Hannah Riley
Planning a wedding and could use some life pro tips? It doesn’t matter if it’s your real wedding or a fake wedding with you and a celebrity. Hell, it could even be for a dog wedding. No matter what it is, you might be pretty stressed out right now.
People on Reddit’s Life Pro Tip page are sharing all their best “Wedding Hacks” to make someone else’s big day a little easier.
1. Make sure you get the floral list:
After your wedding, ask the florist for a list of the flower in your spouse’s bouquet.
I did it and have been able to buy my wife flower arrangements with the same types of flowers that were in her wedding bouquet on special wedding anniversaries (e.g., 1st, 5th, 10th, the year we became parents, etc.). I also keep a photo of the bouquet to show the florist. She was so surprised the first time I did it. It went over really well. She immediately recognized that all of the flowers had been in her bouquet. –moxzil
2. And make sure they’ll use those gifts again.
Getting married and looking for a great groomsmen gift? Give something useful.
I’ve been married over 25 years, and attended/ been in many weddings over the years.
The best gift I ever received was about 20 years ago from my college roommate who’s wedding I was in as a groomsman. It was a hammer, and a very nice hammer at that. I imagine it was in the $30-40 range. Great balance and weight.
At the time I thought “oh a hammer…. what the h*ll am I going to do with this?”
But then I moved out of my apartment, got a house and had a few kids. With every home improvement, swingset, outdoor project the hammer got used.
Once in a while I take a picture of the current project with the hammer in the shot and text it too him so that he knows I still use it.
I don’t remember or still have any of the shot glasses or cheap beer steins, they were lost years ago. But not the hammer.
So think of something that will be practical beyond the next bachelor party and give a great groomsmen gift.
3. Don’t let just anyone have the mic
Tell the DJ at your wedding NOT to give the mic to anyone…
…under any circumstances unless they have received verbal permission from you or your wife/husband. This is any easy way to avoid people proposing, announcing pregnancy or preventing people from speaking when you don’t want them to.
4. Save some money on your rings.
When getting engaged or married go to Pawn Shops for your Jewelry.
It will save you literally hundreds if not thousands of dollars on simple wedding bands and elaborate diamond rings. Resizing a ring is also relatively cheap. Anywhere from $10-$30 from a local jewelry store or Mom and Pop store. Stores like Zales and Jared want you to think that you are buying brand new “untainted” diamonds and gold. In reality you are buying recycled gold and diamond that actually came from Pawn Shops and other used jewelry.
The jewelry that is sold in Pawn Shops has a shelf life that varies but once it has been rotating for a set time and can’t sell the Pawn Shops sell it for the gold weight. The diamonds are taken out and sold in bulk while the gold is melted down into ingots then Jewelry manufactures bid on these materials that are then used to create brand new rings and settings from these recycled materials.
5. Make sure you like their family too.
When you marry someone, you also marry their family. Make your peace with that before saying “I do”.
I read this in a book once and feel it holds very true. When you start thinking about long term plans like marriage, unless your partner intends to cut off contact with them, you will have to deal with their family at some point. If you have constant friction with your in-laws and can’t ever see yourself getting along with them, have an honest reflection on how you see the rest of your relationship pan out with their family in the picture. If you think you and your partner can manage it as a team, by all means go ahead, but definitely have a dialogue about it before committing. –vet_girl86
6. Really consider a prenup.
Ask for documentation of your SO’s finances before you get married or move in together. Then discuss financial expectations in depth. This could prevent surprises in the future.
What your SO tells you and what is true may not be the same thing. This doesn’t mean that they’re lying, but their perspective of their financial situation may be different from yours. And your assumptions about marital finances may not be the same.
My personal experience is that my own SO told me that they had school debt, but they also were a successful businesses owner. I did not know until after the fact that they had bills in collections, including very small bills that should have been easy to pay, and the business was not paying the bills. They were relying on parents and romantic partners to foot the expenses. They also had not filed taxes in years. I’m very lucky I didn’t end up responsible for their personal debts. I paid tens of thousands of dollars of community debt because I knew they wouldn’t and didn’t want it to affect my credit score.
