Week-Of Checklist and Packing List

Most of the day's mishaps are decided this week. Date each one when it is done.

• Final guest count and meal counts to the caterer
  Done on
• The run of show and the Team Sheet to every person on the Team Sheet, 72 hours outDo not assume your team will find each other on their own.
  Done on
• The DJ Sheet final, pronunciations included
  Done on
• The seating chart to the venue
  Done on
• The Plan B deadline on the calendar, and the rain call rehearsed with the person who makes it
  Done on
• The marriage license checked against its sixty-day windowMassachusetts: the notice of intention is filed jointly with the clerk of any city or town not less than three days before the marriage, Sundays and holidays counted (M.G.L. c.207 s.19). The certificate is only valid for sixty days from the filing of the notice (c.207 s.28). Check the date on it.
  Done on

• The envelope list done: who receives one, who hands it over, whenThe amounts are yours. They never print here.
  Add an envelope
• Vendor meals confirmed with the caterer: how many, where they eat, whenUsually with the guests' entrees, so your team is back before the first dance set.

• The kit packed the day before, not the morning of
• The phone plan set: whose phone is on, whose is off
• Rings tried on
• A paper copy of everything, in the kit

If it cannot be replaced by lunchtime, it goes in this box, and one person owns the box.

• The marriage licenseMassachusetts: the notice of intention is filed jointly with the clerk of any city or town not less than three days before the marriage, Sundays and holidays counted (M.G.L. c.207 s.19). The certificate is only valid for sixty days from the filing of the notice (c.207 s.28). Check the date on it.
• The rings
• Vows on paper
• The run of show, printed, a copy per person on the Team Sheet
• The Team Sheet
• The Plan B Card
• The DJ Sheet
• Cash and tip envelopes, labeledLabeled with the name and who hands it over. No amounts on the outside.
• Photo ID for both of you
• The officiant's copy of anything they asked for

Everything that has to be at the ceremony site before the first guest.

• Programs
• Readings, on paper, one copy per reader
• Unity items, if any, and what they need (a lighter, water, sand)
• The ring box or pillow
• The marriage license, againTouch it, then confirm it. Out loud, to the person carrying the papers.
• Signage, and what holds it up
• The aisle plan: who walks, in what order, to what

The things the venue will ask for by name, in the first ten minutes.

• Cake knife and server
• Toasting glasses
• Card box
• Guest book and pens that work
• Table numbers and the seating chart
• Favors, and who sets them
• Signs, and what holds them up
• The money dance container, if you are doing one
• A toss bouquet, if you are doing one
• The garter, if you are doing one
• The slideshow file on two devices, and the cable the venue needs
• Chargers
• Menu cards, place cards, and the escort cards, in order

Trimmed to what I have actually watched get used in twenty years. Add your own at the bottom.

Sewing and fashion

• Safety pins, big and small
• Needle and thread in the outfit colors
• Fashion tape
• Lint roller
• Small scissors
• Spare buttons
• A shoe wipe or polish

Hair

• Bobby pins
• Hair ties
• Hairspray
• A comb

Makeup and nails

• Touch-up for the lips
• Blotting papers
• A nail file and clear polish
• Tweezers

First aid and medicine

• Bandages and blister pads
• Pain reliever
• Antacid
• Allergy tablets
• Anything anyone actually takes, in its bottle
• Eye drops
• Tissues

Tools and tape

• Scissors
• Clear tape and double-sided tape
• A lighter or matches
• A small screwdriver
• Zip ties
• A marker and a pen

Stains and shoes

• A stain pen
• White chalk, for a mark on a light outfit
• Baby wipes
• Flat shoes for later
• Spare socks or stockings

Tech and power

• Two chargers and a power bank
• The slideshow on a second device
• Printed copies of the run of show

Outdoor

• Bug spray
• Sunscreen
• Two umbrellas
• Hand fans
• A blanket

The two of you

• Breath mints and gum
• Deodorant
• A toothbrush
• Water and a real snack
• Straws

One per guest, plus what it takes to hand them out and light or line them up.

• The send-off supplies, one per guest
• Baskets or a table to hand them out from
• The sand-filled can for anything litMassachusetts lists sparklers among the fireworks nobody may possess or use without the state license, certification, and permits (M.G.L. c.148 s.39). Ask the venue what is allowed. Whatever is lit goes out in sand, not a trash can.
• The MC's cue and the time it startsGuests get lined up ten minutes ahead. Someone signals it.
• Who lines the guests up
• The car, the driver, and the keys
• Whatever is on the car, and what takes it off again

The bag nobody thinks about until 1:00 AM.

• Clothes for the morning
• Toiletries
• Chargers, again
• Medication
• Comfortable shoes
• The bag for the cards and gifts, and who carries it outName the person. Gifts have walked off at the end of a night.
• The top of the cake, if you keep it, and a box for it
• A plan for the flowers
• Water, and something to eat