On that big wedding day, there are so many little things that can be overlooked. Well, if you are planning a big day, this essential checklist from wedding planner, Sharon McMeel, will give you a hand for your perfect day! _______________________________________________ 1. Scheduling Creating a schedule for your day will help you to see on paper how the day will run. It will allow you to advise your suppliers of where they need to be and at what time. You can also give the schedule to your bridal party so there is no confusion on the day. The schedule will help the wedding run a lot smoother and reduce the stress levels as well. For example if you are having transport from your house to the ceremony, work backwards: 1.00pm Ceremony 12.50pm the bride arrives at the church Distance from house to church – 20 minute drive allowing for traffic 12.30pm Depart from the brides house 12.00pm Transport arrives at the house. This allows time for the car to be there in plenty of time without you stressing about where it is and gives the photographer time to get photos of you with the car and still get to the church for photos with the groom. 2. Confirming Suppliers This is one of the most important things to do! You must ring all you suppliers the week before your wedding. Never assume that they remember everything you told them 6 or 12 months ago, or that they know the time they should be at the church etc. Always always reconfirm every detail - the time, location, and services as well as any balances due and how they want to be paid. Remember assumption is the mother of all screw ups! 3. Keepsakes Put aside a few copies of your invitations, RSVP cards, mass booklets or any other pieces from your wedding in advance as keepsakes because many people forget to take these things with them on the day. 4. The Little Things Everyone knows to add the big expenses like food and drink costs to their wedding budget but a lot of people forget to add in the little things and trust me when you add these things together they can be huge. Include everything you buy such as undergarments, brides purse, beauty treatments, postage, presents for parents and even staff tips. 5. Fresh Breath This applies to the bold smokers out there! Imagine the scene, you both look amazing and madly in love, the ceremony was magical now for the big moment, your first kiss as a married couple…….you lean in and get smokers breath! Not exactly what you had imagined. So make sure if you are a smoker that you remember to bring mints or mouth spray with you to have just before the ceremony starts. 6. Emergency Kit So everyone knows that you should have an emergency kit packed and put the usual suspects of water, pain killers, needle and thread etc into it. What most people tend do is get the free sewing kit from the hotel they stayed in last year and put that in the kit thinking they will never use it. However what you should be doing is buying thread to match your dress, your bridesmaids dress and even your mother & mother-in-laws outfit. The last thing you want is to be fixing the straps of the bridesmaids navy dress with white thread!!! Bring the right thread and no one will ever notice the wedding day emergency. Other great items to pack that you might have overlooked: · Super glue to fix heels and jewellery that break on the day · Phone charger · Extra earring backs · Chalk for stains on dresses or shoes · Flats shoes for the bride · Straws so the bride doesn’t ruin her lipstick 7. Distances Most people are conscious of the distance between the ceremony and reception venues when they are booking them but many people forget to factor in the distance from the place they are getting ready to the ceremony location. Try to keep the distance between where you and your fiancé are getting ready and the ceremony venue as close as possible. Remember the photographer, videographer and florist will all have to travel between these locations and it can waste a lot of the day allowing for your suppliers to travel between them. 8. Make Time For Each Other And Yourself We are back to the schedule. Make sure you do set aside both time on your own the morning of your wedding and time out with each other during the day. Your wedding day is a day when you will be surrounded by people every moment of the day so if often happens that you never get a moment on your own to savour the occasion and realise that today you will marry the love of your life and that all your planning has come to fruition. So schedule 10 minutes in the morning where you will go to the local park or sit in your garden (might need an umbrella in Ireland!). Later in the day have a moment just for the two of you. Allow yourselves to take it all in, the fact that you are now married, a pair for life, that your family and friends are all together in one place with you to celebrate your love for each other and if you are really lucky to appreciate the sunshine! 9. Guests' Addresses Something most people don't think about is postal addresses. People tend to panic when they are sending out their invites and realise that they only have peoples email address. Sure no one sends letters anymore! Try an app called Postable. It collects your guests postal addresses for you. Simply create a free account, add in your guests email addresses and send them the email that asks them to fill in a simple form with their details. Hard work done! 10. Planning For After The Wedding Since you got engaged most of your days will have been taken up with planning your wedding, so when the big day is all over many couples feel pretty miserable or at a loss for something to do. So it is important to have something to look forward to and plan after the wedding. If that plan is children then you will certainly have your hands full but if not it can be as simple as planning an adventure weekend together or a city break. Many couples are taking a different approach altogether and going on a mini moon for a few days after the wedding, then heading on their honeymoon 6 months later. This is a fantastic thing to plan and look forward to separate to your wedding day. No post wedding blues here! If you need help with any of the above or any other part of your wedding why not checkout my Google Helpout or email me on Sharon@sharonmcmeel.ie.