Brides, you know how it is. When you’re prepping for your wedding — the to-do list is two-miles long. And we kind of hate to tell you this, but after the big day, there are still things to do. But the good news is… as far as we can tell… there are only five major things you need to do. Most of them revolve around those beautiful photos that you hired that totally pro photographer to take of you, and that’s why we’ve partnered with Blurb to bring you this post. Blurb is your one stop shop to make the most of those photos by turning them into heirloom quality books. And let’s be real about these to-dos, looking at that day over and over again isn’t really the worst thing in the world, now is it?
1. Set Up a Hashtag: Take it from a bride who DIDN’T set up a hashtag, set up a hashtag! This is the best way to collect all of those personal experience on your big day in one place. Not only are you going to want these images for your own perusing, but they’ll come in handy when you’re trying to make an Instagram photo book of your friends’ sweet shots, posting photos to Facebook or just reminiscing about your big day while you’re riding the bus. It’s not a bad idea to ask one of your friends or family members to take photos directly from your phone, so you can Instagram as you please when you’re waiting in the airport to jet off to your honeymoon.
2. Thank You Notes: So… the wedding happened, and your besties and awesome fam showered you with lots of gifts, love and support. Show them that you appreciate all of their help! Handwritten thank you notes are lovely and heartfelt but for your biggest supporters, try doing something a little more special. How about a mini 7×7 Blurb thank-you photo book, sporting pics from your big day? This could be anything from a uberpersonalized book of you and your loved one prepping for the wedding (from dress shopping to cocktail testing to bachelorette partying to holding your bouquet while you said your I do’s) or several copies of one awesome mini book that holds those epic photo-booth snapshots and the most memorable moves on the dance floor. Using Blurb’s free platform, you can pull images from Facebook, Instagram or any old place with ease.
3. Preserve Your Things: Chance are, you’ve been keeping your dress under lock and key and handling it with white gloves to make sure that it’s absolutely pristine for your big day. But once the wine starts flowing, the toasts start popping and the music starts pumping, you’re going to let loose and let the good times roll, which usually results in a dress with a dirt-lined hem and a wine stain or two thanks to your overly zealous and clumsy cousin.
Make sure you talk to your dry cleaner before the nitty gritty goes down. Most cleaners suggest dropping off “The Dress” within 24 hours of the par-tay. Rather than just getting a regular old dry cleaning job done, make sure they preserve your dress. Depending where you go, wedding dress preservation usually rings in around $150. The process should include hand cleaning, to get out stubborn stains; inspection and rewashing if necessary; mending and repairs; steaming and pressing; layering with acid-free tissue paper and storage in a fabric box that is sealed to prevent any moisture or humidity from getting in. Other things you’ll likely want to preserve and store away include any DIYed items, family heirlooms, cards, cake (for your one-year anniversary!) and maybe even your bouquet.
4. Create Your Own Wedding Book: It’s going to seem like an eternity until you get those wedding pictures back, and once you get them, you’re going to look at them at least three times per day for the first week, two times per day for the second week and then just one time per day going forward for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. Eventually, you’ll get sick of going into Dropbox to do that. What you need to do is make a photo book.
Lots of photographers offer photo books as part of their packages, but those can be spendy add-ons. It’s not only more affordable to DIY it, it’s fun making your own book on Blurb. If the task seems daunting, use their templates. If the task doesn’t seem quite that daunting, Blurb experts are at the ready with design tips. If you want total creative freedom, the tool is totally free to use as you please.
5. Gift Your Wedding Book: Full disclosure: I didn’t make my Blurb book after my wedding. My husband did. He gifted it to me six months after our ceremony as a holiday gift. If I said I didn’t shed a little tear of joy when I got it, I would be lying. What’s better yet? He ordered additional books for both sets of our parents (and an extra one for us… just in case.). I thought my parents might be like, “Why are you giving us a photo book of yourself?!?!” But no. Both sides of our family were extremely sentimental and so excited about the book. My mom kept picking it up and looking at it all weekend long. It was also fun for me to see the reactions of family members who couldn’t make it to the wedding.
Basically, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. And the best part is you only have to make one and just have as many printed as you want. If you want to make tweaks, that’s easy enough, too, seeing as your book will forever be stored in your account for you to print or tweak forever and ever and ever.
Ready to make your own Blurb book? Enjoy 20% off your next book! Code: BRITCO
Offer valid through August 25, 2014 (11:59 p.m. local time). Valid for first-time customers purchasing printed books only. A 20% discount is applied toward your product total with no minimum purchase required. Maximum discount is $75 off product total. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with volume discounts, other promotional codes, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.
Have any post wedding tips of your own? Tell them to us in the comments below!
This post is brought to you in partnership with Blurb.
