Congratulations on your Engagement!!
When it comes to your big day making sure you have everything you need can be a little nerve-racking. After all, you’ve spent months and months planning. You’ve gone over every detail a million times and spent countless hours making sure everything is perfect…not to mention all the money that’s gone into making sure the big day comes off without a hitch…and with the least amount of stress as possible.
To help along the way I’ve made a list of 18 tips to make the planning process a bit easier and will help make your big day amazing and full of love and happiness.
1. ORGANIZED FROM THE BEGINNING: This is a big one. Invest in some page protectors and a good binder that you can put EVERYTHING in. Your ideas, receipts, contracts, phone numbers, sizes, calendar, samples etc. Having everything in one place will make your life so much easier during your wedding preparation. On the inside of your binder have your name and contact information in case you leave it somewhere.
If possible, I would also suggest making copies of everything and putting it in a separate file folder. If something happened and you lost your binder with all your contacts and information…well let’s not go there.
Also, you need to have a dedicated area in your house or apartment that you can put everything in. Don’t get in a rush or be lackadaisical with this. When you get something for the big day don’t just set it down when you get home. Go straight to the “wedding room” and put it in there. Also, staying organized with everything from the beginning by organizing and labeling everything in boxes or containers will keep you less stressed as well as making it easy for anyone else that helps you find what you need if something gets left behind… Be as detailed as possible with your labels such as, “Reception: Wedding Party Table Decor,” or “Rehearsal Dinner: Wedding Party Gifts” etc.
2. MAKE UP A MONTHLY CALENDAR OF WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE: There are so many great lists out there that let you know what you should do each month before your wedding day. Things can pile up pretty fast if you don’t have a calendar made up of what needs to be done each month. Search Pinterest or in Bridal magazines to find a monthly calendar to meets the needs of your timeline.
Calendar Source: She has beautiful free printable calendars.
3. RELEASE SOME OF THE CONTROL DURING THE LAST MONTH BEFORE YOUR WEDDING: For some of you, this will be extremely hard. Up to this point, most of you have been the one that has controlled every little detail. Have faith in yourself and pick someone or a few someones to be in charge of making sure everything comes together. Consider hiring a “week of” or a “day of” wedding planner. You want your friends and family to be a part of celebrating this day with you instead of running around possibly worried they’re making the right decisions. Hiring a professional might be one of the best decisions you made during your planning.
4. DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE FOR MINOR DETAILS: Things like shoes, jewelry, undergarments, wedding party gifts etc. can be easy things to put off until the last minute but those small things can be extra stress you can avoid. Each time you decide on something make sure you think about everything that goes along with it. For example, when you decide on your dress, think about everything from head to toe. Dress, hair accessories, undergarments, shoes, garters, jewelry, clutch etc.
5. KEEP YOUR APPOINTMENTS AND BE ON TIME: When it comes to making appointments to book vendors make sure you don’t cancel if at all possible. Missing an appointment or canceling it, can be frustrating to the vendor and might result in missing out on booking the vendor you really want.
Make sure you’re on time when you go to your appointments. You want to set the precedence with time management to the people who are going to be a part of putting your vision into place. You will expect them to be on time, so you need to be on time as well. If you are caught in traffic or something unexpected comes up make sure you at least give them a call as soon as possible.
6. GIVE EVERYONE AN ITINERARY: Don’t assume people know where to be and what time they need to be there; or that sending out a group text is going to get to everyone. Make sure everyone knows the timeline, what they’re supposed to do, where they’re supposed to be AND any other details they need to know…dress code if necessary, if they can bring a plus one, what they need to bring etc. Plan on them losing the itinerary…someone always does lol, so make extra copies and keep them in your binder. Also send it out via email as well.
You don’t need to be a tyrant about this, but making sure everyone knows ahead of time on all the events–showers, fittings, bachelorette/bachelor parties, rehearsal time and location, when they need to be at the wedding venue on the big day etc.
7. STAY ON BUDGET: Be very clear about your budget and what you can afford to spend on your wedding. Decide who is paying for what and what everyone is comfortable with. Start with your must-haves first. What are the most important things that you and your fiance want at your wedding, then go from there. Getting off budget is a sure way to cause tension between everyone.
8. DON’T GET D.I.Y. CRAZY: Looking on Pinterest for great DIY projects can be wonderful, but be realistic. If you don’t normally like doing crafts be careful not to bite off more than you can do. You also need to price check how much everything is going to cost to make everything. Just because your going to make it yourself doesn’t mean it’s going to be any cheaper, in fact, it could add up to be more expensive than if you would have bought it already done.
Also, don’t expect your parents and friends to come over and spend countless hours doing a project(s) that you’ve decided to do.
9. DECIDE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING WHAT KIND OF WEDDING YOU WANT: Before you buy your dress, start getting decorations, and picking out your color scheme, decide what kind of wedding you want to have. Do you want to have a formal black tie affair or do you want to have a more casual, smaller get together?
Stay consistent with your theme. You may like a lot of different things but once you decide what kind of wedding you want, be consistent with your decor.
