual status, and say that you just needed a minute to clear your head before plunging back into your work.

Then try not to let it happen again. If you arouse your superior’s suspicions, you’ll be monitored that much more closely.

Protect Yourself:

Look up your company’s policy for computer use.

No employer wants you to use your computer for personal reasons, but what you need to check out is just how extensively your online activity is monitored.

If it seems like Big Brother is watching, you may need to scale back your at-work wedding planning—but don’t worry, you’ll still find a way to get it all done.

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