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How many times have you found yourself saying, “We'll just figure this out the day of!” or “We will hire somebody to do it”? Wedding planning is full of surprises, and a lot of them are high maintenance. Everything seems so last minute as if every major milestone that comes your way is another thing that you need to tackle under a kind of serious deadline. However, this does not have to be the case.
Today's post is about how to plan and prepare for a wedding without putting your life into a sort of slump. To help you in this endeavour of planning the big day, we’ve put together a list of genius wedding hacks that every couple needs…
Preparing for a wedding is all about planning. That's why you should prepare an emergency kit for your actual wedding day with items needed to fix any last-minute issues. Assemble the following items in a small toiletry bag or box and bring it along with you on your big day:
Amazon has amazing deals on décor items, wedding dresses, shoes, and accessories, including bridal jewelry and belts. And if you're a Prime member you'll get free one-day shipping on many items which will amount to huge savings. 📦
Amazon also has great deals on bulk quantities of things like flower girl baskets and ring bearer pillows, which you can get in multi-packs for just a few bucks each. And because most items ship free with Prime, getting them all at once will cost less than paying for individual shipping from other retailers.
Start a Pinterest board for your wedding ideas and inspirations, it's a perfect place to keep everything organized in one place. You can even create specific boards for different areas of your wedding such as catering or décor.
When searching for vendors online, check their Facebook reviews as well as their Yelp or Google reviews. Especially if they have more than 10 Facebook reviews, that's likely where most people will leave their feedback.
Do a trial run with your makeup artist or hairstylist to make sure you like the way they do your hair and makeup for your big day. Don't be afraid to give them constructive feedback so they know what changes to make before the wedding day itself.
Send out an email to your guests a few weeks before the big day asking them for their favourite songs; this way you can make sure that you have plenty of music that everyone will love! It might sound crazy at first but think about it: everyone loves music and when the songs are more customized for your guests, they'll have much more fun on the dance floor. If you’re having a band or DJ, give them the list and ask them to incorporate as much as they can
Most brides opt to wear heels on their wedding day but there is a very big chance that you will end up taking them off in the middle of the night. Your feet will be sore from all of the dancing so it’s better to break in your shoes beforehand. If you're wearing new shoes on your wedding day, break them in by wearing them around the house with thick socks.
If they're too big, use heel cushions or the toe pads from ballet shoes to fill them out. If they're too small and pinch your toes, try stretching them out with figure-eight-shaped pieces of paper tucked under the straps when you wear them around the house.
The night before your wedding, set out all the things you need to take with you: your dress and shoes, the rings, any decor you're using, and anything else that can't be left until the last minute. That way, if anything is missing or you realize you forgot something, you have time to track it down.
The week leading up to your wedding is going to be busy. You might find yourself caught up in a last-minute frenzy of calls, texts, and emails 📱 — as well as the seemingly never-ending lists and tasks that accompany every wedding. So, while you might be tempted to dive into tasks like your seating chart and finalizing your playlist, take a step back and make sure you have some time for yourself to breathe and de-stress.
If you’re looking for a low-cost way to serve drinks at your wedding, consider using mason jars as drinking glasses for guests. The best part? You can also use them as centrepieces. Just add some fresh or dried flowers and place them on tables for a rustic look that’s sure to please guests.
If you're serving buffet-style at your reception, make sure everything stays nice and warm. Get aluminum foil pans from a local restaurant supply store and place them on top of the chafing dish racks before adding the food. That way when it's time to refill the chafing dish, you can just take the pan off and throw it away!
If you're having an outdoor wedding in the summer, it'll be hot for your guests. Make sure everyone stays cool by providing a variety of cooling stations. Fill up mister bottles and have your guests spritz themselves down! 😎 Set up fans near tables so guests can fan themselves while they eat or give out paper fans with your wedding programs (if you have them).
We all know what happens when we wear high heels for long periods - our feet start to hurt! Your reception is a time when you'll be dancing for hours on end, so make sure you have a backup pair of flats or flip-flops stashed away at the venue so that you can kick off those heels after your first dance.
If you're having an open bar, consider sticking to just one type of alcohol so that you can get by buying less of it. If all your serving is beer and wine, though, make sure everyone knows ahead of time, so no one is disappointed when they try to order their favourite drink at the reception!
If you want to display photos at your wedding but don’t want to spend too much money on large frames, try making your own from twine and clothespins. You can make one that’s big by using enough twine and pins, but even just a small one would look great as a table centrepiece.
Runs in pantyhose can ruin a whole outfit if you're not careful. To prevent them from happening in the first place, apply clear nail polish over the toes and heels of your stockings. The clear polish will make the fabric thicker and less likely to rip when you put them on. 💅
It's hard enough remembering who's bringing the cake and who's making the table decorations without losing track of all your wedding paperwork It's also important to keep your wedding planning life and your personal life separate. Create an email account specifically for wedding planning, that you can check without having to worry about work emails and the like.
You can use this email address to sign up for any bridal magazines, discounts or coupons and keep track of your bookings and online orders. That way, when your planner inbox gets cluttered with random emails, your personal one won’t.
This is a great hack for all brides and grooms to be out there. If you don't have time to write your wedding speech, keep a 'marriage book' instead. Every time something amazing happens in your relationship, write it down in the book so when it comes to writing your speech, you'll have plenty of things to talk about!
Create a list of every photo you want to be taken before the big day so that you don't forget to capture anything important once the festivities begin! 📸 Having this ready will also give your photographer an idea of what shots to take, which can be especially helpful if they haven't worked with you before or are unfamiliar with the venue.
Weddings are expensive, and it's easy to lose track of what you've spent. Keep a spreadsheet or online wedding budget tracker up to date every time you make a payment. This will ensure you don't go over budget.
If you're getting married in a city where out-of-town guests will need somewhere to stay, consider booking a block of hotel rooms at a discounted rate. In exchange for offering a certain number of rooms to your guests at a reduced price, the hotel will usually give you a free suite for the evening — and sometimes the night before as well.
Most couples insure their weddings because it's a smart way to protect against losses associated with problems that could arise during their celebration. But if you have health insurance, homeowner's insurance or renter's insurance that provides coverage in case of an accident or injury, you might be able to get event insurance that covers things like damage to your dress or loss of rings.
There are plenty of online services that allow you to send digital invitations, collect RSVPs and manage your guest list but these often involve multiple different platforms or applications. Evstry allows you to do just this, in addition to collecting cash gifts with personalized messages and sending thank you notes to guests, all within a single platform.
Not only does this save you the unnecessary expense of printing and postage, but it also limits the amount of paper and waste that will be produced. Going digital helps both your wallet and the environment.
There are a lot of other wedding hacks out there that didn't make this list for one reason or another, but we hope that the genius ones above will be of help to you!
Don't forget to check us out on Instagram @evstryhq!
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Evstry Blogs 💍
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/9s7EOmv2HDAutm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink
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