You’re married! Congrats!
The days leading up to your wedding are so focused on the events of the day that once it’s over, it’s easy to be left wondering what to do next. Just like you have a wedding planning to-do list, you should have a post-wedding checklist to make sure you cross your Ts and dot your Is.
Below is our list of the top 10 things you must do after saying “I do”.
Savor the moment
You spent a lot of time, money, and effort on making your wedding the best day imaginable — don’t forget to soak in the afterglow of the celebration before you settle into your next chapter. Take some time to reflect on the wedding together, talk about your favorite moments, and remember why you fell in love with each other all over again.
Preserve your bouquet and attire
Your wedding bouquet and other florals, along with your gown and veil, can be preserved if you want to keep them for posterity. Many services are available to ensure that your keepsakes stand the test of time, whether you want to store them for safekeeping or put them up for display in a special spot in your home. Looking for more ways to preserve your favorite wedding moments? Find a bunch here.
Tip: Google “wedding preservation near me” to find local vendors who can explain the process and show you samples of what you can expect.
Submit your marriage license and name-change forms
It’s easy to get caught up in the post-wedding excitement, but don’t forget to submit the very important legal documents that legitimize your ceremony. In addition to submitting your signed and notarized marriage license, you’ll have to submit name-change forms for items like your bank account, driver’s license, voter registration, social security, and other official IDs.
Pay remaining wedding vendors and review them
If you have any outstanding payments with your wedding vendors, settle them as soon as possible. Make a rule for yourself that once you’ve closed out with a vendor, you write a review for them. Reviews are so important for their business, and you don’t have to write anything long or too detailed if it’s not your thing; just provide a quick description of your experience and give an honest rating.
Figure out finances
Even if you had the conversation about your post-marriage finances well before your wedding, it’s not until after the wedding that you’ll likely put those plans into action. Don’t wait too long after getting married before setting up any joint accounts, merging finances, and updating insurance policies.
Tell your employer
Your name change and marriage status can also impact your tax returns, and you don’t want to find that out the hard way. When it’s time to get back to work after your wedding and honeymoon (if you took it directly after), make sure to submit the appropriate paperwork and information to your employer’s HR department.
Send thank-you notes and close out your wedding registry
Once you know you’ve received all your wedding gifts, check your registries to see if you qualify for any completion deals or other discounts. Ensure you have written all your thank you notes; then, you can close out your registries.
Send your thank you notes as soon as possible, but try to get them out no later than three months after your wedding. Browse more helpful thank-you note tips in this blog!
Discuss wedding albums with your photographer
A few weeks after your wedding, your photographer will likely contact you with your edited wedding photos. If your photographer is like most I know, you’ll wind up with anywhere from 500 to over 1,000 photos. Suffice it to say, you won’t want to include every single one in your printed album, so take some time to select the images you’ll want on display and discuss album options with your photographer if that’s part of your photo package.
Share your wedding photos
Of course, getting your wedding photos (finally!) also means that you get to share them with the world. There are so many ways you can do this, whether it’s dumping the whole batch on Facebook for everyone to see, creating a private iCloud or Google Photos album to share with select people, or even inviting friends and family over to watch a slideshow of the entire event.
Plan your first date as a married couple
You might think this is obvious, but life after you get married gets busy faster than you expect. It’s so important to make time for each other and keep the romance alive in this new chapter, and there’s no better way to start than by planning your first date as a married couple. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy or extravagant (great if it is, though!); just intentional.
