Congratulation on your recent wedding! Now your Big Day is over, but your to-do list is still not complete. You may not have considered a few of the following reminders and tips on wrapping up your wedding, while moving into a flourishing marriage.
Things to consider:
Consider saving your honeymoon until your first-year anniversary.
Consider saving your honeymoon until your first-year anniversary. If you’ve found yourself exhausted or running low on wedding funds, you may consider waiting on this event. Waiting can give you the extra time to save money, give you something to look forward to in a year and help stretch out your celebration.
Don’t spend your entire budget on your wedding.
Set aside money prior to your wedding for the monetary items that still need to be tackled following your wedding such as the honeymoon, albums, prints, preservation, and new living expenses.
After Wedding To-Do’s:
Write your thank you letters.
Pre-writing your thank you’s, or at least pre-addressing the envelopes, prior to your big day is a great way to have a head start on this task. Finishing them within two weeks following your wedding is optimal.
Everyone who attended your wedding, who was in your wedding, who sent a gift or was in some way, involved with the planning or creation of your special day (including vendors) should all receive a sincere, handwritten thank you. These individuals made an effort to be there for you and proper etiquette would be to thank them for thinking of you.
Preserve your flowers.
Preserving flowers is personal choice if you’d like this keepsake to remind you of your day. Preserving flowers can be done by drying, pressing, framing or adding them into an acrylic block. Of course keeping the flowers may not be for everyone, however, having plenty of photographs of your arrangements and bouquets can also be helpful for those who will not keep their flowers forever.
freeze your cake
It is an old tradition to freeze wedding cake and eat it a year later. If doing so, be sure to store it in an airtight and freezer safe container which will preserve the cake to taste the best it can when you decide to taste it again.
Dry Clean and Box Your Wedding Gown.
I wish I had done this myself. It is easy to let it go and not come back to this task, only to find the years fly by without getting this done. My wedding was in the winter and the bottom of my dress was a little soiled form the snow. I now wish I had taken the time and money to have it professionally cleaned and boxed so it can be passed down to family. If you make an appointment prior to the wedding to bring it in the week following your wedding, you’ll be insured to check this off of your list.
share your vendors with others and send them thank yous.
Most vendors rely on referrals and references for their business. If your vendors helped to make your day amazing, be sure to thank them with reviews and recommendations. They most likely will have review areas on their social media pages like Facebook as well as on their listings on web search sites like Google. You may also consider making a list of your vendors with compliments on a social media post thanking them publicly to your friends and family. This is the best compliment to wrapping up your special event with them.
update your name(s) and addresses on all necessary accounts and docuMENTS.
This is a task that will take some time but is a necessary endeavor. If your name or address has changed with your wedding, be sure to update your social security card, driver’s license, bank accounts, credit cards, insurance cards, doctors’ records, schools or alumni records, frequent flier or miles cards for hotels, flight companies etc; passports, voters’ registration, houshold bills, employers, mortgages, car payment companies, magazine subscriptions, etc.
Sell or donate your wedding decor
Clutter is a thing of the past. Through the generations more and more people are downsizing the amount of items that they store or have in their homes. Depending on your personal preferences, you may consider selling or donating your wedding decor. The memory of these items can still be found in your wedding photos, if your photographer was sure to capture them for you.
Order your prints and albums asap!
After you receive your wedding gallery from your photographer, be sure to order your prints, albums & wall art pieces from them asap. Anything can go wrong with electronic devices, so be sure not to assume that your photographer will indefinitely store your digital images. Be sure to save and backup your allotted digital images as soon as you receive them and order those prints, albums and wall art pieces just as soon as you can.
Your wedding album will be the most cherished item that you’ll refer back to in the years to come. It is a cherished keepsake that you’ll share, and someday pass onto, your children, grandchildren and/or family and friends.
Don’t forget to order the Mother of the Bride, Mother in Law and Grandparent mini albums. These are typically smaller than your full wedding album but still show a generous number of images to remember your day by.
Ordering those framed wall art or canvases to put above your mantel or in your hallways and bedrooms are definitely a priority. Don’t risk putting this off and then losing your images due to computer errors. We always suggest ordering these big pieces through your photographer, so the quality and sizing is perfect.
Gifting prints of your special day in your thank-you’s, or in your first Christmas cards, is also a fun gesture.
Having one of your wedding images put onto Christmas ornaments or on blankets can additionally make for ideal gifts for yourself and for others.
Considerations to Kick Off a strong marriage:
Keep dating
Don’t let the fun end. It’s easy to let life take over with jobs and a growing family and activities, but that shouldn’t stop you from taking time out for yourselves. Be sure to keep a priority to do things together on a regular basis, one on one. These things don’t have to be big money spenders, but going out to dinner on occasion, taking regular walks, and doing things together that you both enjoy will keep you on track. Also, by unselfishly doing things together that the ‘other’ spouse enjoys is the perfect way to show your partner you love them unconditionally, and that you enjoy sharing in their joy.
Write out goals to lead you into your oncoming decades.
Writing down goals for your life together can actually help in bringing those goals to life. By having a clear understanding of what you’re both wanting to achieve together can keep you on track and help you both be excited as you witness your goals being achieved. Goals can be short term and long term. They can be intricate or simple. They can call out specifics for fun, family, finances and spiritual goals. I also suggest adding a goal to help any challenges that may arise through life. A goal on how to communicate, and tackle possible hardships can later help you if ever in need.