10. DON’T TALK ABOUT YOUR WEDDING CONSTANTLY: It’s GREAT that you’re excited–as you should be and at first, everyone’s going to want to know all the details. Usually before you even know but PLEASE don’t talk about your wedding EVERY day until the BIG day. Yes, of course, you need to and will want to talk about it, but… I’ve been around people that are getting married and that’s all they EVER talk about. It’s great at first but then you start avoiding that person because you can’t stand to have another conversation about THE WEDDING…well, just don’t be that person
**Follow the same advice with your fiance’. He won’t want to hear about it every single day. Be sure to talk about other things and just enjoy being together.
Please keep in mind that although the world pretty much revolves around you on the big day, that the days leading up to the big event doesn’t…yes, I know for some of you this is hard to deal with lol, but it’s true. Be considerate of any out of town wedding party attendants, work schedules, and those friends of yours that have children. Don’t expect them to scramble around on a seconds notice to find babysitters or take off work. This will only cause hard feelings.
11. CUSHION YOUR BUDGET: You can pretty much plan on something at the last minute coming up that’s going to cost extra money. Make sure you plan for that. If it doesn’t happen you can always use the extra cash on your honeymoon. Also, don’t forget to set aside cash for wedding day tips…chauffeur, bartender, D.J., priest etc.
12. DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE DAY AFTER YOUR WEDDING TO PACK FOR YOUR HONEYMOON: If you’re leaving within 1-2 days after your wedding set aside clothes that you want to take with you on your honeymoon. Make a list of what you want to pack for your honeymoon. It’s also a good idea to put a suitcase in your “wedding room” and add to it when you come across things you want to take.
Are you going somewhere that you need a passport? Have you double checked your itinerary and reservations? If you need to have money exchanged, make sure you do it a couple of weeks before your honeymoon. Be sure to take your marriage certificate with you.
13. MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR SOMEONE TO TRANSPORT GIFTS, PERSONAL ITEMS, AND ANY DECOR THAT NEEDS TO BE REMOVED FROM THE CHURCH AND/OR THE RECEPTION: This is often overlooked until the last minute when people start looking around and asking who’s going to pack up centerpieces, the cake, gifts, and any personal items left behind. Everyone will be exhausted by the end of the evening, so having people know ahead of time what their job is and where they need to take things will be a huge relief for everyone. You might even write it on their itinerary so they don’t forget. Of course, you need to check with them ahead of time to make sure they’re willing to take on the extra duties. This will also help you know who was responsible for what so if you have any questions you know who to talk to. Ask two or three people to do this. It will be a bigger job than you think and with more than one person in charge, it will help ensure that things aren’t forgotten. Be sure to give someone a key if they’re taking in back to your home, especially if you’ll be staying at a hotel on the wedding night.
14. DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO PICK OUT THAT SPECIAL WEDDING GIFT FOR THE MAN OF YOUR DREAMS: I find that most of the time men are really hard to buy for. Every Christmas, birthday, anniversary and father’s day, I always try and pick out the perfect gift for my husband. Sometimes I manage to pull it off and sometimes he just smiles and graciously say how much he loves it. The wedding day gift that you pick for your soon to be husband isn’t about how big or expensive it is but more about how personal or romantic it is.
15. PLAN TO SPEND A FEW MINUTES ALONE TOGETHER AFTER YOU SAY “I DO”: Everyone will be so excited to rush up to you and congratulate you on your marriage but consider spending a few minutes alone before your surrounded by people for the rest of the day. Decide when the best time for this would be. It could be before the ceremony if you’re going to do a reveal, or it could be stealing a few minutes after the wedding before you head off to take pictures or go on over to the reception. Make sure your wedding party knows so they don’t think your MIA and can direct people that are looking for you that you’re unavailable until the reception.
16. DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO WRITE YOUR WEDDING VOWS: If you plan on writing wedding vows make sure you take time to think about what you truly want to say. Putting it off until the night before or even a couple of days before your wedding puts undue stress and pressure on you to come up with just the right words to express your love and devotion to the man of your dreams.
17. PLAN TO SPEND A LITTLE BIT OF TIME WITH YOUR PARENTS: This one is often overlooked and not many brides plan a time or an evening just to spend with their parents alone without anyone else around to really thank them for all they’re doing and to tell them how much you appreciate them. In all the excitement and planning, this is something that isn’t really thought much about. Remember, even though you’re excited to start this new chapter in your life and your parents are happy for you, this may be difficult for them. Having some time alone with them to thank them for all they have done and are doing to help make your wedding day beautiful will mean so much to them.
18. 
AND FINALLY…DON’T FORGET TO RELAX AND ENJOY THE DAY: Don’t let the little things that might come up ruin the day. You’re marrying the man of your dreams surrounded by family and friends that love and care about you and your fiance. Enjoy every moment because it goes by way too fast.
Again, congratulations and many blessings to you and your soon to be husband!
I’ve attached a free wedding day bridal packing list to make things a bit easier.
*Free Wedding Day Bridal Packing List
