What are you doing in the days leading up to your wedding?

Robinred

I was wondering if anyone has planned the days before their wedding.

There are loads of things I want to do myself: flowers, cake, decorating the venue, makeup... and I have probably got the skills to do them, but I don't think I'll have the time as they all have to be done last minute.

I am fine doing invites, favours, decorations myself because they can all be done before hand, but I don't want to have loads to do at the last minute.

Plus there are other things that I will need to have done to me, like a fake tan, massage, hair... and these things need to be timed right too!

Plus you need to wait for your rsvps before you do some things...:mad:

I think I'm going to ditch the cake and get a cheap professional locally, and maybe have a timetable like this:

July: Assemble all the decorations in a big box to be taken to venue
Find out from rsvps how many would like a lift between venues and book a cab/minibus/coach accordingly
Get bf to organise buttonholes
Organise taxi to church
Organise lifts from church

1st August - Get hair coloured
15th August - get fake tan
17th August- am. go round supermarkets, florists and forest collecting flowers and greenery
pm- go to venue and decorate with help. Make up bouquets and take home.
18th August - do nails, hair, and makeup myself, get married!

Does anyone else have a plan???!!!

White_Sapphire

Hi Robinred,

I'm doing a lot of DIY-ing as well, including growing flowers for my bouquet, making table centrepieces, doing my own hair and make up, making the cake...! The key is to delegate; I'll be getting a list of willing [STRIKE]victims[/STRIKE] volunteers to help set up the venues, drop things off, pick things up, etc. My mum will be helping a lot especially with the cake and flowers. Below is the end of my to do list as it is now (ie I'll think of plenty more to add to it!), to give an idea of how I'm hoping to space things out, and what I'm trusting other people with.

2 weeks
- Email team of organisers & helpers with tasks - Ensure everyone knows who is doing what re setting up, day-of tasks & taking down. Include: venue set up & take down, collection & drop off of decorations, outfits, presents, rings, checking into & out of hotels if bride or groom not able to do it on day of, & picking up & dropping off luggage & overnight bags. Also include contact numbers.
- Final check of all decorations - Make sure everything is complete & arrangements made for putting up & taking down
- Prepare some guest information - Put together an information fact sheet including timings, maps, directions, taxi firms and emergency contact numbers that they can call if need be. This to be loaded onto wedsite, & printed ready for the day.
- Make a hair appointment
Last week
- Table plan and centrepieces - Get table plan ready. Set up a table, take a photo and include a copy of the photo in each box. Also include seating plan of the relevant table and dietary requirements. List each component of table set up & tick off as it goes into box. Label each box with table name, and include an overall floor plan.
- Collect suits for the groom & groomsmen
- Confirm final number of guests - Count one last time the number of people who have confirmed their attendance. Re-jig table plan if any last minute cancellations.
- Prepare your suitcase for your honeymoon
Make a list of everything you think you will need and then check it off as you pack each item to make sure that nothing is forgotten
- Pack an overnight bag for night before and wedding night
- Prepare an emergency kit - Spare stockings, a needle and thread, safety pins, painkillers, lipstick, blotting sheets, mints
Last day
- Final check that everything is in place - Go through checklist for overnight bag and honeymoon luggage to ensure nothing forgotten - Ensure parents, MoH, in-laws etc have brought everything needed & it's in the right place - Air dresses, press if needed - Give groom's present to best man - Check that attendants' presents are wrapped and sent to venue
- Decorate venues - and/or ensure volunteers have everything they need.
- Do manicure & pedicure
- Pick flowers from allotment
- Decorate cake
Wedding day
- Bouquets and buttonholes, also give orchid stems to be used on cake to a helper to give to venue, or to Mum to put on cake

Robinred

Oh my gosh your wedding is going to be so amazing White Sapphire! I am hoping to grow some flowers too but not banking on my success.

:rotfl: at your freudian slip about your helpers....

Your photo of the table set-up idea is absolute genius.

How are you getting your cake to the venue?

MaggieBaking

We had a last minute wedding so I was really busy in the run up to the wedding, still putting together small touches, buying last minute items and making the cupcakes. I ended up getting quite run down and had a dreadful cold with no time to recover from it... I'd really plan hard to have a couple of days relaxing if I were to do it all again, and should I be rich if I do... I'll be going to a spa for those days off! I did really need it.

Robinred

MaggieBaking wrote: »

We had a last minute wedding so I was really busy in the run up to the wedding, still putting together small touches, buying last minute items and making the cupcakes. I ended up getting quite run down and had a dreadful cold with no time to recover from it... I'd really plan hard to have a couple of days relaxing if I were to do it all again, and should I be rich if I do... I'll be going to a spa for those days off! I did really need it.

Yes that sounds like good advice Maggie, I might delegate everything except the flowers and go away to a spa to stop me meddling...

White_Sapphire

Robinred wrote: »

Oh my gosh your wedding is going to be so amazing White Sapphire! I am hoping to grow some flowers too but not banking on my success.

:rotfl: at your freudian slip about your helpers....

Your photo of the table set-up idea is absolute genius.

How are you getting your cake to the venue?

Thank you! You had me slightly worried for a second about the Freudian slip; I had to quickly scan my post to check I hadn't typed something naughty, till I realised the deliberate one I'd done It's been a long day....

Definitely give flower-growing a go; just have a contingency plan in place just in case; I'm going to get details of a few places that sell cut flowers wholesale and keep them to hand!

I read the idea about setting up a table beforehand and taking a photo to include in the box a while ago, but forget where! The plan is to get a box for each table, put in all the decorations, a photo of how it should look, with the favours, individual table plan and copy of overall table plan so those setting up know which table each box goes to. I think it's just a sign of epic control freakery on my part, to be honest!!

The cake will get to the venue via a very carefully driven car!! It has to travel about 25 miles from my parents' house. It should be fine; my future parents' in law drove their daughter's cake from North Wiltshire to Kent without incident! It was transported in individual layers, of course!

Robinred

I want my cake to be like this, I think I will send a photo along with it so my delegates can set it up appropriately!

MaggieBaking

The icing sugar will need to be redone again after transporting and setting it up I would imagine. I'd make sure you get an artful delegate!!

Gorgeous cake by the way

ellay864

I get married on Saturday, was in work until yesterday so have had today and tomorrow as my only clear days. Today we had to take everything to the zoo - I'd got my table decorations done over the last few weeks but only got the table name cards done on Monday. There's a lot of things that haven't been done til last minute. I collected my Waitrose cakes today and this evening a friend came round to help me decorate them and we've taken them to the evening venue. I go away to a hotel tomorrow night with my BM but haven't packed for that yet, nor for wedding night. Tomorrow is going to be the frantic day!