The last weeks before your wedding are fun and exciting, but they can also be stressful and panic inducing! Every bride wants to know: What am I forgetting?! That’s why we made this list of last minute wedding reminders. I hope this list will give you a feeling of security going into your special day! If you come across something on this list that you weren’t planning or don’t want to do, don’t panic! Just because it’s on this list doesn’t mean that you HAVE to do it. These are just reminders and suggestions, and they won’t all apply to every bride. Take a deep breath, take checklist items one at a time, and don’t forget to delegate! Your friends and family signed up to help you with your wedding because they love you, so don’t be afraid to take them up on it. These last two weeks will fly by, and I wish you all smooth sailing!
Gather everything that needs to go to the venue in one place so that nothing is forgotten.
If you aren’t going to be present to set up the ceremony/reception space, make sure to label all of the boxes with what’s inside, and make detailed set-up notes for every decorated space. It could be helpful to set up a mock-up reception table at home and take a picture of it to include with the set up notes.
Check in with all vendors; confirm that they know where they should be and when they should be there. If you are feeding them, ask about any dietary restrictions. Make sure that they have a second contact number (a bridesmaid or wedding coordinator) for the day of.
Don’t forget to notify everyone that is invited to the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner the time and place. (Some brides like to invite extended family and out of town guests to the rehearsal dinner).
Write out a detailed timeline of the wedding day and the day before. Include addresses of the different locations and the times that different groups of people need to be there (i.e. groomsmen, bridesmaids, immediate family etc.). When it comes to a timeline, the more details the better! It wouldn’t be going overboard to include when people should leave one place to arrive at the next. This is especially helpful for groomsmen. (Sorry guys but it’s true!)
Send the detailed timeline to vendors and the entire wedding party (don’t forget ushers, family that are supposed to be at the rehearsal, guest book attendants, parents of the flower girl and ring bearer, and anyone else you’ve asked to have a role on the wedding day).
Write out a detailed shot list and send it to the photographer and the wedding coordinator. The more detailed the better! You don’t want to miss out on any specific groupings that you’d really like a picture of.
Send out a message to all of the bridal party to make sure that they steam or iron their dress/ suit. In the days of online shopping where dresses and suits arrive wrinkly in a box a lot of our 20-something year old friends are not familiar with wrinkle etiquette. It might also be a good idea to confirm with all groomsmen that they try on their suits as soon as they come in to make sure that they fit (if they mail ordered suits), and remind them to bring shoes, cufflinks, ties, the right color socks, and the right color undershirts.
Make sure that you have all of the signage that you will need for the wedding. If the venue is out in the country and there is spotty internet connection you might want to consider a few directional signs at the last few turns before the venue. You may want to have little signs telling people what each food item is and what food items are gluten free. Mentally go through your ceremony and reception spaces and think of anywhere else you want a sign.
Ask a family member or close friend to make sure that the bride, groom and bridal party have something to eat while they are getting ready. (NOTE: Do not ask the Mother of the Bride or Mother of the Groom. Their only job that day should be soaking everything in and making memories with their kids.)
Any tips or payment that will need to be given out the day of the wedding should go into separate marked envelopes and given to someone to be distributed.
Make a plan for everything that is brought to the wedding to be taken home by someone. Things like rentals, decorations, gifts, the bride's dress (if she isn’t wearing it home), extra food and wedding cake, and the brides getting ready supplies will need to make it home with someone. The effort that you put into this plan will make it so much easier for the kind friends and family that volunteer to stay and help clean up your wedding.
Call to confirm any hotels or travel plans if you are leaving for the honeymoon right away. Pack your honeymoon bag well in advance (not the night before!).
Decide what car in which you and your spouse will be driving away from the wedding, and make sure to arrange your day-of transportation so that you don’t have two cars there! Ask a member of the bridal party to check your car during the reception and make sure your overnight bags or honeymoon luggage are inside.
