The Checklist
Be careful not to forget anything
The date was chosen, the place where to celebrate the wedding and hold the reception was found, the rules on announcements and invitations were discussed, now it’s time to make the list of the next steps as, from now on, the couple will often be totally overwhelmed and it’ll be easy to forget something important.
The first thing to do, after choosing the place for the reception, is decide what the style of the wedding will be. Only after this very important choice, the event may be built.
If the newlyweds chose a historic mansion, generally, the style will be romantic: this doesn’t mean the ceremony must be absolutely classical, without contemporary add-ons; it means, rather, that the place that will host the event will have to be the frame connecting with the content. This content, however, is adjustable to meet the taste of the newlyweds.
A historic mansion, such as the one in the image that I published two Sundays ago, allows for a high degree of imagination, and, once again, hiring a good wedding planner would be highly recommended. The planner will have to indulge the couple’s tastes, rather than override them: it’s good to be advised and directed, but not at the point where “fake” choices are made just because the wedding planner said so. It is essential to give one’s personal influence, so that the invitee can recognize the newlyweds’ style rather than the wedding planner’s. So, listen to all proposals and recommendations, but do make your own choices independently, maybe with the help of specialized magazines or interesting newsletters (!).
Let’s imagine, then, that the couple wish to put up a romantic ceremony. In this case, the nuances will be infinite.
As we often tend to overdo, to put together so many things, to mix up so many ideas, a good thing to do would be a checklist with everything both newlyweds would like to realize. By deleting items that do not apply, the checklist would then morph into something appropriate and specific to the style that has been chosen.
The following could be a first draft checklist where the couple would include way more than they will actually need, even items that apparently don’t belong in there. Then, after a few days, a definitive and well thought-out list will emerge.
Church (or City Hall or other) decorations
Booklets for following the religious service, if any (and, possibly, face masks etc. – see here)
Rice to throw when exiting the Church (or City Hall or other)
Choose the best men and the bridesmaids, and communicate it to them
How do we get to the ceremony? Walking? Driving? Helicoptering?
Newlyweds’ outfits (here we could start an infinite chapter)
Floral decorations for the reception (same as in church/city hall/other)
Sittings (God forbid, no dress up chairs with the bow on the back!)
Identify different areas for cocktails, lunch/dinner and cake
Assign seats at the tables
Mix up guests, with a rationale
Entertainment for children, if any
Wedding favors
Thank-you cards
Bride’s possible change of outfit during reception
Hair stylist
Makeup artist
Manicure (no red nail polish!)
Where to spend the night before and the wedding night
Bouquet
Weather forecast
Banns of Marriage publication at City Hall
Discuss the union legal form (community of property or separation) with a notary public
Prepare wedding registry
Pack luggage (honeymoon)
Bride: wear something new, something old, something borrowed and something light blue
Write the pledges to be declaimed
And we could go on and on, but, essentially, that’s the list. From here, items could be added or deleted but, most of all, what will be left in the end will have to be well calculated and thought-out so as not to have panic attacks the days immediately prior to the wedding.
I will go in depth, item by item, over the next issues.
Ready?
Until next Sunday.