Top 20 Wedding Details Not To Forget
Your wedding day is just around the corner and it is CRUNCH. TIME. It’s important to kick the planning and organizing into high gear as you finish strong. We’ve seen it all at Emerson Fields and we’ve seen a lot of details forgotten. Over the years we’ve compiled a list of the top 20 wedding details you do not want to forget as you are planning. Many of these details can be planned in advance and delegated to someone else so you can remain stress and worry free on your wedding day. Smooth sailing on your wedding day does require advanced preparation so hop to it and let us help you out!
A Day-Of Wedding Coordinator - OUR TOP TIP!
Our number one, super-important, top tip not to forget for your wedding day is to HIRE A PRO TO MAKE IT ALL HAPPEN. We hear from brides all the time that they are organized and great planners, and most of them are! Your wedding day is different though. YOU are the star of the show and you can’t make all of the behind-the-scenes come together without someone else in charge. You want your mind to be free to take it all in and focus on the love of your life. A professional wedding coordinator, planner, or month-of-manager can take all the hard work and planning you have done and bring it to life. At the very least, you need someone in charge of all of the day-of details. Your bridesmaids, mother and special loved ones should enjoy the day WITH you instead of running around like a busy bee.
These are details a wedding planner or professional coordinator might take care of:
contacting vendors ahead of the wedding to plan arrival times
preparing your wedding dress or bustling your gown
checking in with vendors upon arrival at the venue
final decorating touches, lighting the centerpiece candles, and dimming the lights
gathering the parents/grandparents to line up and be ushered in
cueing the wedding party when it's their time to start down the aisle
giving the ring bearer or flower girl final instructions and a pep talk
cueing the DJ for the grand entrance music and providing him with timeline information
setting up the head table place settings or décor
paying your vendors
assisting with parking attendants, guest book person, greeting/welcoming person
coordinating with the bar and bringing champagne out for toasts
pinning corsages on parents/grandparents/special people
setting up a time and place for the marriage license to be signed
prepping the cake table and assisting with the cake cutting
setting up for drinks/food service before the caterer’s arrival
organizing family for pre/post-ceremony photographs
loading or unloading your décor, supplies, gifts, etc.
being your go-to-gal for all last-minute details, errands, and loose ends
WHEW! It’s a lot to remember. We want you and your family to enjoy your special, once-in-a-lifetime day so don’t forget to hire a wedding day-of coordinator at the very least. Check with your coordinator or wedding planner to see what they specifically include with their services.
2. Gratuities for Vendors
Remember to tip your wedding vendors that go above and beyond for you. It is easiest to have cash ready to go in a marked, sealed envelope. Then you can simply hand it off to your wedding planner or coordinator to disperse to the correct vendors. Remember that some vendors, like your hairstylist, will leave earlier than the rest. Add this to your wedding timeline with your coordinator to ensure that everyone is paid and gratuities offered on time. Not sure if you should tip or how much to tip? Check out this article.
3. Comfortable Shoes
Save your fancy, possibly uncomfortable shoes, for photos and maybe just the ceremony. Pack some comfy shoes for getting ready, dancing, and leaving at the end of the night. Bonus points if they are stylish as they might slip into photos! If you’re going to travel after the wedding you may want to pack an extra outfit for the trip to your lodging or honeymoon destination as well. Your feet will thank you the next day if you plan ahead with a backup pair of comfortable shoes throughout the wedding day!
4. Clean Up Crew
Assign cleaning and packing roles to people you know and trust. Before the last call goes out on your wedding night, you want all your personal belongings packed up and loaded into your getaway car. You’ll also want people delegated to box up décor and clean up the space while you’re off enjoying your honeymoon. Pro Tip: Provide a checklist of everything you brought and marked boxes/totes to ensure that all your personal belongings are taken care of.
