Wedding planning is a complicated business, with lots of high-pressure decisions and demands being placed upon you from all sides. This is your special day, but family and friends will all have their opinions and wishlist items they want you to follow along with. As you plot and plan your event months or even a year in advance, it’s easy to overlook a few small details. Here are 5 small things that can make a big difference that people often forget about while wedding planning.
#1. Creating A Wedding Website
Nothing says modern-day wedding like your own wedding website! This important tool can act as both a hub of information for your wedding party, family, and friends but also as a memory holder of important milestones. You can include additional information that doesn’t quite fit on the invitations as well as more info about the colors and themes of the wedding. You can include social media hashtags for people to use anytime they post about the wedding and then make a feed of all that great content.
Once the wedding is over, that website can become a lifelong memory. You can even add a blog and keep updating your family about your awesome new life as husband and wife long after the wedding day is over. You can create a free or cheap website easily with Wix or WordPress. In an article about wedding websites, The New York Times suggests you include a FAQ section on your website as well.
#2. Feeding And Tipping Your Wedding Vendors
If you’re having a large wedding then chances are you have a slew of wedding vendors working behind the scenes to make your day extra special. This can include photographers, videographers, wedding planners, assistants, decorators, DJs or musicians, waiters, and other essential staff. Make sure they have snacks, drinks, and maybe a full dinner available while they are working. You might need to assign someone in the wedding party or one of your close family members or friends to coordinate this and pull it off. This same helper can also be in charge of the tip envelopes and making sure all the vendors get a little something extra for their hard work.
#3. Thank You Gifts For The Wedding Party
So, who exactly gets a gift on your wedding day? The answer will actually be different for each bride and groom. While some gifts are more expected than others, a gift signifies special people you want to thank on your big day and is a very personal choice. Here are some of the more common people to thank with gifts:
The Maid Of Honor And Best Man – While wedding party gifts say a general thank you to those that took time to be part of your special day, it might be worth it to go a bit above and beyond to single out the maid of honor and best man with a special gift all their own. Something personalized will help them remember the day forever.
The Wedding Party (Bridesmaids) – What do you get your best gal pals who took the time (and usually at a considerable expense) to be part of your dream wedding? Nothing says thank you like some pretty jewelry; perhaps something they can all wear down the aisle?
The Wedding Party (Groomsmen) – Reward the men in your wedding party with a thoughtful and useful gift. A great gift for all of them is matching socks to wear on the wedding day. According to No Cold Feet, a uniform look when it comes to groomsmen socks can really add a subtle touch that elevates each man’s outfit.
Gifts For Children – Don’t forget the little guys and girls that helped get things done, like the ring bearer and flower girl. They need a special gift to call their own.
Gifts For Parents – If your parents helped you plan or pay for your wedding, then a thoughtful gift with a handwritten note they can keep forever would be a nice touch.
#4. Snacks For Guests When Things Run Long
There are a couple of common wedding day scenarios that could make it a great idea for you to provide snacks or drinks, in addition to a full meal, at the dinner table. The first is one in which there is a long gap between the wedding and the reception. A little cocktail and appetizer noshing in-between could help pass the time for your guests. The second is a late-night snacky-snack for those receptions that go extra late. Your ride-or-die friends and family that danced the night away with you might get a bit hungry again around 10 pm.
#5. Dancing Shoes And Other Comfort Items
The wedding ceremony and the wedding reception are two vastly different events. While everyone wants to get the most wear possible out of their wedding gown, it might not be comfortable to dance in all night. Here are some ways you can make the reception a little more comfortable and these are tips you won’t want to overlook.
- Wear a two-piece wedding dress – get a dress with removable parts to transform it into a whole new dress, kind of, that’s more suitable for partying.
- Switch from a veil to a tiara.
- If you had an updo for the ceremony, you can let your hair down right before the reception.
- Bring comfortable shoes, even dolled up white tennis shoes, for later in the evening when your squished toes start to scream at you. Check out this Huffington Post article about wedding reception shoes.
- Change up your jewelry so you aren’t worried about your great-grandmother’s pearls on the dance floor.
As your wedding approaches, don’t panic! After all this planning it’s inevitable that you’ll realize you forgot some tiny detail. No one will notice, so just have fun and focus on your new partner and your lives together. In the end, these are just a few magical last minute tips that will help make your wedding smoother and more relaxing.
