Contents for your wedding day emergency kit

Keeping yourself healthy on your wedding day may sound terribly dull, but how often have I seen the dehydration headache threaten to overwhelm? 

Trust me when I say wedding suppliers are also guilty of this (in fact we often refer to the post-wedding hangover even though we’ve not touched a drop of alcohol)

Take seriously drinking enough and make sure you have a bottle of water accessible at all stages: think one hand for champagne and the other for water. Never worry about toilet stops. You are better to take an extra 5 minutes to freshen up than suffer a headache. 

Along with the bottle of water (and a couple of paper straws), also a good idea to have some painkillers to hand, and whether you consider it a placebo or not I definitely think a few drops of Rescue Remedy (spray probably easiest) go a long way. It’s natural and can help to reduce anxiety.

Food. Make no mistake – pre-wedding munchies matter too. Sushi is a great, healthy, easy-to-eat snack food. Just pass on the soy sauce for one day. Chat with your venue or order a sushi platter through M&S, Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons (among many options).

They might be a long way from you and they might be dressed in the shoes you’ve always dreamed of, but remember your little tootsies need some loving too.

To avoid high heel emergencies blister plasters are so helpful and Compeed are always my go-to brand as they just work so well.

Another tip I’ve picked up over the years is using a bit of Vaseline on your foot to prevent rubbing against shoes. It acts like a barrier and is surprisingly effective on all styles of shoes. I have also heard if you apply a layer of vaseline before your perfume then apparently the perfume lasts longer? True or false – let me know…

Reach for the safety pins first before you think about sewing. Sometimes it can be enough to hold dress or lining in place until more remedial work can be done. A combination of sizes can be super helpful and the tiny little mini safety pins are helpful.

Speaking of mini – the mini sewing kits look cute, but when you actually come to need to use one you’ll find more often than not it doesn’t have what you’re looking for. It’s style over substance. 

Instead, I would suggest picking some key thread colours: black, white/cream (the actual colours you pick will depending on your wedding dress shade) and something akin to your bridesmaid dress colour. Also, the thread you buy will more likely be stronger than what’s included in one of the mini kits.

When it comes to needles, again avoid the kits and grab some needles you can actually see to thread. If you need to do any emergency repairs you’ll want to do it quickly. And yes a thimble isn’t a bad shout as it will stop you pricking yourself and causing further emergency!

Little scissors are also a must-have. Both Niels and I have a Blue Sky pair we carry and they are used at virtually every wedding (often more than once), hence why I have some branded ribbon on it so I can find them again!

A little bit of a life-hack that I think applies to wedding days too is sticky stuff remover. It’s perfect for any shoe labels refusing to come off (I’m thinking particularly flower girl shoes here). It’s one of those products that’s a little bit of a game-changer that you wish you’d invented.

It’s worth saying it’s not just girls that have emergencies.

Boys can loose shirt buttons too and when it comes to pinning buttonholes, Niels has become something of an expert. He carries his own supplies of florist pins for this purpose. His top tip? Larger florist pins tend to work better than smaller ones as they are less likely to bend and always pin the boys buttonhole from behind – it’s all about the floristry and not about the pin that’s attaching the flower to the lapel. 

Guys also have forgotten cufflinks, bow ties, flashes, sgian-dubh (pronounced skee-in-do if you’re wondering) and kilt socks (the small faffy details) so always worth checking these things the day before the wedding to avoid stress and emergencies on the big day itself.

Your make-up artist will tell you that you shout always blot and dab and not rub, to avoid smudging your eye make-up. I agree and would suggest you pack some tissues (or even better pack Granny’s best hanky) for this purpose.

To keep your make-up looking photo perfect, keep shine at bay with facial blotting paper, such as Clean & Clear’s Oil absorbing sheets.

For hair, kirby grips you can literally never have enough of. I don’t know where they disappear to, but you’ll need to have some even when you think you have so many in your hair. Oh, and while we’re at it, you can never have enough hairspray – especially if you plan to venture up a hill or onto a beach for your photographs. Stick a travel sized can of Elnett into a bag for this very purpose. 

I also think the other way round. So, think about how to avoid make-up transferring to dresses. White gloves are genius invention and I always carry some in my camera bag as it means I can move the wedding dress and so on safely without transferring anything to the gown.

Might seem a bit extreme, but prevention is better than cure – right?

Here’s a list of other bits and pieces to consider:

• Cash (especially if any suppliers need to be paid in person on the day – I’d ask your most reliable bridal party member to be in charge of that) Also worth thinking about in advance if you’re at an exclusive venue which is usually miles away from the nearest cash machine.
  
• Wedding day music in the form of iPad or iPhone. If you’re using a device for your wedding ceremony or drinks reception make sure you have the right charger and either disable the passcode or make sure whoever is hitting play has the digits to hand (put jot them down on a posit note inside the case as a fallback).
• A stash of sweets. Maybe it’s just Niels but a bag of Haribo are almost as important as the camera on a wedding day…
• A list of contact numbers for the key people – pass the list round the bridal party so people know who to contact if needed without causing panic and stress to you.

So there you have it: our best advice for starting your wedding day emergency kit. Remember we’re by your side on you big day and you’ll have our support, expertise and talent with you to cope with any unforeseen circumstances so you can trust relax and enjoy your wedding day…

#BigBlueSkyLove

Alie (& Niels) x