Visualize Your Wedding Day

How to Organize Your Wedding From the VERY Beginning

There are about four million handouts on how to get organized for your wedding. There are printables and downloadables and all sorts of stuff. But while those may be handy, my biggest tip to all of my brides is to sit down and visualize the Wedding Day from start to finish.

I love being able to sit down with a pen and paper and write down all sorts of little details. I'm planning my own wedding and having to go through the day, and I'm going back all the way until rehearsal dinner and the day before making sure to use all 5 senses in the process.

The Details

If you plan on having all the girls get their nails and hair done together, what does that include? If you are going to give them gifts, do you have all of those gifts collected? Do you have the gift bags? Thank you Cards? I mean, really going through every single moment of the day will help you visualize and not miss a thing.

You can utilize your wedding coordinator or your wedding photographer to help you out with some of the details. As a wedding photographer, I have a bunch of things in my photography bag; and while I may remember quite a few ideas for you, I have my own just-in-case bag including tape, staples, and safety pins.; They may not be specific to your situation and are just there for the “just-in-case”.

Designated Person 

You should be prepared and you have someone in charge of your things. Do you have a go-bag to take their stuff from the getting ready location to the venue? Are you leaving it in a hotel room? Who is in charge of that? Who is taking your things from one place to the other? 

Are you going to be carrying a clutch around, or do you have pockets in your dress? Do you have a bag that you can give them explicitly to be in charge of? Many things go on during a wedding day, are you remembering them all?

Location

Think about even waking up on your wedding day if you are at a hotel with your bridal party. What is surrounding you in the hotel? Do you have a place to have the mimosas in a little mini-fridge? Are there enough glasses for all your bridesmaids? If you have a huge bridal party and everyone is getting ready in the same place, do you have enough mirrors and outlets? Do you need to bring a power strip? Earplugs and eye masks so you can get a good night’s sleep?

Use your Five Senses

If you go minute by minute and think about all five senses, it'll make your life a lot easier and it will make you have a ridiculously long checklist. (Sorry!)

When I say 5 senses, I mean:

Touch: what are you wearing? What is literally on you from head to toes? Will you need to have curlers on your head? Toes get cold easily? If you're going to be taken care of your pedicures at the hotel, do you have all of the supplies?

Sense of smell:  a lot forget their perfume or the signature scent that they will wear on their wedding day. Having your own unique fragrance or particular cologne is always a great idea. Whenever you smell it, the memory will come back even stronger. 

Your taste: what happens throughout the day, and what would you be tasting. Schedule to have a platter dropped off at your hotel room and schedule it two weeks in advance, so you don't have to worry about it. Will you need to throw a few granola bars in your go-bag? Want to indulge in chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne? 

Your Sight: I'm personally going to be getting ready at a hotel and then moving from the hotel to the venue to finish getting ready. I don't want to wear my wedding dress and have to get into a car and make sure that I'm not squishing in or slamming it in the door or whatever. I need to make sure I have what I need to get from the hotel room to the venue and not forget the little things like my earrings or my backup shoes.

Now I'm not going to go walking around in my pajamas and that robe that everyone bought for their bridal party. Instead, I need to make sure that I have a nice button-down and shorts that I can throw on and get to the venue. If you want them to be matching, you have to think about them ahead of time, so you can order them and get them in time. (Thank god for Amazon Prime!)

Your Hearing: With everything that’s going on, on your wedding day, do you really want to be on your phone responding to all the calls and texts from your wedding guests and family members? How about assigning this to a designated person? You want to be sure what you're hearing and what goes on in your mind is clear so you are relaxed and calm for your special day.

Accessories:

What shoes will you be needing for your specific moments throughout your day? Heels, flats, flip flops, and or sneakers? Thinking and separating the day, minute by minute, will make your life a million times easier. Any other accessories needed like an extra trash bin and power strips or extension cables for your phone charger and other electronics. 

It is a big day and no matter if you're planning on having an all-day wedding or a small wedding, where you're not really stuck to a timeline. This will be really important to make sure that you separate the entire day and know if there's anything outside of the usual list of things to remember.

I have a FREE Wedding Timeline downloadable that will help you visualize your day and guide you on how to organize it. Sign up below, to have it sent to you.