pack an emergency kit

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Welcome to the third installment in this series of items that can easily get overlooked on wedding days!

1. Prepping Your Wedding Dress & Veil
2. Pack an Overnight Bag
3. Pack an Emergency Kit
4. Pack Your Jewelry & Special Accessories Bag
5. Pack a Complete Invitation Suite

I love the opening scene of The Wedding Planner. J Lo strides around the church effortlessly adjusting a bridesmaid's dress with a clothespin & calms a weeping & slightly inebriated father of the bride, all with a smile of confidence on her face.

You, too, can have that same confidence.

Bridesmaids & groomsmen, pay attention! You can be the most prepared attendant ever by showing up with these items! Brides & grooms, like your honeymoon bag, this is something you can start putting together in advance. No need to wait until the last second!

Channel your inner survivalist & consider all possibilities for yourself & those surrounding you the day of your or your friend's wedding.

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Aside from your normal overnight bag, here are some essential items that often get overlooked:


FOR HIM

  • An Extra Pair of Black Men’s Socks*

  • An Extra White Undershirt*

  • An Extra Belt*

  • Beard Products

  • Comb or Brush

  • Hairspray or Hair Gel/Pomade

  • Hair/Beard Trimmer

  • Makeup for Blemishes

  • The How To Tie A Necktie/Bowtie Youtube Video Downloaded to Your Smart Phone

  • (Everyday toiletries of your preference)

* When I say "extra", I don't mean one. I mean a "spare" in case something happens to yours or someone shows up without it.

FOR HER

  • Baby Powder

  • Bobby Pins

  • Clear or Neutral Nail Polish

  • Cute/Coordinating Pair of Flat Shoes

  • Cute/Coordinating Jacket or Scarf

  • Dry Shampoo

  • Hairspray

  • Feminine Products

  • Nail Polish Remover & Cotton Balls

  • (Everyday toiletries of your preference)


MISC ITEMS FOR EVERYBODY

  • Breath Mints or Listerine Strips

  • Chap Stick

  • Clothes or Fashion Tape

  • Cotton Swabs

  • Floss

  • Lint Roller

  • Mosquito Repellent

  • Nail File &/or Clippers

  • Q-Tips

  • Safety Pins

  • Sewing Kit

  • Stain Remover

  • Steamer // Check that the venue has at least one

  • Sun Block

  • Tissues

  • Toothbrush, Toothpaste

  • Tweezers

First aid

  • Allergy Medicine

  • Antacid

  • Aspirin

  • Clear or Nude Colored Band-Aids

  • Cold Medicine

  • Eye Drops

  • Dr. Scholl’s Blister Relief Anti-Friction Stick

  • Neosporin

* I highly discourage taking any meds the day (or week of) your wedding that you've never taken it before (obviously unless you have a medical emergency & your doctor has prescribed something). Allergic reactions can be disastrous! True story, my mother-in-law broke out in hives the morning of my wedding due to an allergic reaction to a medicine she had recently started taking! I'm talking, every inch of her was covered. Thankfully she was wore a long sleeve dress & panty hose & my makeup artist was able to perform a miracle. I'm so thankful she had the best attitude about it though. She's wonderful like that. :)


CRAFTING EMERGENCIES

If you're helping with the decor set up in any capacity or just want to be super prepared, it wouldn't hurt to have the following items within reach:

  • Hammer

  • Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

  • Rubber Bands

  • Scissors

  • Screwdriver

  • Super Glue

  • Tape (Clear, Double Stick, Scotch, & Duct)

  • Twine or Coordinating Ribbon that may be used in any of the decor


I finally followed my own advice a few years ago & made my own emergency wedding day kit. I thankfully haven't had need for most of the items & I sometimes feel silly carrying this bag around. But, then I go into disaster-mode thinking with visions of a windy wedding day & something flies into my eye & I rip my contact trying to get it out. I have horrible eyesight & shooting a wedding blind or even with one contact lens stresses me out. Knowing I have a backup pair makes me feel invincible.


Fun fact!

The number one thing people ask me for at weddings is safety pins.