5 Last-Minute Tips To Help You Prepare For Your Wedding Day—Advice From A Recent ‘Excited-But-Also-Super-Stressed’ Bride
Okay bride. Your big day is approaching! Are you excited? But also super stressed?
I get it. I’ve been there.
And even though you have probably been wedding planning for months and months, there are so many “last-minute” things that have to happen before the big day. Unfortunately, that means your last few weeks as a Miss might be stressing you out.
BUT DON’T YOU WORRY MY FRIEND… I’ve got you!
The 5 tips in this post along with my free Wedding Vendor Packet template will help you:
Pace yourself
Stay calm
Decide what is truly important to you and your fiancé
Get organized
Determine what you can delegate to take stress off your plate
Enjoy your last few weeks as a Miss
I hope this post can help some bride out there find joy and de-stress so you don’t end up like me and my pup (pictured below) falling asleep on top of a box of wedding to-do items! 😆🐕💤📝
Oh, and if you are planning to include your dog in your wedding day, check out this post >> 19 Pawsome Ways To Include Your Dog In Your Wedding.
My pup Joey fell asleep on a box of wedding to-do items after a long day of wedding planning with me. Sweet dreams honey!!!
1. Email a detailed packet to your vendors a month before your wedding (free template below)
There are so… many… questions that last month leading up to the wedding. And it may have you feeling like this:
It’s a lot. But don’t worry, I’ll make this part easier on you…
Being super detailed for your vendors will significantly decrease the number of emails, texts, and phone calls you get.
For my wedding, I put together a Wedding Vendor Packet which had one vendor say:
“I have to say you are by far the most organized bride I have ever had in 11 years! I’m super impressed!”
Man I’m sooooooo cooooooooool.
And guess what… you can ALSO be the most organized bride someone has seen in 11 years! I turned my packet into a template that you can copy and use! It includes:
Vendor contacts & emergency contacts list
Important addresses
Quick overview of the timeline
Detailed step-by-step timeline
Reception grand entrance order
RSVPs
Seating chart
Just click below to make a copy of my Google Sheet template and add your details. Then, BCC all your vendors and send the entire thing to them about a month out.
Here is a Polaroid of my family holding up our wedding spreadsheet… placed on top of a wedding spreadsheet. Thrilling stuff here people!
>> pst, pro tip:
Some locations, times, etc. may not be final yet, and that’s okay!
With Google Sheets, you can continue to update it as you go and the changes will be made in the doc in real-time.
2. Schedule all of your “beauty” appointments ahead of time
The final week before the wedding will be filled with “beauty” appointments that just can’t be done any earlier.
BUT… it’s okay, bride! You’ve got this! Just make sure you have all of your appointments booked, confirmed, and in your calendar ahead of time so all you have to do is show up to the appointment as your big day approaches with your Starbucks in hand!
Oh, and if you have family / friends / your bridal party joining you at any of your appointments, make sure they know your appointment times so they can book accordingly… and bring you your Starbucks! 👰☺️😇
“If they don’t write ‘Bride’ on it… I send it back.” - me (paraphrasing Michael Scott)
>> here are some Appointments you may want to book:
- Mani
- Pedi
- Spray tan
- Waxing
- Threading
- Facial
- Maybe even a massage? ☺️
3. Do yourself a favor & hire a day-of wedding coordinator - it’s so worth it
If you don’t have one already… my #1 piece of advice is to hire a day-of coordinator.
And if you’re reading this thinking that you don’t need one, or that you can do it yourself, or that you have previous event planning experience and don’t need the extra help (*cough, cough* *me*)… well, that’s a bold claim.
I really did think I could do it all! But there is SO MUCH that happens on your actual wedding day… you deserve to just enjoy it and let someone else deal with setup, tear down, last-minute issues, vendors questions, etc. etc. etc.
We hired Jennifer Alexa Events last-minute… I’m talking like less than 2 weeks before our wedding. From that first conversation on, SO much of our stress melted away. (I truly thank God for our day-of coordinators Jen and Kyle. We call them our wedding angels!)
So, if you’re a bride like me who wants a lot of control over your wedding but needs help on the big day so you can relax… a day-of coordinator is the way to go.
Hubba hubba Zac! Looking good! 😏😏😏 Thank you so much for coming to our wedding! I’m so sorry that I married someone else and I hope you are not too heartbroken. 💔
>> pst, if you’re reading this and thinking:
“Well shoot… it’s too late to try to hire someone now!”
… give it a try. I bet someone is available and would love to help with your special day!
They may even set up a Zac Efron cardboard cutout for you!
Hellooooooooo handsome! 😏😂
4. Decide what’s really important to you & your fiancé, outsource tasks where needed
Okay, so maaaybe you got a Cricut for Christmas. And maaaybe you’re a creative gal. And maaaybe you really want to create your own wedding signage and decor and DIY a bunch of stuff for the big day. 🌸👩🎨🌿🎨(Hmmm sounds so familiar… 🤔😬)
Well that’s great! And if you have the time and it’s important to you, then absolutely go for it!
But wait! Read that one more time^^^ If you HAVE THE TIME and if it’s IMPORTANT TO YOU… THEN go for it.
Yes, you may have pinned something on Pinterest 5 years ago and thought, “OHHH I am SO going to do this when I get married!” but… we are getting married SOON people!
