Photo: Kevin J. Miyazaki
With only a week left before you say "I do," the wedding planning may be done but the work isn't over yet. To make sure not a single carefully dreamed-up detail goes overlooked, we've compiled 15 essential to-dos you (and your fiancé) must address the week leading up to your wedding.
(Have more than a week to go? Get a custom wedding to-do list based on your wedding date here!)
1. Confirm your wedding-day beauty appointments and get your manicure and pedicure. (Better to leave this until you only have one or two days to go!) Buy the colors you end up using to fix any accidental last-minute chips.
2. Grooms: Get a haircut. If you head to the barber when you're more than a week out, your hair could look shaggy. Get it cut too close to the big day and you run the risk of looking like it's sixth grade picture day.
3. Grooms, pick up your suit and brides, your dress. Do one last fitting in the store before taking it home — it will give you more time for any last minute alterations.
4. Practice walking and dancing in your wedding shoes.
5. Call guests who have missed the RSVP deadline. You'll need the final headcount for your venue and caterer.
6. Communicate the wedding-day schedule, any special duties, and important contact information to your parents, the wedding party, and your wedding coordinator. A document with call-times for everyone playing a large role in your day will help everything stay on schedule.
7. Place final payments and cash tips into separate envelopes for each vendor. Give them to a trusted friend of family member to distribute on your wedding day. Ask him or her to greet each vendor and be the point person for questions.
8. Call and re-confirm every last detail with each of your vendors including date, time, and location. Don't forget to provide them with contact info for their point person on the day-of. (You'll be too busy getting ready to direct traffic!) Make sure your photographer has your shot list, your DJ has your song list, and that your venue knows when each vendor will be arriving to set up.
9. Create a seating chart for your reception and share the final version with your caterer, venue manager, reception host and hostess, and wedding coordinator.
10. If you didn't order escort cards with your stationery, it's time to put on your DIY hat and make them. (Ask your craftiest 'maid for some assistance if necessary!)
11. Provide drivers with a schedule and list of names, phone numbers, and addresses for pickup and drop off.
12. Shop and pack for your honeymoon. Though your girls will make sure you're covered in the wedding-night lingerie department (what else are bachelorette parties for?!), bikinis, sun dresses, and SPF 50 won't buy themselves.
13. Writing your own vows? Making a toast? Prepare anything that requires a speech now.
14. Gather a wedding-day emergency kit that includes fashion tape, safety pins, band-aids, mints, and a needle with thread that matches your dress.
15. Pack a bag for your wedding night. Ask some one to deliver it to the hotel where you'll be staying.