Why you need a Last Minute Wedding Planning Checklist

If you are entering the last weeks of Wedding Planning I can almost bet you or your partner have asked yourself a version of this question; what are we forgetting? Yes? I thought so. Trust me, I’m a Wedding Planner and I ask myself this question at times too – it’s actually a good question to ask yourself, because chances are, you have forgotten something; there’s a lot of stuff to remember when planning a wedding.  That is why we created the ‘2 Weeks & Counting Wedding Planning Checklist’.  

I can’t promise you an exhaustive list of all the Wedding Planning things you might have forgotten (every wedding is different), but this last minute Wedding Planning Checklist should prompt you to take a closer look at the details of your wedding so you can feel much more confident that you haven’t forgotten anything, or anything too important.  And before we jump into the Wedding Planning Checklist can I just remind you that most of the little things, aren’t important. Of course, if you have included something in your day, you don’t want to forget it, but please don’t stress if you do. As long as you get married and everyone has a good time, you’re good.  

Now back to that list of last minute things you might have forgotten.  

• Delegate! Not delegating tasks is the number one thing I see couples fail to do, especially in the last few weeks of wedding planning, but it is the most important thing to remember.  At 2 weeks out, most of the big stuff will be taken care of, but then there are the little things that are popping into your head every 5 minutes; the cat has to be fed on the afternoon of the wedding, or taken to the cattery.  Dad needs a lift to the Ceremony. You want to drop a change of clothes for the next day and your overnight bag to the Hotel. Food needs to be cooked for the wedding party so everyone eats on the day of the wedding. These things need to be delegated.  Don’t plan on doing them yourself on the day or even on the day before. If you think you have time, go back to your Run-sheet and remind yourself, you don’t have time and if you want to be calm and relaxed on wedding day, you don’t want to be doing these little things at all.  Instead start writing them down as you think of them and assign them to someone else. You will find that there are family and friends who would love to help!  And if you need assistance making sure you have thought of everything, ask the people around you who will be involved on the day for their input and also talk to your On the Day Coordinator. If you do just one thing on this list, make it this one.
  
• Organise your Venue Set up and Pack down if you are doing this yourselves.  If you have decided to do this yourself make sure you have a plan for when it will be done, who will be helping you with it and what has to be taken to the venue.  Setting up and packing down a venue is a huge job and it’s not one you should be doing yourself on your Wedding Day.  If you can’t access your venue until the day and you need to be out that night, we highly recommend delegating this job (friends and family can help, or you can hire a company like the I Do Crew to do it for you).  But even if you can do your set up the day before and your pack down the next day, take some time now to organise the details of what has to be done and make sure you get some help. This is one of the jobs that we see crush couples in the last few days of their wedding planning if they decide to go it alone.
• Finalise Accounts.  If you haven’t paid all of your Vendors at the 2 week and counting mark, take some time to draw up a list of who still needs to be paid, what they are owed and what date they need to be paid.  If you can, make all of those payments now so you don’t have to think about them in the last week. If you can’t make them until their due dates, set up alerts (or write reminders in your planner) on the dates that the payments have to be made.  If there are any payments that need to be made on the day, delegate this job to someone else. If you planning on tipping vendors, or want to give them a gift or card on the day, organise that now also and delegate the task.
  
• Email your photographer a list of important family members or portraits that you want them to get on the day.  By now you should have finalised your shot list with your photographer but if not, make sure they have the names of the important people or moments you want captured on the day.  I find adding a mobile number of each person to the list can really help in case of people not being where you need them to be on the day.
• Sort out transport.  Whilst you may have booked your cars for arriving at the Ceremony, have you considered the transportation needs of  the Wedding Party and family members for the entire day and even the next day if relevant?  If not, it’s time to think about how the important people will ‘move about’ on your wedding day and the next day.  Don’t just consider how people will get to the Ceremony, but also how they will get home, or to overnight accommodation.  If friends and family members will be helping with this, draw up a schedule and add in addresses and phone numbers of those doing the driving and those being collected.
• Think about the clothing you need on the day and for your honeymoon.  Does anything need to be cleaned or pressed? Get this done now.
• Finalise your timeline for the day and give it to your Vendors, Wedding Party and important family members, along with a list of contact numbers of important people.  If you have an On the Day Coordinator they will do this for you, but if your celebrations are spread across a weekend, you may need to expand on the Wedding Day timeline for family members and your Wedding party. What we see work very well is having a ‘morning schedule’ for the Wedding Party and important family members.  If you are setting up and packing down your own wedding, your schedule should include the details of this and be given to anyone helping you.
  
• Plan meals for the day before and day of your wedding and shop ahead to ensure your fridge is well stocked with supplies.  We mentioned meals in delegation and grocery shopping is also something you should delegate if you can, but you may like to take some time to do up a shopping list to ensure you have all your favourites on hand. If you would like to have an esky of drinks and snacks with you on Wedding Day (whilst having photos for example), organise this ahead of time and delegate the task of bringing it along to someone.
  
• Clean the house (or get a cleaner to do it for you) and create a spot for anything wedding related.  If you want to feel calm and organised on wedding day (of course you do), having your house clean, tidy and all the wedding stuff organised is absolutely going to help you feel less stressed on the day.  If you will be getting ready somewhere else, delegatge a spot in your home for storing all of the things you need to take with you for the wedding and label it so it is clear what it is and where it has to go to.
• Wear in new shoes and remind your wedding party to do the same.  Ensure you have the right undergarments for your wedding day attire and ask your wedding party to do the same.
• If you are leaving for your honeymoon soon after your wedding day, get organised now. Start laying things out to pack, or start packing. Ensure your travel plans are finalised and if you are traveling overseas, consider currency, cards and phone plans now.
• Get a haircut and have your final beauty treatments.
• Assign someone to take care of legal documents on the day.
  
• Assign someone to collect gifts and any personal belongings after your Wedding.Schedule some quiet time away from wedding planning. This might be with each other, family members or your wedding party.
• Get sleep, eat well and drink plenty of water.  Wedding Day is a long day and the last thing you want is to wake up on the day exhausted and wishing for it all to be over so you can go and sleep.  Instead make looking after yourself in the last two weeks a priority, so you can party the night away come wedding day.

There you have it our list of things you may have forgotten to plan as you hit the 2 weeks and counting mark in your wedding planning. As I said at the beginning, this is by no means an exhaustive list, but I bet I have you thinking about your wedding and the things you still need to organise.  So grab yourself a notebook and pen (or Google Doc) and put it somewhere where you can both see it.  Whenever you think of a last minute job to be done, write it down and assign it to someone, or tick it off sooner, rather than later.  And of course, if you haven’t done so already, consider hiring an On the Day Coordinator who will be able not only identify the last minute jobs to be done, but take over many of them for you.

Further Reading to help you ‘nail’ your Wedding Planning

• Wedding Party Responsibilities – who does what and who don’t you need?
• Avoid This Mistake When Designing Your Seating Chart – the simple fix will get your guests seated and toasting your entrance in no time!
• Easy Ways To Slash Your Wedding Budget – no one will notice and you’ll be too busy celebrating to give these things a second thought