17 Things You Must Do the Night Before Your Wedding
The night before your wedding is possibly one of the most nerve-wracking moments of your entire life. There’s such a lot riding on the next day that it can seem impossible to know what to do – and it almost feels inevitable that you’re going to forget something important!
After all the preparations that you’ve been dealing with for the past year or more, you’re now only hours away from your wedding. Being nervous is normal, but this should also be a happy and exciting time, and you shouldn’t have to worry or stress about what you should be doing.
So, here is a guide to the 17 most important things you must do the night before your wedding to make sure you are fully prepared for your big day, and all the events that go along with it.
1. Eat a Healthy Meal
Eat a healthy and balanced meal the night before your wedding. No matter how stressed you are, don’t be tempted to go with something greasy and loaded with calories, sodium, and saturated fats.
Fast food is one of the worst things you can put in your body the day before all eyes will be on you! An unhealthy, heavy or sugary meal can trigger acne breakouts, cause bloating, and can disrupt your sleep. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains instead.
2. Stay Hydrated
Yes, tomorrow is your wedding day and there’s so much to do and think about - but don’t forget to stay hydrated. Don’t be so excited that you forget to your recommended daily water intake.
Most dietitians recommend drinking around eight glasses of water per day. Make sure you drink at least a glass or two with and after your evening meal so that you stay hydrated through the night. The more hydrated you are, the better your skin will look in the morning.
Not only that, drinking enough water reduces bloating, keeps your digestive system happy, and improves concentration.
3. Pack Your Personal Items
Being unprepared come the big day is the last thing you want to deal with. Packing your emergency wedding-day kit the night before ensures you do not forget the things you’ll need. Prepare a bag or suitcase containing things like:
1) Extra undergarments
2) Makeup and beauty essentials
3) Perfume and deodorant
4) Oral hygiene products like toothbrush, toothpaste and breath mints
5) Tissues
6) Bottled water
7) Snacks
8) Safety pins and extra buttons
9) A mini sewing kit
10) Plasters and other first-aid items
Hand this bag to your wedding planner, maid of honour or a trusted family member to ensure it will be in your hotel room. If not, put the bags in the car the night before the wedding to avoid forgetting them before heading out.
4. Check in with Your Wedding Team and Suppliers
Avoid last-minute cancellations or no-show issues by calling your wedding suppliers for confirmation. If you’ve got a wedding planner, they’re the one you’ll want to speak to the night before your wedding to ensure that everyone knows what they’re doing and when.
If you don’t have a wedding planner, it’s best to check in with your suppliers – such as your photographer, videographer, stylist, baker, florist, and DJ – to ensure they all know what time they’re supposed to appear. Also, prepare final payments if applicable.
5. Practice Your Wedding Vows
You and your partner are going to be the centre of attention as you celebrate your marital union, so be sure to practice your wedding vows (and/or your speech). This can be intimidating since the focus is on you and your partner, so the more comfortable you get the better.
Repeat your vows until you get comfortable. Read aloud (not in your head) until the words come out naturally, and you’re getting into the flow of things. If there are any words that you seem to be stumbling upon every time, replace them with synonyms until you can recite your vows flawlessly.
6. Charge Your Gadgets
Even if you have a professional team of photographers or videographers waiting to capture every moment of your big day, you’ll probably want to have your own phone on you as well for recording those key personal memories.
Of course, not every bride and groom want to have their gadgets at their wedding. But if ou do, make sure to fully charge your device. Bring extra SD cards to have sufficient space on your phone and camera. Pack chargers and a power bank too, just in case.
7. Switch Your Screens Off Early
After making sure your wedding team and suppliers all know what they’re doing, it is now time to turn off your phone and disconnect from the outside world. You may give your maid of honour’s number to a trusted family member for emergencies. Avoid your email, group chats, or social media. Give yourself a break to help you feel relaxed and focused.
At least an hour before your bedtime, switch off all screens (including TVs, laptops, tablets and PCs) to give your brain a break from the blue light that these gadgets emit. This will help you sleep better!
8. Have a Relaxing Bath or Shower
Taking a warm bath or shower and cleansing your skin completely will thoroughly remove your make up leaving your skin fresh. Cleansed skin will lower the risk of any skin breakout.
A lovely warm bath or shower is also incredibly relaxing, and a big help if you’re feeling a bit frazzled. Bathing before bed can help you feel sleepy, and give you a better chance of being refreshed the next morning.
