Your wedding day is one of the most special days of your life and we know you’ve been planning it down to a ‘T’ since you got engaged (or since you were 10 years old!). But in planning the big things like decor, dresses, food and everything else, it can be easy to miss planning the small things that will make the BIGGEST difference.
To help you make your wedding day special, to hold on to those memories and to avoid little annoyances that will affect your mood on the day, we recommend these top 10 practical wedding day tips:
1. Arrange personal photos to look at the next day
When you wake up the morning after your wedding, you’re going to want to look back and relive those special moments while they’re still fresh in your mind.
So, on your wedding day, make sure your phone is fully charged and give it to a bridesmaid to take photos throughout the day of you and all the special moments.
Extra pro wedding day tips for #1:
- Choose a bridesmaid and not the Maid Of Honour or head of the bridal party (we guarantee they’ll be too busy)
- Make sure the phone is unlocked, with no password or fingerprint/face scanner needed for the day
2. Keep the lippy somewhere truly useful
If you’re not wearing a wedding dress with pockets (omg we love them…), then we’d recommend storing your lipstick in your spouse’s pocket.
Even if you have a special handbag or clutch, we guarantee you’re not going to have this on you all the time on the day. Especially when you’re going to have your picture taken every 10 minutes and you want to look your best.
3. A healthy start to the day
Starting your wedding day with a healthy but filling breakfast is one of the most important wedding day tips we can impart to you.
We’re not proposing a full cooked breakfast but make sure you eat a large enough meal (preferably something you love that makes your body feel good) that you won’t be super hungry until slightly later in the day.
Many brides find they hardly get to eat on their wedding day and you don’t want extreme hunger to be the main thing you remember from the day.
4. Choose a relaxing scent
When you’re getting ready on your wedding day morning, it will be super important to stay calm and to enjoy the moment.
One way to do this is to choose an incense or scented candle in your favourite calming scent (we love lavender for calm and orange oil or geranium for energy). Not a scent you’ve never smelled before the day but something you already use in your life to bring calm and focus.
Not only will this help you to stay in the moment but it’ll also be a scent that will remind you of your wedding day when you use it again in the future.
5. Make the lads take photos first
If there is a groom in your wedding, we recommend making him and his groomsmen go first when taking photos after the ceremony. That way, the girls have a bit more time to get their hair and makeup touch-ups done before striking their own poses.
6. Write it down while it’s fresh
Of all the wedding day tips listed here, we think this one will prove the most valuable when you look back in a few years…
There will be big things and little things from your wedding day that you’re not ever going to want to forget but it’s a reality that some things will fade.
To help with this, we recommend getting a journal and writing down everything while it’s fresh in your mind (on the wedding night or the morning after).
Include things like favourite moments, things people said that you loved, your feelings and hopes for the future.
You’ll read back over it in years to come and be able to bring your wedding day back into your mind with all the clarity and emotion you felt on the day.
7. Mini breaks with your spouse
Your wedding day is going to FLY by and you’ll often find you haven’t even seen your spouse for an hour or more.
And, although the day will be filled with family and friends, it’s important to remember that it is ultimately about you as a couple.
So, when you’re doing your wedding planning, build 5-minute breaks into the schedule of the day to take a few quick moments with your spouse to be together, enjoy the moment and recharge before heading back out into the lovely chaos of the day.
8. Set expectations with loved ones and vendors
One of the worst things that can throw you off during your wedding day is loved ones or even your suppliers coming to you with problems or about things they’d like to do in the moment on the day.
This might be a loved one who can’t stay away from the microphone when they’re drunk or the caterer wanting to let you know that all the chicken has been burnt.
To avoid this kind of stress on your wedding day, you must follow these 2 wedding day tips:
- Nominate your Maid Of Honour (or Man Of Honour / Wedding Planner) as your point of contact for the whole day. If there is a problem with a supplier, they let the Maid Of Honour know ‘ NOT you. Nothing gets through to you unless it is absolutely panic stations and they can’t handle it without asking you.
- Set expectations before the day with loved ones. If Great Aunt Margaret is prone to singing on mic after too much bubbly, then set her down or choose another relative to do it and make it very clear that it won’t be allowed. Avoid going full bridezilla but do let people know your wishes and how much it would mean to you if they could listen and support you.
9. Make an emergency kit
The emergency kit is one of the most important wedding day tips! It’s something only you can build but it’s also something you should never have to carry on the day.
Basically, it’s a bag with all of the little items you might need on your wedding day to stay happy, avoid mishaps and save mini disasters (e.g. red wine stains on your dress).
We’ve put together a full list of everything you could possibly need in your wedding day emergency kit and advice on how to put it together.
10. Take pauses to appreciate before the big day
Lastly, Enjoy every minute of the build-up!! Take time out during the planning process and in the week leading up to your wedding day. Remind yourself what you’re grateful for, what special touches you’re glad you included, why you said yes to your spouse and what this wedding day means for your future together.
This only happens once, so take the time, pause and try to always see the positive.
Conclusion
We hope these 10 wedding day tips will make for practical and thoughtful additions to your big day. If you’ve been a bride before and have more top tips for how you survived the day and made special moments, please let us know!