Finances aren’t romantic, but it cannot be stressed enough that a lack of financial transparency can kill an otherwise good relationship. Love is difficult when your brain is occupied by consuming debt and whether you can make the next payment on the credit card because you know your spouse can’t or won’t. The loneliest I have ever been was while being married to someone who, among other things, was financially irresponsible.
Better yet, I would strongly recommend that every marriage starts with a prenuptial agreement that outlines what you expect from your partnership, both financially and otherwise. We often think of prenups as being for the rich and famous. But they provide legal protections and fairness that most state laws don’t provide. You can also craft fair resolutions that otherwise wouldn’t be possible in many contentious divorces.
A prenup is the means to a (sometimes) cheaper divorce if things go awry.
7. Here’s a great photo tip:
Whenever taking photos you plan on photoshoping. i.e. wedding photos. before you move everyone into the photo take a photo of just the background.
It can make editing the photo alot easier in the later. like removing that annoying friend of the friend. –fatandsad1
8. This is next-level consideration.
Before Proposing To A Girl, Go Find An Excuse For Her To Get Her Nails Done Beforehand.
When she wants to send photos of the ring to friends and family or post it to social media, she’ll be thankful that her nails look the best possible that they can before sharing such an up-close photo of her hand.
9. More of a tip for the guests!
When writing a check for a wedding gift, make it out to one spouse or the other with old names. ‘Mr and Mrs X’ checks can’t be cashed until the name change is final weeks later.
Just because someone gets married, doesn’t mean the name changes right away (if at all obviously). So if you write a check to someone with their new name, it won’t be able to be cashed until that is finalized weeks or months later.
The other way to get around this is to write OR instead of AND. So if you write Joe AND Nancy Smith, then they both must sign it and be on the account as Joe and Nancy Smith. But if you write Joe Smith OR Nancy Smith, then either one could cash it independently.
Edit: Apparently it is different by bank or by area. So seems this isn’t universal. However probably still a good thing to follow just in case.
10. Want to listen to that music again?
If you’re getting married and hire a DJ/band, tell them to record their set.
After being married for a few years, I really wish I could go back and listen to a few hours of our DJ spinning records to the night that felt like flew by in minutes. Not to mention having it for years and years to come.
11. You can save some serious coin.
If you are buying anything for your wedding, do not tell the vendors it’s for a wedding. Just say a party. Most companies charge 3-4x for weddings even if it’s the same stuff.
This includes cakes. You can just say it’s for a party before the wedding. Same cake. Hundreds of dollars cheaper…
If a vendor is attending the wedding, don’t try to bamboozle them. This is for stuff that you pick up (Tents, chairs, cake, lights, etc.)
Any vendors coming to the wedding should be prepared that it’s a wedding (band, photographer, caterer etc).
12. Two-way commutation is key.
Before you propose, you and your partner should already have agreed to get engaged. That way the proposal can be a fun surprise, without fear of rejection.
If you are ready to get married to your partner, speak frankly and honestly with them about it BEFORE you start planning a proposal. Have a real discussion about your future together, the big items that affect a marriage(finances, family, kids, careers, etc) and decide if you are BOTH ready to get married to each other.
It’s a huge decision, and nobody should be put in the stressful position of having to decide in a single moment, or say No and hurt someone that they care about.
Once you know that they’re on board 100%, you can plan the most elaborate or intimate or special proposal surprise that you know your partner would want. You can purchase the ring and know it won’t be wasted. You can build up the tension for as long as you want until the big proposal day arrives and you both can enjoy it without anxiety or doubt.
The engagement should be planned so the proposal can be a surprise!
13. Much easier to unsubscribe this way:
Before you start doing any wedding planning, make a wedding-only email account.
Do what I wish I did: Make a new email to give only to wedding vendors. That way, all of your wedding info will be together, and when the wedding is over, boom. No unnecessary wedding emails.
