First Comes the Wedding…Then Comes the Marriage: Post-Wedding Wrap-Up

For all my newly-wives (and wives-to-be), I’ve created this series (original post) for the After Wedding aka Marriage. If you have a fear that once you put your Wedding Planning Binder away, you will feel naked and without a sense of direction, never fear, your to-do list still awaits you.

After your wedding is over and after the honeymoon, there are some wedding details that need to be closed out. Simply Beautiful Concept offers a Post-Wedding Wrap Up in their Classic and Most Beautiful Planning packages to cover rentals, returns, contracts and invoices. However, you can ensure a smooth close to your wedding by attending to the following areas:

Contracts

First things first, Security Deposits. Review your contracts if you placed a security deposit on any of your wedding related items, such as reception hall, rentals or transportation. You will want to confirm the method and time frame the vendor is to return your deposit.

Certain contracts, such as the Reception or Catering, may have required minimum dollar amounts or your bar may have been on consumption. Be sure to get final bills and figures to ensure you met your minimums, owe any balances or are due any refunds.

If any of your vendors did not provide some of the contracted services or substitutions were necessary, you may also be entitled to a refund of some of your cost.

100 Proof: Photography and Videography

Your photographer and/or videographer was great on your wedding day. You can’t wait to see the pictures/video! But before you start ringing his or her phone of the hook once your return flight hits the tarmac, check your contract. Most photographers/videographers have a specified time frame to present you with your proofs, albums, CD/DVD etc.

You will want to touch base with them soon after the wedding to see if there are any known issues that will delay delivery of your proofs or photographs or video. After that, let them do their thing. Remember, in high wedding season, your photographer/videographer may be booked every weekend, which leaves little time for editing, manipulating and printing. My DigitalPharaoh is a photographer, and I sometimes get impatient for my clients pictures before they do. I’ve come to realize that after hours and hours of adding effects, cropping, correcting etc, his eyes get a little crossed and he needs to take a break so that he can bring fresh eyes to the rest of the photos. You don’t want some really great photos and the rest looking like snapshots from a disposable camera because you had an unreasonable expectation. Ask your photographer during your initial consultation about these time frames. And after the wedding, hold them to it.

Thank You Cards

Etiquette states that Thank you notes for gifts should be sent as soon as possible after the gift is received, if this is prior to the wedding. For those gifts received after the wedding and if you plan to thank each guest for attending, 3 months is the maximum amount of time to complete this task.

Next up in our series: To Change or Not to Change Your Name & How

Complete Series

Sunday: Kick Off

Monday: Post Wedding-Wrap Up

Tuesday: To Change or Not to Change Your Name & How

Wednesday: Holidays

Thursday: Your 1^st Anniversary

Friday: Awkward Questions, Awesome Answers

Saturday: It’s Different

Be sure to leave a comment letting us know what Post-Wedding topics interest YOU.