Being Prepared, Wedding Day Emergency Kit
Dear Bridesmaids and Groomsmen,
If you have not yet had the joy of experiencing it for yourself, getting everything together for a wedding day is a monumental undertaking. Choosing a date, picking a venue, making a guest list, changing that guest list, sending out all the invites. Then there's hiring of the DJ or Band, the catering company, the bakery for the cake, finding the perfect outfit/accessories, guest wedding favors, the florist, those littler decorations that adorn a table at the entrance of the reception hall, and of course hiring a videographer and photographer to capture everything you have just spent literally thousands of dollars on so you can remember it forever, Perhaps you have had the pleasure of helping your friend out throughout this process, or perhaps your friend did not need the help. Whatever the case of your involvement before your friend's big day arrives, maybe now you have a small understanding of the time and thought that goes into it.
Despite all of that planning and attention to detail, a wedding day, though special in its meaning, is a day like any other. Daily life, much like the New England weather, is unpredictable. And the last thing you want for your loved one is for a tiny unaccounted for aspect, like getting a blister wearing new shoes, or a small headache from not sleeping well the night before, to put a damper on the day.
This is where you, the amazing friend or family member can help save the day! You can create a small wedding day emergency kit for all the ailments and details that your already overwhelmed couple have not had the time to think of. I have seen many bridesmaids and groomsmen do this, and it always turned out to be such a fantastic idea that I thought it was worth sharing. In fact, I was so inspired by this gesture of foresight and kindness that I did it for my best friend on her wedding day! Fun story on that later. For now, here's what I suggest including in your kit:
- Band-aids
- Mole-skin
- Tide-to-go pen
- Bobby pins
- Safety pins
- Hairspray
- Tiny deodorant
- Floss picks
- Sewing kit
- Breath mints
- Protein bar
- Chocolate
- Tylenol/Advil
- Imodium/Tums
- Little Scissors/Swiss army knife
- Eye-drops
- Lotion
- Small Water Bottle
Buy the compact version of each of these items, and fit everything into a bag that can be easily held in one hand. Why? Because you are going to bring this with you aaaaaaall day from the prep all the way through the reception. You never know when disaster might strike! (Although, please do not combine any over the counter medications with alcohol, that could be a really big disaster.)
Story Time
When I put together my wedding day emergency kit for my best friend Hilary's wedding, I asked myself how important that $5 Tide-to-go pen really was. After much self-debate in the aisles of CVS, I bought it anyways. The following week, Hilary was on the finishing touch of putting on her gown. She asked her dad to pin on the bow-sash to her dress. As he was doing so he pricked his finger and a few noticeable drops of blood dripped on to the back of her dress! There was some mild panic in the room, we all looked at each other and asked, how do we get rid of this? Remembering the $5 Tide-to-go pen, I pulled it from my emergency bag, and applied it quickly to the silk ribbon. Worked like a charm, and you could NEVER tell what had just unfolded. Then she got married and everything was great. Thanks emergency kit!
If getting all of these things together before the big day is not in the cards for your schedule, Guest Boxes makes prefabbed ones for guys and gals that come with just about everything, though for a pretty penny. Then again, depending on who your videographer is, ehem, they probably have one of these babies lying in their bag.
When it comes to protecting the memories of the day? Nothing is better than a wedding video, see why we think so here ;)