15 Things To Do After The Wedding

Everybody knows they have to plan for a wedding, but do they really think about the items to take care of after the wedding is over?

I must admit, it’s super fun to plan a wedding. It’s beautiful, exciting, and so romantic. You get to celebrate with loved ones and embark on a new adventure with your partner. Anything that happens after the lights turn on and the music ends is just blah.

However, as someone getting married, you still need to plan for the “after” to make your life easier later on. Let’s go over some of the big items. This will make sure you have the easiest time taking care of them after you’re pronounced married:

1. PACKAGE UP EVERYTHING AFTER THE WEDDING

The first thing that you’ll need to consider is leaving the venue, with all your items in tow.

Now, depending on your situation, this isn’t as simple as it sounds. Chances are you brought a lot of stuff to your wedding.  And, most venues fully expect you to take stuff when you go. This may mean decorations, signage, leftover favors, and sentimental items you used throughout your wedding. You’ll also have gifts to take with you. You’ll need a plan of attack to make sure everything is packaged up properly, labeled, and all set to deliver back to your designated spots.

To help with this, coordinate with your venue and also trusted family and wedding party members. Perhaps someone will be driving to the wedding and is willing to load up their car with your items for safe return? Or you might be able to work with the venue to pick up your stuff the next day. Whatever the plan is, make sure that you have one. It’s devastating to think that something important could be left behind because no one was ensuring it got back to you.

If you had a destination wedding, you may need a plan to ship certain items back to your home. If so, determine early on how to obtain the right packaging materials and where you will go to properly send things back to where you live.

2. PROPERLY STORE ANY LEFTOVER FOOD

Chances are you will go home with some of your wedding food.

If you hire a professional caterer, they probably have a way to dispose of leftover dinner or appetizer food, but you may have a wedding that you cater yourself and end up with leftovers. If you want to save them, have a plan for someone to package everything up while still at the wedding and properly chill or freeze it for you.  

A really common item to take home from the wedding is parts of your wedding cake. We ended up with our entire top tier and parts of the cake under it (we had different flavors on each tier). While we were able to eat some of it the day after our wedding, we did freeze most of it. Look up a good method to do so –  we used a combination of plastic wrap and foil to make sure our cake was protected from moisture and kept yummy for us to eat later on. These instructions from Martha Stewart should work fantastic.

3. FINAL PAYMENTS / TIPS

When you book vendors, many of them will ask for a deposit up front and then payment in full on or around your wedding day.

After your wedding you’ll have to make sure everything is squared away with each vendor. Some may have modifications to their price after your wedding (if you went over on the bar tab, or had a special request mid-wedding). Others may just want that final payment taken care of now that everything is complete.

Additionally, make sure you have taken care of any tips intended for vendors. For example, we had a tip for our photographer but didn’t get a chance to give it to him at our wedding. We ended up sending him it with a thank you card after the wedding. Each vendor will have a different type of “tipping situation”, so plan ahead on who would get tipped, and if it should be in cash or another way.

4. DEPOSIT CHECKS AFTER THE WEDDING

These days so many people opt to gift money instead of a tangible gift.

While this is usually appreciated very much by the people getting married, there is one little item that they may have to take care of before they jet off into married life; deposit any checks.

I feel it’s the most courteous thing a couple can do – deposit checks as soon as possible. Leaving this task as something to take care of after a honeymoon or things “die down” is just not fair to your guests. Not only will they want to make sure you got their gift, they will want to make sure the check clears from their account as soon as possible.

5. PLAN HONEYMOON

If you haven’t done it already, let’s plan that honeymoon!

Even if you already booked the tickets and the hotels, you’ll still want to decide any extra activities you want to do while you’re there.  For example, even though we wanted a super low key honeymoon in Hawaii, we still did some research on great restaurants and beaches to check out. 

6. THANK YOU CARDS

This is a super important step, and one that some people take way too long to take care of.

As the recommendation goes, when you get married, and you receive a gift, you should send out thank you cards within a few months of the wedding. Now, there may be some things that elongate that process, such as development of pictures to include in or on the cards, but it’s important to take care of this. Not only will it make your guests feel appreciated, but it will let them know that you actually received the gift.

For more information on thank you cards, check out this post.

7. REVIEW VENDORS AFTER THE WEDDING

Now a days, reviews online are so crucial for vendors.

Chances are, you even found a few of your vendors by looking at online forums and reading what others said about them. You probably based your decisions on the feedback of others, and knew what to expect thanks to those reviews. Now is the time to pay it all back by writing your own reviews.

