Tips for Your Wedding Day before the Ceremony
Bridal couples usually plan wedding days and receptions months in advance. Sometimes they turn to professional wedding planners to help them cover all the bases. Today you can use dozens of online tools to establish collaboration with various service providers for your wedding. Even though all this assistance makes the organization less stressful, it’s still important to plan every detail of the wedding day. From our experience, the period before the ceremony can be quite intensive for bridal couples. A combo of emotions running high and dozens of microtasks can generate more stress than necessary.
That’s why we’ve put together a plan for a wedding day before the wedding ceremony.
1 Get space for proper sleep
Many partners have trouble getting enough sleep the night before the wedding day. The excitement and intensive feelings, as well as the organization of the wedding day often keep us awake until the wee hours.
The consequence is that bridal couples are often exhausted on their wedding day. This is especially problematic for brides. They might not look the way they want for the photo session or feel tired all day long.
So, in order to be physically capable to stay fresh throughout the wedding day, the bride and the groom need to get room for proper sleep. If they live together, they should go to bed as early as possible. Those who host their parents for that night should think about spending that night in a hotel or at a friend’s place.
Getting enough sleep is one of the key prerequisites for an energetic and positive wedding day.
2 Start your day with a song
When you’ve had enough sleep, it’s time to wake up for the most important day of your life. Starting this day with a song will energize your mind and body for all the challenges awaiting behind the corner.
So, play your favourite song, get yourself a cup of coffee, sit on your terrace, and just breathe. Rewind the flashbacks of all the beautiful experiences you’ve had with your spouse-to-be and fuel yourself with positive energy.
You can sing the lyrics of the song and even dance around the house.
And if this song is the one that you chose for the wedding dance, both you and your partner can start your day with it. It would be a wonderful rehearsal of the “real thing” at the reception.
3 Delegate tasks to helpers
When you’ve finished with your morning coffee and your favourite song, it’s time for breakfast.
This paragraph isn’t about the importance of full breakfast on a wedding day but it’s worth mentioning it here.
What this section is about is the importance of delegating tasks related to wedding microtasks.
We all tend to be control freaks about these things. Still, the sooner you accept that you can’t do everything alone, the more activities can be assigned to others.
From picking up the decorations and flowers – unless you arranged the delivery – to streamlining the guests to the wedding venue, engage your parents, siblings, cousins, and friends. The best man should be in charge of the wedding rings.
If you have invitees coming from far away, delegate one person as their assistant. This person will be their contact and supper in case they can’t find their hotel or the wedding venue.
Of course, the morning of the wedding day is not the right time to delegate tasks. This should be done during the week before the wedding day. Still, you can check up on your helpers early in the morning just to make sure they’re in their positions.
4 Ensure enough time for grooming
Depending on the time when the reception starts, you’ll set the time for dressing up and grooming for the wedding. Some people need more time for grooming than others even when they’re not getting married. If you’re such a person, bear that in mind and leave yourself enough time for all the details.
Also, a rule of thumb is that women need more time to get ready for the wedding reception than men. So, get ready for your pre-wedding treatments immediately after the morning song, coffee, and breakfast.
From the hairdresser and make-up artist to the moment you put on your wedding gown, your morning activities will be densely listed. This is why getting enough sleep is even more important.
Men, on the other hand, usually need less time to dress up for the wedding reception. This means that the groom can give instructions to the delegated assistants in case they have any problems along the way.
Still, at a certain point, the groom also needs to turn off his mobile and start dressing up for the wedding reception
5 Spend some time at the venue
If possible, you can have your morning coffee at the wedding venue or have a drink there the night before the wedding. This is both a pleasant and practical thing to do. On the one hand, you and your partner will get familiar with the entire space. Also, it will be comfortable from the emotional point of view. It will also give you a chance to try some of the activities for the wedding day. For instance, you can practice the walk to the altar or the place where the registrar will be standing.
If you’re getting married in spring and your venue has an outdoor area, you can spend a cosy and enjoyable evening putting the finishing touches to your wedding day.
Also, think about spending the night after the wedding at the venue if it provides rooms. After a long and intensive day, you won’t have to drive to the city centre or wherever you live.
6 Greet the guests
As the wedding day clock is ticking, it’s time for the first interactions of the day – greeting the guests. Most bridal couples add a cocktail hour to their wedding day. This is usually an hour-long period during which guests are gathering before the ceremony.
It would be nice if somebody could greet the guests during this time. Of course, the bride should not be among the greeters because she will be too busy getting ready for the ceremony.
Depending on the culture and social norms, greeters could be the groom and/or the parents of the bridal couple. In the latter case, it’s recommended that one parent from each side takes part in this activity. That way, you can introduce guests to one another. This will help them relax and create a lively atmosphere at the reception.
7 Find time for your partner
Many bridal couples get carried away by their wedding da and they devote more time to others than to each other. While this is a common thing in all cultures and classes, don’t forget about your partner on your wedding day. After all, the two of you are the reason why all these other people are here.
So, find some time to kiss each other, say something nice and romantic, and enjoy your wedding day together. This is also important as something that will mark the beginning of your marriage story.
This is also why it’s recommended to delegate as many tasks as possible to your close people. The more relaxed you are on your wedding day, the more energy and time you’ll have for each other.
From the morning coffee and song you consume together to emotional gestures during the day, focus on your love on your wedding day and pave the pathway of a long and successful marriage.
8 Eat and drink regularly
Losing consciousness, fainting or feeling weak are common things for bridal couples on wedding days. The main reason for these uncomfortable feelings is the lack of food and drinks.
From early morning to the moment when you go to bed at the end of the wedding day, you need to eat and drink regularly.
You can tell your best man and the maid of honour to remind you about that a few times during the day.
If you’re planning to drink alcohol, which is the usual thing to do on a wedding day, all this becomes even more important.
Also, make sure that you eat various food and drink a lot of water. The latter is especially important for brides. That way they’ll keep a fresh look all day long. Also, plan your wedding drinks and food in advance to come up with a versatile and healthy menu.
9 Say “I do”
The clock is ticking, the obligations and activities are passing by, and the pinnacle of the wedding day is behind the corner. Think about how you are going to get down the aisle. In some cultures, it’s the bride’s father who accompanies her or it could be the bride’s brother, an uncle, maid of honour or even the groom.
Whatever you’ve arranged, now is the time to take that final step. Once you’re at the altar, the only thing you need to do is say “I do” and start the ceremonial part of the wedding day.
Conclusion
Many wedding guides try to cover too many things in a few words. The aim of this guide was to help bridal couples make the most of their wedding day by the moment of the wedding ceremony. This period often makes people feel tense and worried if everything will be all right. We hope that our tips will mitigate the feeling of tension in bridal couples on the wedding day. If you follow these tips, you’ll spend less time worrying about others and show more affection to each other on your wedding day.
AuthorBio: James Barnes is an experienced wedding organizer and blogger at theannexevents.com. He specialized in organizing outdoor wedding events.
We have a FREE wedding planning pack for you to download here