You were planning for months and then all of a sudden the day was there, those plans worked out perfectly, you wore your gown, enjoyed the festivities, and ate your wedding cake. And just like that, the day has come and gone and you’re married. So now what? The stress of planning may have passed, but you still have to check a few things off of your to-do list before you’re actually done.
Preserve your bouquet
Preserve your bouquet either in full, for a home décor memento, or in part, using the petals within your wedding album or as part of your thank you cards.
Clean and preserve wedding dress
Clean any stains or cake off of your dress and preserve it. Whether you are keeping it or selling it, this still needs to be done.
Take down your wedding registry from your wedding website
Although some may argue that you should take down your wedding website right away, I say take down your registry and keep your site up a little longer to share pictures with your guests. They may also share some of the candid shots that they took with you, which can be just as nice for you to have as the photos from your photographer. You can also keep it going by transforming your wedding website into a lifestyle blog so you can continue to share your love story with friends and family.
Open your gifts and send out thank you notes
Open your gifts and keep track of who gave you what. This will make it easier to personalize your thank you cards afterward. One of the most important points among thank you card etiquette is spending the time to hand-write the cards as opposed to going generic. Your guests put time into picking out your gift and attending the wedding, so give them this time and attention of writing them a personal thank you note.
Order your wedding album
Once you have the photo files from your photographer, you should plan out and order your wedding album. This requires some work and thought in order to get it perfect, but it is worth it in the end and will be enjoyed for a lifetime. So take your time and do it right.
Write online reviews for your vendors (caterer, photographer, venue, etc.)
Don’t forget to review the people who made it all possible. If they did a great job, go online and write a review stating just that. This helps them and future couples who are considering them.
Return unwanted gifts and purchase those that you still want but didn’t receive
We all get some things we dislike and we don’t have unlimited space. Take the time to do some returns and then put the money towards the items you still want that weren’t chosen from your registry.
Return any unused items so that you can get some money back
It may sound tedious, but unused picture frames and sweets table napkin and straw packages that somehow never got used should be returned so you can get the money back. A few dollars here and there adds up pretty quickly.
Figure out something to do with your wedding décor
You don’t want this cluttering up your place, so figure out what you can do with the décor after the fact. Is another friend planning a wedding and can use a thing or two? Can you sell it online or donate it to be used for another event?
Legally change your name (if you planned on doing this)
This can be time-consuming, but needs to be done right. Start by changing your social security card, passport, driver’s license, then move on to things like your bank account (you may want to start a couple’s account at this point). Finally, once the official documents are changed, go ahead and change your name on your apartment rental agreement (and mailbox and buzzer), at work, and inform any companies sending you mail that your name has now changed.