Once you’ve walked back down the aisle and you’re off the champagne high, you may be wondering, “what now?”. You’ve spent months, possibly longer, planning this magical day and it can be a bit jarring for it all to be over. After “I do”, there’s still a few last things to check off your list. Take a look below at the next steps after your wedding!

Preserve Your Wedding Flowers

One of my favorite things I’ve seen couples do after their wedding is preserve their wedding flowers. It’s such a beautiful way to keep a part of your wedding day in your home, and you can make so many different gifts for friends and family too. Here in NYC, there are several places you can go to preserve your wedding flowers. If you prefer the look of pressed flowers, I highly recommend Framed Florals. Lacie is so talented and is located right in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Her work is stunning! If you prefer the look of 3D flowers in resin, I recommend J Starr, located in the Flower District. They are a family run business and even have a storefront so you can see all the different options for preserving your flowers.

Name Change (if applicable)

This will completely depend on you and your partner, but if you have decided to change your name after your wedding, you’ll have to make it official! In the state of New York, you can elect to change your name when you apply for your marriage license. The name change will go into effect as soon as your marriage license is filed after the wedding. You will still want to change over any ID’s, insurance, social security cards, and passports. There are many services you can use to help you change your name, or you can do each change yourself through the appropriate forms.

Submit Your Marriage License

Speaking of your marriage license, you’ll want to submit this to the courts after your wedding! Make sure that you have it fully signed on the day of your wedding. You, your spouse, your officiant, and at least one witness will need to sign the paperwork. Some officiants will handle mailing in the license for you, while others ask that you submit it. Talk to your officiant to make sure you are on the same page, and whether they submit it or you do, take a photo of the completed license just to be safe! With the way the post office has been these days, you’ll be thankful for the peace of mind.

Write Reviews for Your Vendors

Remember that amazing, magical wedding day you just had? It wouldn’t have been possible without your vendor team! If you had a great experience with your wedding vendors, the best thing you could do for them is write a review. Not sure where to start? Talk about how they helped throughout the process, what stood out to you about them, any special moments you had with them during your day, and how they delivered for you. A kind review is the biggest gift you could give for your vendors. Make sure to ask them which platform they prefer you leave it on- Google, The Knot, Wedding Wire, Facebook, or elsewhere.

Send Out Your Thank You Notes

Snail mail is becoming more and more obsolete, but a handwritten thank you card will never go out of style. I know it is super time consuming, but it’s still a best practice to write your guests a thank you card for coming out to celebrate you and for their gift. It may seem daunting, but try breaking it down into a few a day, and make sure both you and your partner tackle the challenge! You will feel so much better once it’s done, and it’s well worth it to thank your loved ones for being there on your big day and supporting you.

Give Yourself Grace

Like I said in the beginning of this post, it can be a bit jarring once the wedding day is over. It goes by SO fast, and it’s something you likely have spent a lot of time and energy planning. It’s completely normal to feel sad, lost, or just weird after it’s done. Give yourself some grace. Reminisce on how wonderful the day was, but also remember that this day is not the peak of your life. It’s the beginning of a lifelong adventure with your person. How cool is that? And if you need some time to process the post wedding blues (they are real), that’s totally fine too.

Whether you just got married, or you’re at the beginning of your wedding planning journey, I’m happy you’re here! Feel free to shoot me a message here if you have any questions, and I’ll see you around next time.