Make sure that you have all of your music picked out. You should have:
30 minutes of pre-ceremony music
A song for seating the moms and grandmas
A song for the bridal party to walk to
A song for the bride to walk down the aisle
A song for coming back down the aisle
A song for entering the reception (possibly two if you want one for the bridal party and one for the couple)
First dance songs
A song for the bouquet toss (if you’re doing one)
A song for the garter toss (if you’re doing one)
A last dance or exit song
Some brides like to write their bridesmaids a personal note to give to them on the wedding day.
Ask the maid or matron of honor to bring an emergency kit for the day of. (She can find a list of items for this kit on Pinterest).
Tell your caterer and venue the final count for the guest list and finalize the seating chart.
Take care of any personal grooming that you would like to do. (If you’ve never done it before make sure to test it a few weeks out. IE spray tan, bikini or eyebrow wax, etc.)
Don’t forget to pick up your marriage license (this one is from experience - YIKES!).
Try on your full wedding outfit! Dress, shoes, veil, jewelry, undergarments and accessories. Have your maid/matron of honor or personal attendant practice fluffing your train so they aren’t on their hands and knees spreading it out at the altar.
If your wedding shoes are brand new, wear them around (on a clean, indoor surface) to break them in!
Get your ring cleaned. Usually the jewelry store that you got it from will clean it for free.
Give the wedding bands to the maid/matron of honor and best man at the rehearsal, and threaten them with mild violence if they forget to bring them to the ceremony (Just kidding... kind of).
Have a meeting with your wedding planner/coordinator to answer any of their last minute questions. If you don’t have a wedding planner or coordinator, it isn’t too late to ask a particularly bossy family friend or cousin to tell people where to go and try to keep the events running on schedule. Not having anyone in charge of keeping the day moving and watching the schedule can spell disaster very quickly!
Remind anyone that’s giving a speech at the reception to start writing!
Now that you have the final guest list, print or make place cards, and put them with the boxes of decorations and supplies that will go to the venue.
Check in with your parents and future in-laws and make sure that they know the schedule and don’t have any questions.
If you are getting married somewhere that is not normally a wedding venue make sure that you will have everything you’ll need for electricity, sound system, food preparation etc. Even if you are using an established venue it wouldn’t hurt to make sure that they will have any microphones or speakers you will need.
Make reserved signs for the first two rows of ceremony seats, and make sure that the ushers know where family members that are being seated in the processional will sit.
Wrap gifts for the bridesmaids and groomsmen (if you are giving them).
If you are writing your own vows, practice them out loud at least once. Sometimes when you are writing something, you don’t notice that it is worded awkwardly until you read it out loud, and you don’t want to work out the kinks in front of an audience.
It can be fun to have you and your future spouse write sweet notes to each other. Give them to the maid/matron of honor and the best man at the rehearsal to deliver the morning of the wedding.
Get a mani-pedi!
In addition to a honeymoon bag, you should also pack a separate bag with everything you might need the day of the wedding. This can also be your overnight bag if you are staying at a hotel on the wedding night and leaving for the honeymoon in the morning.
Take care of yourself! The weeks before your wedding can be so crazy busy it might be tempting to skip your nightly face washing or stay up every night, but you don’t want to be tired and haggard the day of your wedding. So get good sleep, drink plenty of water, and wash your face!
Do any teeth whitening treatments that you might want to do. Remember that Ross from Friends taught us that longer is not always better!
Check the weather forecast, and if you are getting married outside, have a plan in case of rain.
Don’t forget to spend quality time with your future spouse. Your love story is what this day is all about!
Set a deadline at a specific time before the rehearsal after which you don’t do any more wedding labor. Meaning, if you were going to do any DIY projects or time consuming things that aren’t absolutely necessary, and they aren’t done by your deadline; you let them go. The night before your wedding is a time to relax and make memories with your family and the love of your life. You don’t want to be up until 3:00 am hot gluing ribbon to chocolate boxes. Tell your bridesmaids about your deadline and ask them to hold you to it!
Leave a comment with any other two weeks out checklist suggestions!
Jerica Zoellner
Bridal Stylist since 2018