There are countless checklists and to-do lists you have to keep track of when you’re planning your wedding but even our ultimate checklist doesn’t cover the details you need to remember when crossing each task off.
Start collecting postal addresses ASAP
You may not even have your guest list started yet, but there are at least some absolute definites that you’ll be inviting. It’s a good idea to get the essential postal addresses as early as possible. Then as you start to work out your guest list, you should get the postal addresses from your parents or whoever you can as you go along. Otherwise, you’ll spend weeks pouring over your guest list, choosing your stationery and ordering your stamps before it’s time to write the envelopes and you’re staring at an empty address book. Don’t leave it until it’s time to post the invites to get the addresses.
Don’t forget about insurance
We cannot say this enough: remember to get insurance as soon as possible. Get your engagement ring insured the very first chance you get after he pops the question. And once you have your bearings with the wedding plans, start looking into wedding insurance too. Remember that pesky travel insurance for your honeymoon while you're at it. You want to make sure you’re as covered as possible for these momentous – and expensive – occasions.
Consider the back when choosing a dress
When it comes to your dress, finding your absolute dream one might mean you don’t care about certain other things. However, for some brides there can be some serious “I wish I thought about that” moments. Remember to take the time to look at the back when choosing your dress. You might not want a fully adorned back, but remember, for a large proportion of the wedding, your guests will be looking at your back, so you might like a dress that has something special about its back.
Think about the help you’ll need in the bathroom
Again, if you find the perfect organza ball gown, go for it? While practical elements of movement and ease do cross your mind when picking the perfect dress, you might decide that you can manage just find in favour of the dress you really want. However, once you’ve picked the dress, make sure you can dance, walk, turn and generally move around in it. You should also figure out how easy it is to go to the bathroom and how much help you’ll need on the day.
Discuss photograph rights
Remember: just because you pay a wedding photographer to take photos of you on your wedding day, it doesn’t mean the photographs are yours. The photographer owns the photos they take, remember, you’re choosing to buy your album of photos from them. Make sure you talk to your photographer about sharing photos online and making additional prints from the digital copy. Make sure you’re totally happy with the terms and conditions before you commit to a photographer. Here are some questions to ask when choosing your photographer.
Think about the registry logistics
If you’re registering for gifts, it’s not just a matter of deciding what you want. Rmember, you have to decide where to have the gifts delivered as well as the returns policy if you get duplicates, which you probably will get. Make sure you know how much time you have to return gifts because otherwise you might forget until it’s too late. And what’s anyone going to do with two identical kettles?
Start thank you cards straight away
Once the gifts do start rolling in, especially the early ones, whip out the thank you cards straight away and get going. Even if you decide not to send them until after the wedding, make sure you write them as the gifts come in so you don’t forget and put them somewhere safe – where you won’t forget about them when it comes to the bulk of the thank yous. It’s also a good idea to write a list of everyone who sent you a card or got you a gift. It’s extremely bad etiquette for guests not to give anything so if you haven’t written a thank you card for someone yet, chances are you missed their gift so make sure you haven’t lost any along the way.
What to do with your details
It’s all well and good to get the little mason jars and fill them with flowers for your centrepieces or decorate the ceremony with lanterns from Etsy, but what are you going to do with all those decorations after the wedding? Don’t panic, you have plenty of options, it’s just good to have a plan. You can give small decorations to your guests as favours while some of your decorations can be reusable as home decorations. Your flowers can be donated to the church or to local nursing homes. You might even manage to sell your wedding decorations online. As long as you have a plan, that’s all that matters.
Remember to leave online reviews
Don’t forget to leave online reviews for all your vendors. Word of mouth and reviews is the best way wedding vendors get business, so if you think your wedding band made your day complete or you’re so happy you put the extra bit of the budget into that photographer, say so online. Their next job might be a bride who was swayed by your review and it’s your extra way of saying thank you to your vendors for making your day that bit extra special
Prepare for post-wedding blues
Your wedding is a long-awaited climax and the come down can be dramatic at time. Brides can often be hit by a surprise of blues after their wedding is all over, but as long as you’re prepared for them you will be able to overcome them easily enough. Your wedding is one of the best days of your life so anything to avoid any sadness at all is always a good thing and we have ten cures for post-wedding blues right here.
- Jenny Darmody
Image credits: Stationery: A Practical Wedding | Back of dress: All For Fashion Design | Bride and groom: Steven Scott | Thank you: Aimee McAuley Photography | Centrepiece: Wedding Bee | Handkerchiefs: Pinterest