Hello again and I hope that you’re having a lovely summer so far. This year is flying by and, if you’re counting down the months, weeks or even days to your wedding, I’m sure it feels like the clock is ticking faster than ever! In today’s feature, I want to talk not about the big day itself but about the week before.
To me, this is an often-overlooked part of wedding planning that we’re all desperate to whiz through as quickly as possible to get to the big event BUT the work isn’t over just yet! To help you breeze through the final few days without stress and to ensure that not a single detail goes overlooked I thought it would be useful to share my guide to managing the week before your wedding…
1. Get Ahead
Leaving important decisions to the last minute is never a good idea, especially the week before your wedding. So trust me when I tell you that you need to get ahead. If you can, try to make all the big decisions and finalise your plans at least 2-4 weeks prior to your wedding, including your wet weather contingency plan (deferring this will not affect what Mother Nature throws at you!).
If you’re getting creative with the wedding DIY, get it done! Sitting up until daybreak in the days leading up to your wedding, making favours or handwriting one hundred place cards isn’t the wisest move. Things will crop up the week before that need your attention so if you can, deal with everything else before you get to this point.
My advice would be to set yourself a deadline as to when you want to get everything done, leaving the week before as free as possible so you’ve got plenty of time for anything truly ‘last minute’.
From this wedding on Love My Dress
Photography by M&J Photography
2. Get Organised
Channel your inner wedding planner during your last week (or indeed hire one – we’re lovely people!) and take your wedmin to another level.
Hopefully by this point you’ve already written a wedding day schedule and now is the time to circulate it to those that need to be in the know to ensure that everyone understands and fully acknowledges their role on the day.
In your schedule, make a note of any final payments that need to be made and if suppliers require cash on the day then prepare these in advance and delegate the role of handing over any payments to someone else.
To give you absolute peace of mind I’d also advise phoning or emailing your key suppliers and wedding party the week before. With your suppliers, now is the time to double check timings, logistics and final details. Likewise, for your wedding party check to make sure they are aware of key timings, have booked any beauty treatments they require and have bought or collected everything they need for the day. Trust me, you’ll sleep easier once you’ve done this!
From this wedding on Love My Dress
Photography by Nabeel’s Camera
3. Get Packed
Wherever you’re getting married, I have no doubt that you’ll be packing up and shipping out in the days before your wedding and this is one day you won’t want to forget anything! So, find an area of your house where you can start to stockpile all those essential on-the-day items or nice-to-haves, separating and storing them accordingly.
If you keep everything in one place you’ll cut down the risk of forgetting those things that are safely stored (aka lost) at the back of a wardrobe or under a bed.
If you’re getting ready at a different location to where you’re spending your first night as a newlywed then try to pack your bags early and arrange for a friend to drop them off at the venue where you’ll be staying.
Finally, if you’ve got a planner managing the day for you or a reliable friend then don’t forget your wedding day emergency kit including…top-up beauty essentials, deodorant, your wedding fragrance, tissues, baby-wipes, a small sewing kit, mints / breath-freshener, a comb, pain killers and plasters!
From this wedding on Love My Dress
Image by Libby Christensen Photography
4. Take Some Time Off
If you’ve managed to get ahead and are on top of your wedmin then try to take a break and switch off. Whether this involves taking some time off work, a trip to the beautician, an afternoon sitting in the garden drinking bubbles or simply putting the laptop away and switching off your phone – it is important to make time for yourself and enjoy those last few days!
5. Get Help
No matter how organised you are, getting some help (or even having help on standby) the week before your wedding is always a good idea. You don’t get extra bride points for doing everything yourself and I have no doubt that friends and family would love to help you out if you asked. So, delegate – now is the time to let others support you, in turn allowing you to relax as much as possible.
From this wedding on Love My Dress
Image by Fer Juaristi
6. Get Real
The real reason I’m telling you all of this is because I want you to arrive at your wedding day in a good place. Yes, you might feel nervous, excited, upset, ecstatic or any emotion you care to name in the run up to the wedding (and all of these are perfectly normal by the way!) but you need to feel these things and to prepare yourself for this huge and momentous occasion. You do this by giving yourself a little time and space, not by cramming the last week with jobs, chores and worrying about what might go wrong but by getting real and by getting in the moment. Wake up on your wedding day looking forward to the day (and life) to come, not by stressing over the to-do list – get it done, put it away and enjoy yourself.
From this wedding on Love My Dress
Image by Ashton Jean Pierre
This is your wedding day and it’s going to be amazing.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this feature and I’d love to think that I might have made the week before your wedding that bit easier. If you’ve got any top tips to share, please do leave a comment below – it would be great to hear from you!
Love Kat x