Some sophisticated vendors will prompt this action, and I suggest you follow through. Photographers, Florists, and Wedding Planners are often locally owned small businesses, and they will truly appreciated the review online. If your vendor doesn’t prompt a review, go ahead and do it anyway on Yelp or The Knot, Wedding Wire, or any other wedding sites that you think will help them.

8. CHANGE YOUR NAME

This one is optional and really depends on the couple.

However, having one or both partners change their name is still pretty common and something to note for after-wedding tasks. The process to change your name varies based on location.  In general there is a need for you to first use your marriage certificate as “proof” at your local social security office.  Once your name is changed with social security, you can move on to the DMV.  When your identification is changed, you can follow that with banks, credit cards, and mortgages.

If you are going to change your name first look up the requirements for your location. Then make a list of all the places where your name is used (this can be a lot). Some of the places are going to be super important.  Licenses and credit cards are high on the list, and passports if you tend to travel internationally. Other places are not as important (I’m pretty sure that Netflix still has my maiden name). Everywhere you change your name will have a slightly varied requirement process.  Going through it all can be rather tedious.

If you stay organized and keep a list, you can get through it, though.

9. DEVELOP PHOTOS AFTER THE WEDDING

This is a fun on!

After your wedding your photographer may or may not help with the development of photos, depending on their package. If they do develop photos, they will probably work with you to pick out your favorites, and if they don’t they will still provide you photos for your own use. It’s a very fun thing to go through them with your partner, pick the best, and start strategizing on framing and where to put them in your home.

Another fun caveat of this task is to send guests a link to your photos if you have one online. This is a really great way to showcase your day if you don’t want to post too many to social media, and allows guests to make their own copies if they so choose.

10. RETURN ANYTHING THAT WAS BORROWED

Everyone wants their stuff back when they lend it, right?

Depending on how organized you were when you borrowed items, after the wedding it could be very easy to return them, or it can be total chaos. To make thing easy, it’s best to keep a list or spreadsheet of each item you are borrowing.  Include the owner, and a plan to retrieve it and return it, before you get married.  When you are done with the items, make it a priority to return what you need to get back to the lender. 

11. DONATE / STORE / SELL LEFTOVER ITEMS

For most of us, after the wedding we will inevitably end up with leftover items we just don’t need anymore.

This could range from craft items, to signage, linens, vases, or even flowers, and they all may find use for others. An easy way to get rid of items second hand is to take what you can to your local second-hand stores, or you can post items for free or for sale on social media groups or Next Door. Whatever you don’t need anymore, and have no sentimental attachment to, it’s best to just get rid of.

12. RETURN LEFTOVER BOOZE

This should come with an “if applicable” disclaimer.

In some instances, with a self-hosted bar, you may be able to procure your own alcohol.  After the wedding, you may be able to return unopened bottles to the store you bought it from. Now, this depends entirely on your local laws, and the store you buy from. My recommendation is to plan ahead for this when you buy your booze, making your choices on where to buy from based on their return policy. This may mean you spend a little more per bottle, but you will end up saving in the long run.

13. FILE MARRIAGE LICENSE

Now, this usually lands on the officiant’s shoulders.

However, this isn’t always the case. Some officiants will give the license to the people getting married to send off themselves.  This is especially likely if they are a friend or family member rather than a professional. Either way, after the wedding ensure that the license was properly sent to the right authorities so you can legally be married.

14. GET COPY OF MARRIAGE LICENSE

This is something that doesn’t happen overnight, but you can usually take care of it within weeks of your wedding.

You’re going to want a copy of your marriage license on hand for many different reasons. Maybe you have to show proof of dependency to your employer so your spouse can get health insurance. Or, you need it to change your name. Maybe you are dealing with immigration or any other number of authorities who need to know you are legally married. In any case, obtain a copy of your marriage license as soon as you can.  This makes sure it was properly filed and allows you to move forward with any special needs in your life.

15. PAY BACK DEBTS AFTER THE WEDDING

If you borrowed money to pay for your wedding, now is the time to work with your partner to make a plan to pay it back. Whether it be a loan from your family, or credit card debt, it’s imperative that you work together to form a financial plan to get out of this debt as soon as possible.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Planning a wedding is way more intense than planning after a wedding.  However, there are definitely tasks you’ll want to take care of while still a newlywed. While some of them aren’t that fun or glamorous, once you’re done, you’re done, and hopefully never have to do the tasks again.

Happy wedding planning!

More From Hummingbird Wedding Advice: 

What To Do With Your Wedding Dress After The Wedding

Engaged After Loss – How I Planned My Wedding While Grieving

How To Write Your Own Wedding Vows 

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