5. Rings and Marriage License
The week of your wedding take your wedding rings to your jeweler for a professional cleaning. Your photographer will thank you for the sparkle! Create a special box or bag to store your rings and marriage license so it stays safe and dry. DON’T FORGET THE LICENSE! You want this to be legal, after all. If you want a picture of your maid of honor/best man/officiant signing the license, then notify your photographer or put that on your list of must-have shots and locate a pretty ink pen as well.
6. Bar Signage
Keep the bar menu simple and offer a menu sign to help guests make a selection before being served. This also helps your bartender not have to repeat themselves a million times throughout the night and keeps the line flowing quickly. Personalized signature drink signs are fun and unique, but make sure your guests can read them. As a side note; while clear acrylic signage is cute it is hard to read and very hard to photograph.
7. Snacks
Taking all those photos, smiling and celebrating will make you hungry! Don’t forget to fuel yourself and drink plenty of water. You’ll want to provide lunch for the wedding party so catered sandwich, veggie, and fruit trays are great. Arrange for a lunch delivery if you can so no one has to leave and run those errands. Bring some disposable plates and utensils for your snacks and lunch for quick and easy clean up.
8. Emergency Kit
Typically a coordinator or planner has an emergency kit, but a proactive bride has her own. This is a great job to assign your maid of honor. Some things to pack include: Thread, needle, spot treating stain pen, safety pins, fashion tape to secure a dress, extra earring backs, bobby pins, mints/gum, Tylenol, band-aids, clear nail polish, nail file, cotton swabs, a lighter, etc. What do brides need and forget often? SCISSORS.
9. Cake Knife and Server
Our number one most forgotten detail of the wedding is not having a cake knife and server along with cake plates and forks. You can rent pretty cake servers or purchase your own, just don’t forget this important wedding detail. Ask a family member if they still have theirs and incorporate them as an heirloom detail possibly. Pretty cake or dessert plates and extra forks have sent many a wedding coordinator scrambling at the last minute. Be sure to provide enough extra plates and forks in case your guests dispose of or have their dinner forks taken away before dessert time.
10. Cutting the Cake
While this is likely already in your wedding timeline, make sure you delegate someone to finish cutting the cake to be served to guests. Two people is best to speed up the process. Ask these same people to box up the top layer of your cake for your first anniversary (bring an airtight container) at the end of the night. If you don’t want to save the top layer let them know this information as well so they know to go ahead and serve all of the cake.
Aunts, older cousins, or friends of the bride are great to do this task, but they need to know how to cut the cake to ensure there are enough slices for everyone. If you plan on only serving wedding cake as your dessert, make certain that those individuals who are cutting the cake know how to cut the wedding cake. It’s not the same as cutting up a sheet cake. Seek your wedding pros advice here.
11. Plan for Kids
If you invited people with children to your wedding, you need to assume they are bringing their kids unless you specified “adults only reception” on the invite. We strongly advise against a “kid table” because children may wander off unsupervised or take a red crayon to your rented tablecloths. Plan for kids by having yard games, dancing, fun food, or little activities they can do with an adult. Kids want to do what the adults are doing! Check with your venue about policies, but many venues don’t allow crayons or markers for children.
12. Sunset
Research what time the sun will set on your wedding day. Discuss this with the photographer early on in planning so you can set aside time to sneak away for a few portraits. These will likely be your favorite photographs because you’ll be relaxed and alone with your spouse for a few minutes while being surrounded by golden hour goodness! Spending 20-30 minutes around sunset for photos is a great time for guests to be finishing desserts and socializing. Then, when you come back in from photos, the dance floor can officially kick-off!
13. Bustle Your Dress and Secure the Veil
Practice bustling your gown with your maid of honor, coordinator, or mother at your final wedding dress fitting. That way the pros can show you how to secure it correctly as to not damage your gown. Pro Tip: Take a video of the pros bustling your dress so you get it done right and fast on your wedding day. Bring along your veil to your final hair trial too! This ensures that your hairstylist knows what you are looking for and you understand the best way to remove it when you’re ready. Adding “bustle gown” to your wedding timeline is smart so it isn’t rushed at the last minute.
