Tips To Prepare For Your Wedding Day by Abbe Foreman

Leading up to the day of your wedding, you are dealing with so many different moving parts. You are feeling overwhelmed, excited, nervous… all of the emotions. However, in order to deal with all of these moving parts and emotions, it’s important to prepare! Preparation is key and that couldn’t be more true. Knowing the right tips to prepare for your wedding day will not only help alleviate stress, but will ensure that your wedding day runs smoothly. These tips will make sure you are in tip-top shape for one of the best days of your life!

Step One: Bring Some Love

First, it’s important to know that preparing for your wedding day starts with you! In the midst of all the crazy wedding planning, it can be easy to lose sight of why you started this in the first place. Love is the reason. Let me share a little story about Rebekah and Devin, who through a worldwide pandemic came out on top and had the most beautiful dream wedding.

Rebekah and Devin met through a mutual acquaintance. While it took a bit for these two to actually meet when they did it was as if sparks were flying. Over time their relationship flourished, they moved in together and all was well. Then the pandemic came. They overcame sharing a studio apartment with their first dog, Devin working from home while Rebekah worked in office. It was then that they realized they could get through anything.

It wasn’t until December of 2020 that everything changed and Devin finally popped the question in Manayunk. Perfectly planned since Manayunk is where they had their first date. Today, they live with their two dogs in Philly and had a gorgeous wedding that they always dreamed of. Together, Rebekah and Devin were able to bring their love and passion for one another which makes prepping for your wedding day that much more enjoyable, exciting and rewarding.

Establish A Budget & Stick To It

Your budget will be your best friend on your wedding day. It can be really easy to get carried away with all of the fancy things that you feel like you “need”. However, establishing a budget and really sticking with it will be the ultimate lifesaver in the end. You’re able to prioritize where you splurge and where you save. In the end, you (and your wallet) will be very happy.

Hire A Wedding Planner

Trying to juggle a work/life balance and trying to plan a wedding can be tough. You feel like your head might fall off and trust me, that happens to the best of us. That’s why if you really get to a point where it feels like too much, I highly suggest looking into hiring a wedding planner. A wedding planner helps you in suggestions that help you stay within your budget, keep track of all your details and ensures that nothing is forgotten throughout the wedding planning process.

Hair & Makeup Trials

One of the biggest things that will help you prepare for your wedding day is making sure you book hair and makeup trials in advance. much like wedding photographers, other wedding vendors like hair and makeup artists can book months and even years in advance. You want to make sure that before the actual day of your wedding that you are testing out which hair and makeup style you are going to want for the big day.

Tip: Don’t let this go to waste! Try and schedule your engagement session on the same day as your hair and makeup trial. That way nothing goes to waste!

Add Buffer Time

It’s important that on the day of your wedding you are giving yourself plenty of time. That includes buffer time and room for errors/mistakes. While we all wish weddings could run perfectly and smoothly, sometimes that isn’t the case. To be safe though, you want to make sure that nothing is “cutting it too close” and that you are giving yourself enough time if something get’s messed up or someone is running late. You would much rather have a bit of extra time rather than being in a time crunch and feeling rushed!

Stick To A Timeline

A wedding timeline will be the best thing for your wedding day. Whether you’re working with a wedding planner or a wedding photographer, making sure you have a solid timeline will make sure everything runs smoothly. Your wedding timeline will essentially tell you where and when you need to be somewhere and makes sure that everyone (not just you and your partner) is where they need to be at the right time. While creating this timeline, it’s also important to factor in buffer time, travel time to and from venues, etc.

Prepare For Anything

Similarly to what I just mentioned, you want to make sure that you prepare for just about anything. Things like traffic, accidents, or weather are unfortunately some of the many things that we have no control over. You sometimes just have to roll with the punches and deal with what has been given. However, I suggest always having a backup plan. That way you’re able to know that if something does happen that you are ready for it. This will save you a ton of worry and stress… trust me!

Assign Tasks To Your Wedding Party

Your wedding party is there to help you on your wedding day. They are the people you feel the closest too and truly are a major support system on such a special day. In order to alleviate some worry and stress off of you and your partner, assign tasks to members of your wedding party. Gathering up family members for family portraits, handing over details to your wedding photographer, etc are all roles that can be led by people in your wedding party. This will not only help save time but will make sure that you are focused on the most important thing… getting married!

Communicate With Your Vendors

You also want to make sure that leading up to the day of your wedding, you are communicating with vendors. Whether it be your wedding planner, photographer, florist, DJ, rental company, etc. You want to make sure that you are in constant communication and that everyone is on the same page. It’s also important from a wedding photographer’s perspective that we stay in communication with vendors as well. This helps for a smoothly run wedding and that all of your wedding vendors are on the same page and looking to achieve one goal… GET YOU TWO MARRIED!