Friday, September 26, 2014

Wedding emergency bag

This is a very important thing to prepare for your wedding.

As a Girl Scout for life, I am always way more prepared than I need to be for any event/excursion/trip/life. Therefore, the first time I saw anything about a bride's "Wedding Day Emergency Bag," I knew I had to have one.

I began scouring websites and Pinterest boards looking for anything and everything that folks recommended to include in your bag. I have compiled that list here for you, so it's all in one nice place.

1. Deodorant! You never know who's going to forget to bring some, or need to reapply. I got a couple of options for the girls and an option for the guys. None of my groomsmen would have touched Dove deodorant.



2. Straws. This is a must for the bride! Once you get start getting dressed and done up, no more bottles, cups, or cans for you. Drink from the straw to avoid spills or ruining your makeup. I also insisted all my bridesmaids use them.


3. Static guard. My bridesmaids were in floor length chiffon dresses in August in Texas. There was going to be static cling.


4. Snacks of some sort. We provided lunch for everyone, but the day is long and folks will get snacky before the next meal. I did Clif bars because they are nutritious and filling. Two kinds because I am the model citizen of picky.


5. Sand paper. If anyone is wearing new heels, they should scuff up the bottoms so they don't slip on the walk down the aisle or out getting their groove on. This was a cool spongy sand paper with two roughness textures.


6. Febreeze. Whether or not it's the limo or the chairs or couch at the hotel, something might be a little stinky that day.


7. Handheld mirror. There usually aren't enough mirrors to go around when you get a group of girls together, or you'll want to do a check at some point during the day after you leave the prep room.


8. Hair spray - the strong kind. If you're having anyone with an up-do, or even with curls, you will need your own hairspray for touch ups during the day. We had miracle stylists from Hair and Makeup in Motion and no one needed hair or makeup touch ups the whole night! But, I can guarantee that we would have needed hairspray if I didn't have any with me. This is the way the world works. 


9. Black socks. Odds are one of the groomsmen or someone in the family will have forgotten/will bring a ratty pair of black socks. For us, it actually was one of my uncles!


10. Umbrellas. Especially if your wedding is in a rainy season, umbrellas are a must. I had two, one to get to the groomsmen and one for the girls if the rain had started. It rained every day for a week leading up to our wedding, then not a single drop on the actual day! 


11. Pads and tampons. If you get enough girls together in a room, one of them will be on their period.


12. Baby powder. Chaffing's worst nightmare.


13. Razors and shaving cream. For this, like for the deodorant, I provided guy and girl options. Max's family are all a little hairy, so I wanted to be ready in case someone needed a quick clean up.


14. Tapes! I had duct tape and painter's tape. We wound up using the painters tape for something on Friday. You never know when a sign is going to fall apart, then the best man will forget tape to decorate the car, or when someone's shoes are going to fall apart. Thankfully, none of those things happened to us!


15. Rubber bands! Really, anything could happen at a wedding.


16. Lint roller. All of our groomsmen and a lot of our family members own pets.


16. Benadryl for allergies. On the flip side of several wedding party members owning pets, we had a groomsmen and a bridesmaid who were severely allergic to pets. These were definitely used, both the anti-itch spray (Texas + August = mosquitoes) and the allergy liquid gels.


17. Bug repellent, sunscreen, aloe vera. Along the same lines of Texas in August, plus a few outdoor shots that I wanted, I wanted to make sure my guys and gals were protected (especially my two red-headed bridesmaids!).


18. Flashlight. This is just a little leftover from my days of camping and other Girl Scout adventures. You really never know.


19. Makeup things. For touch ups and cleaning up injuries.



20. Eye care things. Contacts freak out and eyes act up. If you have wedding party members with contacts, be prepared.


21. Oral care. I had toothbrushes, toothpaste, breath refreshing strips, mouth wash, floss, the whole line up.


22. Regular old Scotch tape and some Krazy Glue. Because, you know.


23. Nail maintenance set and nail polish remover. The bridesmaids and I all got our nails done Friday night, but just in case you don't go that route and someone shows up with neon colors on their hands.


24. Charging cables. This was for the getting ready portion of the morning. I had cables for the old iPhones, the new iPhones, all other phones, and an AUX cable for our morning tunes. I also had an plug for an outlet that provided a couple of USB inputs. I also had a power strip in case we needed more outlets. These were used.


25. AAA and AA batteries. For all sorts of reasons.


26. Tide sink pods and Kleenex. These are a nifty little thing I found. Tide has these little pods of their soap that are the perfect size to wash one garment in the sink. How cool is that?!


27. Double sided tape. Ladies, this is to help keep your dress where it should be. Also your bridesmaid dresses.


28. Blister aid and prevention things. For girls and shoes.


29. Mini emergency crash course sewing kit/things. This was to be in case something went wrong with anyone's clothes.


30. Pens, pencils, highlighters, sharpies, whiteout (liquid and strips).


31. A couple of dryer sheets. They have the same effect as the cling spray.


32. Ear plugs.


33. Matches. Seriously. Girl Scouting. Well, plus we had a few candles in the plans for the day.


34. Extra backs to earrings. 


35. A mini-spiral notebook. Just in case someone needed to write something down.


Ok, so up to this point, all of these things had been sorted and filed into a large duffel bag with pockets. Now come the things I considered top priority. They went into this small red zippered bag that was more easily "to go." There were also pens and pencils in this bag, along with some of the breath strips.


36. Antacid, Advil, Tylenol, Band-Aids, Vaseline. All for various, obvious reasons.


38. Hair bands, bobby pins, clear hair elastics.


39. Make-up removal wipes, chapstick, mascara, concealer in two tones. The make-up removal wipes were actually in case any of it got on clothing or any other object.


40. Q-tips, toothpicks, Tide to-go pen, mini exacto knives. You never know.


41. Hairbrush and combs.


42. Wet wipes, hand sanitizer, scissors.


43. Clear nail polish. There are chiggers in Texas.


44. White chalk, moisturizer, oil blotting sheets. The white chalk is for your dress. If you spill anything on it and the Tide to-go pen doesn't do the trick, try the chalk.


That's what I had with me on my wedding day! I'm honestly not sure who moved it around all day. I told the girls about it, but I'm decently sure it got shuffled over to a wedding-coordinator responsibility (Tamorah, with SimplyMox. Simply amazing.). It was actually nice to have a bag. I also kept my phone, license, and a little spare cash in it. Then, the sunglasses we'd used for a few photos wound up in there, along with my first pair of shoes.

Let me know if there's anything else you had in your emergency bag, or that you've heard of brides keeping with them!