AHHH! It’s almost your wedding day! With so many moving parts and preparation before your big day, it’s a good idea to get some things done ahead of time. Here is a list of some things to do in the week before your wedding so your day is as stress-free as possible! 

For the “getting ready” part of the day:

Put a getting ready bag together

Similar to packing a hospital bag before having a baby, it’s a good idea to have a wedding bag or bin ready to go that you put together a few days before your wedding. This way you can get everything together when you aren’t as stressed and you will be way less likely to forget something. The bag should include a wooden hanger for your dress or suit (wooden hangers look the nicest in photos), and all of your accessories like rings, bracelets, earrings, shoes, cufflinks, tie/bowtie (put all the small things in a little bag so they don’t get lost). Photographers usually start with detail shots and you don’t want to waste any time running around looking for your earrings! 

Don’t be hungover 🙂

We all know how easy it is to get carried away while you have all your friends and family around, but the last thing you want is to be hungover on your wedding day! You will be busy all day long getting ready, taking photos and getting freaking married and will not have any time to be hungover! 

Have your nails done

Get your nails done a day or two before your wedding date so you don’t have to wait around for them to dry. And that way you’ll have them done for your rehearsal dinner too!

Make sure you sign Jobs

Have your parents and wedding party help you out! There is no need for you to be doing it all on your own! Assign someone to steam the dress and another person to make sure lunch is delivered on time. These are the trivial things that you shouldn’t be worried about and exactly why you asked someone to be a bridesmaid/groomsman!

For the ceremony:

Plan the photo angles you want

If you want a first kiss picture from the perspective of the officiant, communicate that with both your officiant and photographer so they are both in place for the shot!

Give readers their scripts:

OK, this one seems like a no brainer but give your readers their scripts ahead of time!! They will be much more confident reading if they had a couple days to rehearse. 

Prep cash tips 

Tipping all your service personnel is definitely something to have prepared beforehand. You don’t want to be running around all day long looking for cash as delivery personnel, musicians, caterers, etc. are all coming at different times throughout the day. Not sure who to tip and how much? Check out my blog post about tipping wedding vendors!

For photos:

Family portraits

Make sure you tell all your family members that will be involved when and where they need to be for photos ahead of time. We don’t want to be chasing down Aunt Jean at the bar because she didn’t know when photos were. Believe me, this happens too often AND it cuts time into YOUR drinking time! 

For the reception:

DJ/band

If you have any special dance songs or playlist requests, communicate that with your DJ or band at least the week before your wedding so they can prepare. You want to be sure all your best songs are played!

Sparkler send off 

If you are doing a sparkler send off, consider having a *fake* one with just the wedding party or a selected group of 20-30 guests so you don’t have to wraggle every guest outside. It will go much smoother and is still just as fun! And have the DJ or band announce this about 20 minutes after the dance floor opens so people aren’t too drunk 😉