Planning the wedding of your dreams can take months or even
years, but even brides who have every detail covered might overlook things at
the last minute. In the week leading up to your wedding, try our wedding
checklist to make sure everything is good to go for your big day.
1. Check your Wedding Dress
Even if you have seen your seamstress 15 times to make sure
the dress fit just right, go ahead and do one last look at the finished
product. This will give you plenty of time to make any quick adjustments and
get it cleaned and steam pressed. Taking care of this now saves you from a
wedding day meltdown when a wrinkle pops up.
2. Payment/ Tip Envelopes
The last thing you want to be doing on your wedding day is
running around trying to pay off your vendors. Keep the day-of stress to a
minimum by taking care of things beforehand. Finish up your payments where you
can, and for vendors that are paid the day of, set aside envelopes with the
contact information and payment. These envelopes work great for tips too, so you
don’t have to be reaching into the money dance stash to tip your DJ.
3. Pack for Your Honeymoon
If you’ve planned for a grand exit that will take you
straight to your honeymoon, you also need to have your packing done and ready
to go. Not only will you want all the packing done, but also be sure to arrange
some way to get your honeymoon luggage to your wedding venue for the exit.
Having to make a pit stop to pick up a suitcase, isn’t quite as romantic.
4. Arrange for Clean Up
Another thing you should plan for – the clean up. Surely
your caterer or venue will be doing the heavy lifting when it comes to décor,
but what about all those gifts. Make sure that someone in your wedding party of
a family member is in charge of any end of the night pick up for gifts, guest books,
and any other odds and ends.
5. Make it Legal
Of course you can sign your legal marriage license months in
advanced, but if you have some free time in the week before your big day, have
a fun romantic afternoon with your groom to make it official. You can also work
on changing your last name, but keep in mind that a name change will alter any
passports and identification that you might need for international travel.
6. Pack an Emergency Kit
While you still have a week to go, start putting together a
bridal emergency kit, just in case things don’t go quite as planned. Include a
bleach pen, some safety pins, extra bobby pins, hairspray, deodorant, anything
that is likely to be forgotten then needed.
7. Finish Your Vows
Lastly, spend the week before your wedding polishing off
your vows. This is a sweet activity that can take you back down memory lane
with your groom and remind you just why he is the man you chose to marry. What
could get you more excited about a wedding, than remembering that you found the
love of your life?
