A wedding day is undoubtedly one of the most exciting and emotional times in a person’s life. Surrounded by friends and family, you will walk down the aisle with the love of your life and begin a new chapter of life together. But for all its beauty, there is just as much chaos! Organizing a wedding day can easily become stressful, expensive, and frantic.

But with a bit of organization and careful consideration, the planning can go as smoothly as the day itself. There is a plethora of information both online and in print on how to organize your wedding day. From the venue to catering, the dress to the guestlist, it seems that every aspect is covered. But there are a few small but significant details that are commonly overlooked. Discover the most underrated ones below.

Invitations

It may seem an obvious suggestion to prioritize your invitations. But time and again, this is a detail that is overlooked by couples until the absolute last minute. You may have quite a clear idea of your ideal guest list. But unless you invite people formally and well ahead of time, circumstances can conspire against you. Travel, savings, and securing time off can all be very common obstacles for a guest. If you have booked a popular venue, plenty of time will be needed to ensure your guests can book places at popular accommodation sites also.

Formal invitations can be so commonly overlooked because it is rare nowadays that we use them. Even for events such as birthdays, engagements, and other landmarks, it’s likely that we’ll tell people online. We may create a Facebook event, email friends, or send out text messages. We can quickly have told everyone we know but not actually formally invited them! Personalized wedding invitations not only help you organize a formal guest list. They can be an extension of the theme and style of your wedding day itself. They make for an awesome keepsake; something that many wedding attendees want in some shape or form. Do not skip this step!

The wish list

It is very common for family and guests to wish to give a gift to the new couple. Whether celebrating their engagement or the wedding day itself, they want to show their affection and pay their respects. Many couples avoid making a wishlist of gifts for fear of it seeming greedy or ungrateful. But in reality, if the items are modest and it is due to popular demand, a wish list can really help your guests! It can be sensible to keep your budget low and provide a range of options.

Many couples need items for a new home or even request donations to their favourite charity. If you don’t want gifts at all then it is worth announcing this formally to avoid embarrassment. Someone is bound to bring a gift and then everyone else will feel guilty for not having done so! Send a clear but discreet message to remind guests that their greatest gift will be their presence on the day.

All of the costs

Sure, there are some fairly obvious costs that you’ve no doubt already thought long and hard about. There are the costs of the venue, the dresses and suits, the cake, the catering, transport to the venue, the ring, et cetera, et cetera. All of that can already add up to some pretty hefty costs, as you probably already know. But this isn’t exactly a list that covers all of the costs you should expect from a wedding! There are so many other potential costs that you need to consider.

The financial burden of a wedding can be pretty overwhelming, so those who need to borrow money need to think about it relatively early and go about it in the correct way. Finding the right loan for you isn’t always as easy as people expect, so make sure you think about it well in advance. After all, some leftover cash will probably be required for the ‘unexpected’ costs that usually creep up. There are tips for the service assistants and transport drivers to consider. Having some spare cash to account for potential problems such as cancellations, delivery problems, and clothes repair needs is also recommended. And hey, have you even planned out the honeymoon yet?

Transport

The day of the wedding often arrives and many couples have made no arrangements to reach the venue! A taxi is the most common solution but has to be reliable and spacious enough to accommodate a wedding dress. Many couples now consider arriving in style, whether via a limousine, carriage or minibus. Whatever your preference and budget, ensure you have transport booked to take the pressure off when you’ll be feeling full of nerves!

You also need to consider transport away from the venue. After all, as much as you may advise your loved ones not to, there are bound to be several people who have a little bit too much to drink. (Which, of course, in the context of transport, doesn’t have to be all that much at all.) Hey, you’ve probably provided them with plenty of wine and champagne for the occasion, right? So it’s important that everyone can actually get back home or to their hotel room safely. Make sure there’s transport arranged nearby, or that you have the contact details for a local transportation firm such as a cab service.

Dietary needs

You don’t want to invite a vegan to your wedding (some may think I’m going to end the sentence there!) only for them to have nothing to eat on the day. Vegans, vegetarians, people with allergies and intolerances to things like dairy and seafood… there’s a long list of dietary complications that you really need to take care to think about.

When you’re sending out invitations, make sure you prompt your guests to list any of these dietary needs and specialties that you need to consider when it comes to catering. This will help you find the right catering company – although any catering company worth their salt will be able to accommodate a variety of needs!

Keep calm; weddings can be stressful, but getting overexcited may lead you to forget a lot of things during the planning stage.