Don’t Forget These Things On Your Wedding Day!
I have seen so many events where the planner or the person in charge is running around like a crazy person trying to get things figured out that he/she forgot and I’m here to tell you that first, I’ve been there too and it’s not fun. There is so much anxiety and straight up fear that runs through your body when you realized you forgot something big or small. Secondly, I’m here to help! I want to run a few things by you that most people forget to either book, or secure before the big day. Let’s go!
First, have a backup plan in case of weather! I’ve seen the forever optimist (God bless them) say, “oh gosh it will be FINE, the weather will be just fine,” and y’all I am here to say, sometimes it is most definitely not fine. Imagine setting up the world’s loveliest outdoor picnic with flowy linens, a beautiful lemon cake, birds chirping and champagne glasses clinking only to realize that a thunderstorm straight from Zeus himself is brewing in the distance. Your heart starts to race a little but your brain keeps saying “it’s gonna blow over…. it’s gonna blow over,” but your heart knows. The linens are no longer flowy, they are straight up flying away. Your lemon cake is no longer beautiful because it blew off the table. The birds? Well they’re long gone taking cover because they knew something you didn’t. Don’t be that person! Schedule a plan B and hope to never use it! Your amazing planning team could have had all those lovely things moved indoors and set up for an amazing event had there been a backup plan. Trust me on this one.
Secondly, ushers! Make sure that you have a good usher seating your guests! What tends to happen when you don’t have an usher is the family sits in the front two rows and the other guest tend to sit towards the back, which leaves gaps in the crowd and looks bad in photos. Make sure you have the proper amount of chairs for the number of guests that will be attending. Have your usher seat people towards the front to make sure there are no gaps because it will look like some guests didn’t show up.
Third, let’s talk open bar. So fun right? I can tell you as a guest and as a provider, it’s fun in both scenarios but here’s the thing to remember; your champagne toast isn’t included in an open bar! So remember to purchase that separately by working with a consultant at your local liquor store; they’d be happy to help. You’ll also need flutes, so make sure the venue has them, if not, grab them online for a steal! I get asked a lot whether to get glass or plastic flutes and to be really honest, it doesn’t matter! I promise your guests won’t remember if you had plastic or glass but they will remember they had an amazing time and you looked fantastic. Cheers to that!
Fourth, dinner! Dinner is an important part of your celebration and that’s usually how and why most people gather, to eat! You want it to be good. It doesn’t matter if you’re serving old Texas Barbeque or a fancy salmon and filet mignon dinner; you’ll want to make sure and reserve a plate (or two) for your photographer/videographer and DJ. These people are working their booties off for you and you’ll want to make sure you feed them too. So often this is overlooked, and the planner or *ghasp* the bride or groom offers up their plate so they can have something; please don’t be the person that has to give up their meal for someone else (we all know you’re starving anyway amiright); we need our guests of honor to have full bellies and happy hearts. Feel me?
Fifth, plan your escape! Are there a lot of people there to watch you? A lot of people there to talk to you specifically? While you did your best to make your rounds it’s sometimes so hard to get to everyone (but they’ll still want a piece of you)! To make your getaway easier, plan it! Make sure you have a car or some form of transportation to get you where you need to go (yes friends, I’ve totally seen a horse and buggy take people away, I’ve even seen some people depart on trains and helicopters too, so I say transportation with full boldness). Make a quick exit and smile and wave! All these people are here for you (and you are so loved)!
Lastly, plan for your clean up. This is one of the biggest things I see as far as being unprepared. Who is doing the cleanup? Are you coming back at 2am to do it yourself? Are you having your friends and family do it? Did you hire someone to do it? Whatever you decide to do, make sure it’s just that, decided. You’ll be so pumped that it’s one last thing you must do or think about the morning after. I can’t imagine getting that cleaning bill from the venue, #nothanks.
Your big day should be just that, your
big day. It shouldn’t be a day of worry, anxiety, fear or anger. Take a sip of that amazing champagne (that you secured ahead of time), sit back, and relax with the chirping birds and lemon cake. You got this!
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