Post Wedding Checklist

After their big day, a lot of brides experience post-wedding blues of some sort. After all you’ve spent months on months planning this event and now that it’s over, it’s completely normal to feel a little bummed out. If you’re one of those brides who’s wondering what to do with all your free time now, we’ve got a handy list of tasks you should start checking off the post wedding checklist! ✔︎

What should you do with your dress after the wedding?

Clean & Store

If you have dreams of your future daughters wearing it someday or wearing it yourself for a vow renewal/anniversary photoshoot, make sure you get your gown professionally cleaned. At Brilliant Bridal we offer cleaning services for most dresses. You can totally get your dress preserved, if you choose, but we actually recommend after your dress has been cleaned to opt for storing it in a space saver bag. That way you have more flexibility. If you have a hard day at work and need to put on your dress, you totally can, and then, just place it back in the vacuum sealed bag for safe keeping.

Donate

If you’re not sure you’ll ever wear your dress again, consider donating it to an organization like Brides Against Breast Cancer, which resells wedding dresses and donates the proceeds to breast cancer focused charities. It will give you a great feeling knowing that your beautiful dress has served its purpose and is going to make another bride happy along with doing some good in the world.

Resell

If you’re hoping to make back some of the money you spent on your dress, we recommend sites like Once Wed or Tradesy. These sites are legitimate and reliable for reselling designer dresses, so no need to worry about getting scammed. Also, Craigslist is an option for reselling bridal gowns, and one benefit to this site is you get to keep all of the profits! Then, you can take your cash and treat your new spouse to a fun weekend getaway!

What should you do with your decor after the wedding?

If your decor isn’t personalized, a great way to make back a little money is to resell it. There are a few great online options: Craigslist, Let Go, and Offer Up. For our Arizona brides, Borrowed From A Bride has a storefront in Scottsdale that you can resell your gently used decor to. Table numbers, different types of signs, special glassware and more can all be reused, which saves a future bride some money while saving the environment at the same time! You might want to save a few of your personalized items, like an invitation, and use it in a scrapbook or frame it for your newlywed home. Having touches of your wedding decor in your daily life will be a fun reminder of those special memories.

What do you need to know about changing your last name?

Obviously you’ve already been scoping out your new Instagram handle for weeks, but there’s a lot more that goes into legally changing your name. There are even services that can help you get a handle on the mountain of paperwork you’ll have to go through. And once you change your name with the government you’re not out of the woods just yet. Make sure you inform your insurance companies, utilities, and any other bills you have in your name. You’ll also need to change your name with your bank and will probably be issued new debit and credit cards, which means needing to update any autopay accounts you had set up. Try and keep an organized list of all the places that will be affected by your name change or it can get out of control and confusing very fast!

What do you need to know about changing your finances?

Now that you and your spouse are legally bound, it’s time to have a talk about how you’ll handle your finances. Will you merge everything into a joint account or maintain separate ones? There’s no right or wrong answer, as long as you are both communicating openly and find something you can agree on. You should also make sure you’re both on the same page with your money goals. If you’re facing down a mountain of debt consider solutions like refinancing your student loans to make things more manageable. If your goals involve saving money for purchasing a house or starting a family, there are actually apps that can help you on that journey. Encourage each other to make responsible money choices and it will feel even more rewarding when you reach your money goals as a team!

What is the timeline for sending thank you notes?

Of course you know that thank you notes are important, but it’s so easy to put them off now that you’re finally married and you have a chance to relax. Try to resist that urge and finish them within 3 - 4 weeks. Your relatives will appreciate it and it’s a great way to reflect back on the wedding day when you’re writing out personalized notes. While you’re at it, why not take this time to write a longer thank you to the people who made your wedding possible? Whether that’s your wedding planner, vendors, wedding party, parents or in-laws, they’ll appreciate receiving a handwritten thank you note way more than a typed Facebook post. Practicing gratitude regularly is a great habit to get into so why not start off married life by thanking the people who helped bring your wedding vision to life.

If you’re still feeling the post-wedding blues after taking care of the other tasks on this list, it’s time to step back and think about why you got married in the first place. Take that energy you put into wedding planning and use it to plan a weekend getaway or special date night with your spouse. Try looking into picking up a new (or old) hobby that you can enjoy as a couple. Wedding planning is a special experience but now that you’re newlyweds it’s time to slow down and really soak up this awesome chapter in your lives!

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