If you’re anything like me, you’re left with this strange feeling of loneliness and sadness the day after your wedding. This special day you spent so much time planning is now over, and this chapter of your life is now closed. It feels like there’s a whole in your heart. But on the other side, you’re also overwhelmed with joy now that you’re finally married to your true love. You’ll find that you have much more time on your hands now. But to do what? Maybe you’ll pick up knitting or actually finish that show you started months ago. But trust me, you’re going to miss planning your wedding. Although it was a lot of work, planning a wedding feels much like raising a child. You were there from its beginning stages and got to see it bloom into a beautiful event. Now that it’s over, you mourn the day you spent so much time planning. I know it can be sad, but here are some things you can do to keep yourself busy after the wedding to commemorate your special day.
1. Turn In Your Marriage License
First and foremost, make sure to either hand deliver or mail your marriage license if your officiant hasn’t already done so. This will ensure you are legally married. Once you receive your marriage license, be sure to store it in a safe place, as you will need it for many other occasions like changing your last name.
2. Preserve Your Bouquet
I highly suggest you browse Etsy for some incredible ways to preserve your bouquet. There are bracelets, necklaces, ornaments, and even large letters you can get made with your preserved flowers. Do your research before the wedding, so you know exactly what you want to do with your flowers ahead of time. Most sellers require that you send in your flowers within a certain time frame so that your flowers preserve well.
3. Preserve Your Wedding Gown
Many bridal vendors offer preservation kits for wedding gowns. These kits usually include a free cleaning before the dress is preserved. Before preserving your wedding gown, I highly recommend you review your wedding pictures to make sure you like them and don’t want to do a reshoot with your dress.
4. Calculate the Total Cost of Your Wedding
If you’ve been keeping track of all of your expenses since the beginning of your planning, you’ll want to update your file with the final costs of the wedding, including tips. This will give you an overall picture of how you did money-wise for your wedding.
5. Leave Reviews for Your Vendor
Whether good or bad, it’s always a good idea to leave reviews for your vendors. Future brides will thank you for it, and if you had an issue that you address in your review, most times the vendors will want to correct it to make things right.
6. Start Writing Your Thank You Cards
After you’ve gone through all your gifts and cards, make a list of all these people along with guests who traveled far to send thank you cards to. To add a special touch, consider sending out a printed photo of you and your partner on your big day. Take your time writing these cards, as this will be one of your last wedding-related tasks.
7. Backup Your Wedding Photos and Then Back Them Up Again
I don’t care if you’re photographer gave you all your photos on a CD and USB, make sure you backup your photos again. God forbid your house burns down in a fire, and all your pictures are lost. Consider backing up on an external hard drive and online through a website like Google Photos. Google Photos allows for unlimited photo uploads and has really neat features like facial recognition.
8. Order Your Photos
If you loved your wedding photos, consider ordering a wedding album or canvas prints for your home. It’s unlikely that you’ll pull out your laptop and go through all your wedding photos with a guest, but a cute little photo album on your coffee table might be more practical and an easy way to revisit this special day.
9. Sell Any Unwanted Wedding Decorations
If you did a lot of DIY decorations, you probably have a box full of trinkets you’ll never use again. Look into selling them online through social media, like Facebook Marketplace or consider joining a wedding page that allows for the selling of wedding items. These items will only collect dust in your attic otherwise. But be sure to keep a few of these trinkets to use as decorations in your home.
10. Purchase Remaining Items Off Your Registry and Return Unwanted Gifts
If you had a registry, you’ll probably still have some items that weren’t purchased. Most stores offer a coupon to purchase any remaining items off your registry, so be sure to wait for that. Also, look through your gifts for any items that may not be necessary and try returning them for something more useful.
Just because your big day is over doesn’t mean you can’t relive it forever. Whenever you find yourself feeling down, look through old photos and videos. Bust out your wedding dress if you haven’t already preserved it. The wedding may be over, but the memories will last a lifetime.