14. Nice, Sturdy Hangers
Cheap, plastic hangers make us cringe! HA! While they’re fine in some settings, these are not what you want on your wedding day. You can invest in monogrammed or special stylized hangers, but make sure they are sturdy and can support your gown and bridesmaid dresses. If you’re on a budget, you can still pick up inexpensive wooden hangers from Amazon or Ikea. You and your photographer will be so happy you added this detail so your gown shots look perfect!
15. Packing the Gift Table
At the end of the night after spending time with family and friends dancing and enjoying yourself, you don’t want to forget the special gifts and cards people brought you! Delegate someone you know and trust to pack up all the gifts and cards so they are safe and secure. If you store these in a locked vehicle, make sure that you can’t see the packages through the windows to avoid a break in later that night at your hotel or elsewhere.
16. Earrings/Jewelry
Ever get in your car and realize you forgot your earrings? While that’s not such a bad thing on a regular day, it does stand out on your wedding day. Pack up all your bridal details together and double check that you have all the jewelry you need (and spare pieces if possible). This is likely the first thing your photographer will photograph while you are finishing your hair and makeup. Rings, shoes, jewelry, perfume, handkerchief, garter, invitation suite, heirlooms, vow books - these details create the best shots! Pro tip: Ask your florist for extra blooms to enhance these photographs as they will help tell the story of your wedding day.
17. Honeymoon Bags Packed
Even if you aren’t leaving for your honeymoon for a couple days, go ahead and pack up your bags so you have one less thing to think (or worry) about. Add as much as you can to these bags beforehand, and then write yourself a note of what is missing so you can easily pack those items before you head out. (Don’t forget your passport, photo ID, and any medical information cards!) Keeping all of your honeymoon bags separated from your wedding day bags will help to eliminate mix ups or forgotten items as well.
18. Photographer’s Last Call
Most photographers have a starting time and an ending time. If you plan on having golden hour photos, a late night taco food truck, a sparkler exit, or outfit change you’ll want to factor in the time your photographer is leaving. Add any must-have photos and your photographer’s last call to your wedding timeline. If your photographer has to go before your grand exit you can do a “sparkler run” or “sparkler celebration” picture earlier in the night to get those fun shots! Some photographers will allow you to add on extra time to a basic coverage package allowing for more late night shots if you want them.
19. Plan A, B, and C
What do brides tend to worry about the most for their wedding day? The weather! Don’t let the weather freak you out! Talk with your planner and your venue about your first choice set up for your ceremony, and then come up with Plan B and/or C to give you piece of mind on your wedding day. Everyone needs to be on the same page and know what YOUR wishes are, before a rain shower pops up! Preparedness is key.
20. A “DO NOT” Play List for your DJ
Maybe you can’t stand the Hokey Pokey or Cotton Eyed Joe. Make sure to add any genres, songs, or musical artists you do not want played at your wedding to a list and give it to your DJ before the day of the wedding. If you have some must-have selections that you and your fiance really love, let him/her know that as well. Most DJs will ask your preferences in advance in order to be prepared. Decide ahead of time if you’ll allow requests from family members or guests. Pro tip: If you plan to do the shoe game, make sure the DJ has some fun questions in store for the two of you and keep the questions limited. Your guests will get bored if the game lasts too long.
A wedding is likely the biggest event you will ever help plan and organize! (Which is also why you need to enlist the professionals’ help.) There are a lot of moving parts and details to keep track of before and on the big day. Our goal at Emerson Fields is to give you as much helpful advice as we can to make your wedding planning smooth and your wedding day unforgettable. Pro tip: Book a venue that is flexible, helpful and has your best wedding day interests at heart!
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We are thankful to all the wonderful photographers who share their real Emerson Fields wedding photos with us here on the blog!
Sheara Jennings Photography
Kendra Langford Photography
Katie Howard Photography
Bailey Pianalto Photography
Amanda Musselman Photography
Chosen Photography
Hillary and Grant Photography
09/28/2021 - Gabrielle Isom
