WHAT TO INCLUDE ON YOUR POST-WEDDING CHECKLIST
You’ve said the I dos and danced the night away. Yet, before you can be whisked off on your honeymoon and live happily ever after, there are some important tasks that need to be taken care of. Like a post-wedding checklist!
Since you’ll likely be caught up in post-wedded bliss after your wedding, we’ve made this process a bit easier by providing a breakdown of everything that should be on your to-do list after your wedding. Along with timelines for when these tasks should ideally be taken care of.
THE DAY AFTER
SLEEP!!!
It’s no secret that planning and executing a wedding is exhausting. As the adrenaline wears off and reality sinks in, you’re going to be pretty tired by the end. I mean, unless you have some sort of superhuman powers (or just lots of coffee). So, carve out a bit of time for self-care and let yourself sleep in the morning after your wedding. You deserve it!
HOST A POST WEDDING BRUNCH
This isn’t mandatory, but it’s a great way to get together for one last hurrah. You can reminisce about the night before, and thank your guests. Especially if you have a lot of out of town guests or had a destination wedding.
It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or have your entire guestlist in attendance. Just gather your close friends and immediate family, along with any out of town guests for a casual sit-down or buffet brunch and toast to your new life as a married couple.
PACK UP ITEMS AT THE VENUE
If your venue doesn’t offer onsite accommodations, you’ll need to head back over the next morning to gather all your décor and decide what to do with it.
Whether you sell them, keep them as mementos, or decide to get rid of them, that’s completely up to you.
READ MORE: The 15 Most Important Questions to Ask Your Wedding Venue Before You Book
DONATE YOUR FLOWERS
Again, this one isn’t mandatory, but is a great way to do some good with your flowers that would have otherwise been thrown out. But you might be wondering, how and why would you donate flowers?
There are many organizations that collect wedding flowers and turn them into beautiful bouquets. These bouquets are then brought to hospitals or seniors’ homes to lift the spirits of residents and patients. So, not only will your wedding flowers bring you joy on your special day but will be used to bring a smile to someone else’s face who may be going through a hard time. How sweet is that?
If this is something you are interested in, do some research! Find an organization that will either pick-up or allow you to drop off your flowers to them right after the wedding.
RETURN YOUR RENTAL ITEMS
If you rented any equipment, décor, furniture, a tent, dancefloor, or other items for your wedding, these will have to be returned to the vendor, either the next day or whenever was specified in your contract.
Be sure to look over your rental contracts to find out whether the vendor will be picking up the items and handling the takedown, or if you need to take care of these tasks yourself.
3 DAYS TO 1 WEEK AFTER
GO ON YOUR HONEYMOON
For couples lucky enough to jet off on your honeymoon immediately after the wedding, this is a great opportunity to extend your post-nuptial bliss and escape from reality for just a little while longer.
However, many couples also choose to delay their honeymoon to save up a bit more for a big trip either several months or even one year after their wedding. If this is what you have planned, then you can skip to the next step.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR GOWN
If you are planning to hold onto your wedding dress to serve as a reminder of the love, happiness, and jubilation that you experienced on your wedding day, it’s important to have it professionally dry cleaned and stored to preserve its beauty for years to come.
This should be done shortly after your wedding (ideally one week after) so that any stains can be swiftly removed. And if you think you can skip this step as you managed to keep your gown stain-free on your wedding day, keep in mind that some stains can be invisible at first, but will turn brown over time and create a lasting stain. Therefore, having your gown professionally cleaned is always a good idea.
OPEN YOUR GIFTS AND CARDS
Once the dust has settled and you are back from your honeymoon (if you chose to take one right away), now comes the fun part – opening your gifts! There is no timeline for this. However, you likely will want to get to this soon so you can put all your gifts to good use.
While opening gifts, make sure that you write down who gifted you what. This helps with sending out thank you cards after!
3 TO 6 WEEKS AFTER
SEND OUT THANK YOU NOTES
After you’ve opened all your cards and gifts and have recorded who gifted you what, you’ll need to send out thank you notes to anyone who gave you a gift or money. A good rule of thumb is to have your thank you cards sent out within three months after your wedding. Ideally, you should get this done sooner.
This can feel like the tiring and tedious part of your post-wedding checklist at times. But getting your cards completed and sent out quickly will not only show your guests how much you appreciate their generous gift, but will also free up time on your end so you can focus on enjoying married life.
REVIEW YOUR VENDORS
It takes a village – and a lot of vendors – to pull off a wedding. So be sure to show your appreciation for all the vendors that helped make your wedding special by writing favourable reviews. Often vendors will ask you for a review directly. Even if they don’t. Still reach out and ask them what the best way is for you to provide a review.
This not only helps the vendors to book future weddings, but also helps other couples looking for vendors to make their big day magical as well.
CHANGE YOUR NAME (IF YOU’RE PLANNING TO)
If you’re planning to change or hyphenate your last name, start working on this within the first couple of months after your wedding. This can be a lengthy process. If you’re keeping your last name, then you can just sit back, relax, and skip to the next part.
ENJOY MARRIED LIFE!
This is the final and most important part of your post-wedding checklist. Planning a wedding is a huge endeavour that involves a lot of moving parts. But the days and weeks after the wedding can be equally as stressful. For this reason, it’s so important to remember to take time to relax and enjoy being married.
We’re going to go out on a limb and assume that you didn’t have a wedding just for the party. You had a wedding to celebrate your love and be joined together with your new spouse for life. So take time to reflect on your big day and soak everything in. And don’t stress too much about taking care of all the little things after your wedding.
There you have it – your post-wedding checklist!