The Night before

On Wednesdays I share everything wedding with you: tips, projects, organisation, photos, faux-pas, fun things and golden rules I ‘learned’ from my own wedding. I feel I need to give something back to the fabulous blog community who helped me stay sane and enjoy every second of my ‘big day’.

* * *

Weddings and traditions go hand in hand, I know. And often you feel like you cannot escape them. Nevertheless I want to encourage you to challenge them. To think about whether a certain tradition actually adds something beautiful to your special day or not. And if the answer is a clear NO - then don’t do it.

Two traditions I struggled with (among others) are:

1. Rehearsal dinners on the night before your wedding
   Firstly in my opinion you cannot really rehearse an amazing, breathtaking and unique event like your own wedding. Because it will always be and feel different. Secondly you don’t need a rehearsal for a wonderful celebration – so please just enjoy it!
2. Spending the last night before your wedding apart
   You are both nervous. You are both out of your comfort zone. You are overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation. So why make things worse by taking away the one person who shares your feelings and knows all the tricks to calm you down and make you happy?

Therefore we decided to spend the night before our wedding together. On our own. We didn’t see any friends or family that night. We didn’t do anything exciting or special or romantic at all. We just stayed at home. We prepared the essentials for the next day – putting tissues into the bridal handbag etc. We had take-away food. I had a relaxing bath. We talked a lot. We joked. We laughed. We cuddled. We hold each other until we both fell asleep. We actually slept considerably well – taking into account that the next day was our ‘big day’.

So my advice for the night before your wedding is:

• Stop crafting!
  No honestly, I really mean it. Not a quick finish. Not just one more thing. Nothing! Step away from the scissors. What isn’t done by now will be crossed off the list. It won’t happen. And you know what – no one will care. Not even you.
• Stop worrying!Easier said than done, I know, but you really have to try hard and stop. You have your man. You have your dress (or in emergencies a dress). You don’t need anything else. And all your guests expect is a happy couple – so work on that for a change.
• Take a long bath!Listen to music. Dance in the living room. Watch your favourite DVD. Do something that you enjoy, something that relaxes you, something that calms you down. No experiments permitted! Just good old rituals and routine.
• Eat something !You’ll never know whether you will be able to eat anything on your big day. So have a really nice dinner, maybe followed by your favourite dessert. I mean chocolate is almost medicine for calming your nerves. So spoil yourself!
• Drink something!
  A calming tea. A glass of red – not a bottle ;-) A hot chocolate before bed. A glass of champagne with your husband-to-be. Enjoy the quiet time together and celebrate a bit in advance – unhurried and just the two of you.

I promise you, after doing all this, it will be surprisingly easy to go to bed and actually get some sleep that night. And believe me you need lots of energy for your big day.