BTW, I learned this one the hard way. And while I love how all of our signs and decor turned out, maaannnn… I was stressing big time printing those dang little letters on my Cricut while switching between Starbucks and wine late into the night at my parent’s house.
And guess what… no one even complimented my BATHROOM SIGNS AT THE WEDDING!!! MY BATHROOM SIGNS PEOPLE!!! Why did I spend so much time on those dang things?!
THEM: “You look so nice, Haylie! A blushing bride!”
ME: “Yeah yeah. Do you even care about my BATHROOM SIGNS?!” 🙄
😂 Psh. Whatever. They were cute. 😂
Just some of the DIY stuff I thought was so important. (If my husband is reading this… yes. You were right. I was wrong. I should have outsourced this stuff yadda yadda. 🙄😑😝)
>> pro tip: how to decide what is really important:
Just pause for a minute. Breathe. Take a step back. And think:
- Does this REALLY matter to me?
- Does this REALLY matter to my fiancé?
- Will my guests TRULY care about this?
- Will we TRULY care about this detail a year from now?
If you answered no… move on.
5. When it comes to last-minute wedding tasks… delegate, delegate, DELEGATE!
This one was tough for me at the beginning. When people would ask how they could help, I felt like it would take longer to explain a certain task than to just do it myself. Otherwise, I felt like I would be constantly asking:
And yes, SOME things are just easier to do yourself. BUT, there are some tasks that your family, bridal party, friends, etc. can help with—without adding a lot of extra work to your plate.
I had such an amazing crew around me leading up to the wedding and day-of. (Shoutouts at the bottom of this post!)
Accepting help when people offered it was really, well, helpful! It also allowed me to spend quality time with them AND made the wedding even more special!
“Ring the bell & wish them well!” AKA what you use when your church doesn’t allow flower petals or rice.
>> not sure what items to delegate? Here is a quick list to get you started:
- Hotel gift bags (Tell your friend or family member to Google what to put in the bags and give them a budget—then, leave this in their hands completely. Have them drop the bags at the hotel(s) as well!)
- Printing ceremony programs (This is a small pain in the booty that just eats away at your time, someone else can deal with it!)
- Printing placecards (Same as above!^^)
- Getting your rings cleaned (This is a perfect task for a MOH / Best Man.)
- Breakfast / lunch / mimosas for the morning of while you’re getting ready
- Booze on the limo
- Playlist on the limo
- Bathroom baskets (i.e. Buying things like tissues, tampons, mouthwash, etc. for the bathrooms and organizing them in a basket that can be easily transported to your venue.)
- Adding tags to favors / bubbles / etc.
And that’s that! To recap:
1. Email a detailed packet to your vendors a month before your wedding (click here for a free template)
2. Schedule all of your “beauty” appointments ahead of time
3. Do yourself a favor and hire a day-of wedding coordinator - it’s so worth it
4. decide what’s really important to you and your fiancé, outsource tasks where needed
5. When it comes to last-minute wedding tasks… delegate, delegate, DELEGATE!
Please please please try to find some joy during this final month leading up to your big day! YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED MY FRIEND! You will be amazing. You will be great. Your special day will be so memorable. Pace yourself. Accept help. Do what you can now. Delegate. You’ve got this! 💪💪💪
xoxo, Haylie Gulasey, Retired Bride, Current Wife
Psst… if you’re looking for more wedding resources, be sure to check out:
Here are some special shoutouts & thank you’s from the bottom of our hearts:
My Mom & Dad for spending about 23432 hours helping me create signs, paint individual giant Jenga pieces one-by-one, shopping for discount decor, packing wedding things into boxes, scraping Marshall’s tags of a million picture frames, creating corn hole boards from scratch, allowing us to store a ton of wedding stuff at their house, giving me coffee and wine all the time, eating pizza with me, and about 100 other things. Thank you thank you thank you. I will always cherish that time together.
My CO-MOH’s Marissa & Chelsey for all of their help with so many random wedding tasks, coming with me to dress appointments, keeping me sane, making me drink water, planning an amazing Bachelorette Party, writing a touching speech, and helping me celebrate big and little moments.
My pup Joey for coming with me everywhere during wedding planning so I always had a little buddy by my side.
My niece Bella and godson Wes for being cute and keeping me sane when COVID-19 started and we had to postpone the wedding.
My Mother-In-Law, Father-In-Law, and Bro-In-Law for always treating me like family, long before the wedding.
My Bridesmaid Heather for all of her help with my “mail-in shower” during COVID and helping to pack and organize all the gifts in 90-degree weather and dealing with my weirdness for so many years.
The rest of my amazing Bridal Party of Vicky, Cam, and Matt for always being such true, wonderful, loving, fun, caring friends. I love you guys with all my heart!
The rest of the crew who came to my Bachelorette Party and made it so incredibly fun, Sabrina, Kim, Hannah (and Dan!) Thank you for taking the time out of your lives to be there, make it so special, and hang out with me and Zac Efron.
My friend Rachel for designing our amazing and adorable wedding logo.
My friend Alex for creating the gorgeous prints and fonts for our wedding signs, placecards, and our church program.
My team at Brilliant Balance who threw me the most touching virtual Bridal Shower after I had to cancel my shower due to COVID. I’m so grateful to be part of this team and call such a wonderful group of women my friends, inspiration, and role models.
My heart is so full! 🥰 Please enjoy some wedding planning pics!
