(Closed) I’m devastated. – Don’t be like me!

posted 8 years ago in Emotional
Post # 1
Member
899 posts
Busy bee
  • Wedding: November 1999

Like most of you, I’ve been collecting inspiration images and storing all my wedding-related stuff in one place. It is all stored on a USB drive that I take with me everywhere. For a while, I would consistently back it up on my computer and print out pictures in case I ever lost it.

Well, I lost it.

And I hadn’t backed it up for months. (Stupid, stupid me).

I lost so much stuff, it pains me to think about it:

My gigantic spreadsheet with all my research of vendors.

My hypothetical guest list with all the addresses, phone numbers, and emails.

My In-design files of draft stationery, including invitations, Out of Town bag stuff, labels, signs, etc. (I don’t even want to think about how many hours I spent on this stuff.)

Draft ceremony and examples of ceremonies I love.

Countless PDF files of various tutorials.

Hundreds and hundreds of inspiration images.

It was organized, labeled, and I even included the specific source.

Sigh. I’ve looked everywhere. The last time I remember having it was Monday at work. I noticed it missing on Monday evening. I’ve traced my steps and looked in every possible place. I know it has to be somewhere but I think I’ve looked everywhere.

Big picture, I know worse things could happen. With everything going on in Japan, Libya, and around the world, this is really, really, really not a big deal, but I’m still sad.

 So the moral of the story is: DON”T BE LIKE ME! BACK UP YOUR FILES!!!

Tagged: ,

Post # 3
Member
7587 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
  • Wedding: December 2010

@Crabbabs: OMG! I did the same thing, 4 months before my wedding, and I remember freaking out so badly that I told Darling Husband I was going to have to cancel the wedding, because without my spreadsheets the world was over. It was so tough to re-do some of those things that I lost. Seating charts, RSVP list, Guests address’, meal choices, and my payment schedule to vendors! It was so terrible, but I got married, re-did tons of spreadsheets, and it all worked out perfectly. You have some time still, but boy do I sympathize.

Post # 4
Member
899 posts
Busy bee
  • Wedding: November 1999

mwitter, you’re right, I do have plenty of time! Even if I never find it, I can still re-do everything. I’m just mourning the loss of all the time I spent working on it.  

Post # 5
Member
151 posts
Blushing bee
  • Wedding: November 2011

I’m so sorry this happened to you! I would be totally devastated if something happened to the .psd files of stationery that I’ve been working on, not to mention the guest list and all the inspiration pictures 🙁 *BIG HUG*

I back the important files (soft copies of contracts, Excel file with spreadsheets for the guest list, contact list, budget, etc. and so on) up on Dropbox; if you don’t already, you should look into it.

Bonus: you’ll be able to access your files on any computer just by visiting the Dropbox site, or installing it directly. There’s even an app so that you can look at (but not edit) your files on the iPhone; super useful when I’m meeting with a vendor and want to show them specific images without having to print them out or bring a laptop with.

Post # 6
Member
6351 posts
Bee Keeper

I’m sorry that happened 🙁 Boo.

@Drums: What a great idea! I’m going to look into that too.

Post # 7
Member
899 posts
Busy bee
  • Wedding: November 1999

Great tip Drums! I’ll definitely check that out.

Post # 8
Member
5095 posts
Bee Keeper
  • Wedding: June 2011

Oh, I’m so sorry!!!  That sinking feeling you get when you realize something like this has happened is awful.  No, it’s not the end of the world, but it sure is frustrating!

A friend of mine had to rewrite an entire chapter of her dissertation because she failed to back up regularly. It taught me a lesson!

Post # 9
Member
213 posts
Helper bee
  • Wedding: September 2011

So sorry!!! Is there a lost and found at work?  Have you asked around the office or in the building?  Oh!  Thats no fun.  I hope you find it!  If you dont, maybe you’ll be able to remember your favorites and just re-research them.  Good luck!

Post # 10
Member
151 posts
Blushing bee
  • Wedding: November 2011

Happy to help! 🙂 I think you start off with something like 2GB of storage, but there’s a couple of ways you can get more space, listed on the Dropbox site.

I forgot to mention that it’s also great for sharing stuff with the FH! And anyone else helping with your planning, of course. You can invite people to “share” a folder with you, so that whatever one of you uploads into the folder can be seen, edited and downloaded by any of you.

Post # 11
Member
76 posts
Worker bee
  • Wedding: July 2010

Gah, that is terrible, sorry to hear about that…

So in addition to backing up your stuff you could also have another solution, I didn’t back up any of my stuff but instead I emailed myself all my wedding info to my yahoo account and I created a separate folder called “Wedding” with vendor info, spreadsheets, tutorials etc….

So that no matter where I was, I could access it and if I needed to send info to anyone, I could send it to them asap.

 

Post # 12
Member
5106 posts
Bee Keeper
  • Wedding: September 2011

@Crabbabs: I’m SO sorry! (((HUGS))) to you. 🙁

I always printed out a hard copy of most everything I was definitely using.

Post # 13
Member
2714 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: May 2012

I’m so sorry to hear that! I worry about this all the time!

Another alternative to @Lux:‘s suggestion of emailing yourself is to set up google docs if you have a gmail account. I use it for SO many wedding and non-wedding related things and I can access it anywhere I can access my email!

Post # 14
Member
899 posts
Busy bee
  • Wedding: November 1999

Thanks for all the virtual hugs! @lux *light bulb moment* I did actually send a few emails to my Gmail account with various stuff attached! I can dig through it (nothing is organized) and maybe find some of the lost stuff. I’ll definitely utilize Google docs now @TinyTiny. Thanks for the help.

I’ve been going crazy trying to find where I put it. I saved some stuff to it right before I left work, threw it in my purse, pocket, or briefcase (not sure which). When I went to get it later that night, I couldn’t find it. I’ve searched every inch of my office, checked the lost and found, cleaned out my car and looked under the floor mats, tore my apartment apart and looked in the pockets of all my clothes, emptied out every purse and briefcase I’ve ever used, etc., etc. Object permanence! It has to be somewhere right? right?

Wow, I sound a little crazy. I’ll get over it eventually. Thanks for all your sweet comments!

Post # 15
Member
2600 posts
Sugar bee
  • Wedding: June 2011

I would be upset, too!  I lost a usb with tons of photos and things on it last year.  Boo.  I hadn’t backed it up in a long time, either.

Dropbox is awesome, and I’ve been using Google Docs for a lot of wedding stuff so I can access it at home or work and even have my groom and my mom access things I source them on.  Very handy.

Don’t worry, much of it will come back to you and you’ll find even better ideas 🙂

Good luck!

Post # 16
Member
225 posts
Helper bee
  • Wedding: August 2011

omg… O_o   *hug*?

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