The one thing to bear in mind is to check with your hairstylist if washing your hair the night before your wedding is OK. Some hairstyles work best if your hair is not freshly washed.
9. Pamper Yourself
Get a mani-pedi with your girls, exfoliate your face and your body for brighter skin which can be done at home or visiting your favourite spa. Lather on moisturizer to give your skin some extra moisture, too - but stick to your tried-and-true beauty products. Avoid experimenting with new products in the lead up to your wedding, or there’s a chance you will end up with irritated skin or an overnight break out.
10. Avoid Alcohol
The night before your wedding, you may be tempted to have a drink of something strong to help with your nerves. But unfortunately, drinking alcohol is actually going to be the least helpful thing for you on such an important night.
Alcohol may calm you down in the moment, but it will also stop you from having a restful night’s sleep. Imbibing prevents you from getting deep sleep, and you’re likely to wake up hours before you need to, with bags under your eyes. Not the best idea when all eyes will be on you the next day!
11. Practice Walking in Your Wedding Shoes
You probably don’t go around wearing high-heels all day long, every day. So, it’s a good idea to practise walking in your wedding shoes before your wedding. This will help you prepare for the totally different experience to the flat shoes and trainers you might be used to.
It will also help “break in” your shoes, so that there’s less chance of them rubbing or causing blisters on your wedding day. But this is going to take longer than a day, so make sure to start breaking them in at least a few weeks beforehand. (Only wear them around the house, though – you don’t want them to get dirty!)
12. Try Your Best to Relax
We know it’s difficult to soothe your nerves at the best of times, let alone when you’re getting married the next day. But it’s important to try and avoid overthinking and worrying, as this could negatively impact your sleep.
Watch your favourite show to help distract your mind. A funny movie is a great way to ease your pre-wedding jitters. You can also read a well-loved book, or do some yoga exercises to lighten the mood.
13. Practise Breathing Exercises
With so much to think about and a life-changing moment soon to happen, it is normal to feel stressed and overwhelmed. Trust the preparations that you have done and be excited that you are going to spend the rest of your life with the person you genuinely love and care about. Clear your head of the WHAT IFs.
Inhale and exhale slowly to make you feel more relaxed. Inhale slowly through your nose, hold it for 10 seconds, and exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat this until you begin to feel calm and feel your worries drift away.
14. Avoid Coffee
This might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s well worth mentioning anyway: avoid coffee the day before your wedding. Caffeine can take up to 6 hours to leave your system, so even drinking a cup of coffee at 2pm is a bad idea – you’ll find it harder to relax in the evening, and to get to sleep.
Coffee can also cause dehydration, because it acts as a diuretic – and therefore this can result in acne breakouts and headaches. Coffee can also make you more anxious, and can also stain your teeth (which, let’s face it, wouldn’t look great in wedding photos).
15. Avoid Last Minute Wedding Prep
Refrain from doing any tasks that will stress you out the night before your wedding. Make sure that all wedding-related prep, such as DIY decorations, are done and sorted long before your marital union.
Do not even attempt to do these things in such short notice or you will end up staying up late – and you’ll be too anxious to sleep! Not to mention, it’ll put strain on your eyes, which is the last thing you need.
16. Perform One Last Check
Make sure everything is in place, ready for the next day, before hitting the sack. You should lay out your outfit, your wedding clutch, pre-wedding bags, shoes, and other essentials so that you can easily find them the next day. You don’t want to end up scrambling for your stuff in the morning.
Also, if there’s anything you’ll need to take with you in the car on the day – such as decorations, centrepieces, your guest book, etc – load the car the night before, so you’ve got one less thing to worry about.
17. Get to Bed Early
Though you might have a lot to do the night before your wedding, the most important task by far is to have an early night. It may sound easier said than done, but you should try your hardest get to bed in plenty of time to give you at least 8 hours of sleep before your alarm goes off in the morning.
Light scented candles, listen to relaxing music, or dab lavender on your bedsheets to help you go to sleep. Just do whatever you need to get plenty of beauty sleep.
Now all that’s left is to enjoy your big day! We hope that you have a wonderful time celebrating with all of your family and friends by your side.
But don’t forget that there’s one last task to do after the wedding is over – and that’s sending thank you cards for everyone who helped you celebrate. Why not browse the beautiful range of wedding stationery that we offer at Bride and Groom Direct?