No doubt you’ll be counting down to your wedding from at least 100 days (if not more) but the final 20 days go by like snap that!
After months and months of planning, you’ve made it to the final countdown. This is where the excitement butterflies start fo’ real because it’s crunch time.
Remember that you are not alone in accomplishing your checklist. You have your family, your soon-to-be-family, and your wedding party to help complete tasks so try and delegate. I know it’s hard sometimes especially someone so hands-on like myself, but you need your beauty sleep so delegate away!
Also remember that flexibility is key. Somethings may not come together exactly how you planned. If you are able to go with the flow you’ll be much less stressed. I’m not saying don’t fight for something if it’s really important to you, but instead know what details really matter and concentrate on those. Complete and utter perfection is elusive in this life.
During the last month to week leading up to your wedding there will be several remaining items to complete. Some of the bigger ones include:
- Picking up your marriage license
- Picking up print materials (programs, menus, etc)
- Sorting, categorizing, and delivering your decor for easy venue setup
- Prepping day-of gifts
- Packing for the day-of
- Packing for the honeymoon
And while you can find fantastic wedding planning checklists online, we wanted to share some tips for final countdown that made an impact for us in the final stages of our wedding planning process.
Break In Your Shoes
Start wearing them around the house for 30 minutes at a time, and not just the week of. You don’t want to go into your wedding day with blisters. This goes for your groom’s shoes too. Also pack a back up pair of shoes in chance you kick them off late in the evening.
Practice Your Dance
LeBraun doesn’t like dancing and felt more comfortable learning a dance with steps for our first dance. We took five, one-hour lessons from Maria Bliznetsova at Dance Factory in Arlington, Virginia. We practiced and refined our dance in and out of the studio, and when it actually came time to do the dance at our reception we didn't even have to think about the steps.
Our instructor helped us become comfortable and trust each other on the dance floor. I followed LeBraun’s lead and we adjusted the dance as we needed for the space and cover version our band performed, which we heard for the first time during our first dance. :)
The best tip we can give—have fun! Just keep smiling. Everyone will be watching your faces, not your feet so if you mess up and don’t show it on your face. No one will know. If you mess up, just laugh it off and keep going.
Create A “Getting Ready” Playlist
Or task your bridesmaids to set it up ahead of time. The wedding morning is adrenaline-filled no matter how chill you are. It’s important to have a mix of upbeat yet calming songs. You don’t want all the songs to be fast-paced as they will amp-up the nerves even more. The music should be more of a background element. Check out our Spotify playlist for inspiration.
Clean Your Ring
Your bands are new so they’ll be spiffy, but give ye ole engagement ring a good polish. Everyone is going to wanna check out the new bling. Most jewelers will clean your rings for free, especially if you’re a bride. :)
Practice Vows Out Loud
By this point you’ve read, rewritten, reread your vows several times, but saying them out loud makes sure everything sounds smooth and you’ll feel collected when reciting them on your wedding day.
Clean Your House
Or at least pick it up. We had been staying in our hotel room, finishing crafts, entertaining friends, organizing decor, etc for a week leading up to our wedding so the night before we put everything in boxes with labels of where they needed to go and picked up the room so our room could be serviced. The hotel knew it was our wedding and even decorated the room for us—rose petals, chocolate-covered strawberries, champagne, and even folded towel swans! Coming home to a clean house is one of the best feelings!
Spend Time With Your Future Spouse
Escape the craziness and go out for “a last dating dinner.” The day before our rehearsal dinner, LeBraun and I made a reservation at Morimoto Maui, ordered our Japanese faves, and spent a calming evening chatting about our relationship, what we aspects we were most excited about, what LeBraun thought my dress looked like, and just generally taking in everything leading up to the wedding.
