Congrats! You’re finally married to the love of your life and enjoyed the bliss of your honeymoon trip. Now, what comes next? You probably feel relieved after the stress of planning your wedding, but there are still a few more things you need to do after your honeymoon. Don’t worry, it’s nothing as big as wedding planning, but these tasks will wrap things up and ensure you and your partner are set up for long-term success. Here are a few things to keep in mind after your honeymoon.
Preserve Your Gown
Brides spend months finding the perfect wedding dress for their big day. It’s a special piece that you’ll remember for years to come, and something you might even want to pass onto your children. To make sure your wedding dress stays in pristine condition, it’s important to clean and preserve it. After your wedding or honeymoon, take your dress to professional cleaners that specialize in wedding dress preservation – this will ensure that any dirt or stains don’t set in.
You can wait up to six weeks after your wedding to have your dress cleaned, but it’s best to have this done as soon as possible after your big day. So if you and your partner are going on a month-long honeymoon, you may want to ask your parents or maid of honor to take your dress to the cleaners. After your gown has been thoroughly cleaned, make sure to store it in a cool, dry place at home that’s protected from extreme temperatures, moisture and exposure to direct sunlight.
Send Thank You Notes
Getting married is a huge milestone in life. You not only get to share this special moment with your partner, but can also celebrate it with your closest friends and family. These people likely provided you guidance, support, and gifts for your wedding, so it’s important to thank them and show your gratitude. Once you return from your honeymoon, go through your cards and presents and track who gave you what. From here, you’ll want to write personalized thank you notes for each guest, and aim to have these cards sent out two months after your honeymoon. This may seem tedious, especially if you had a lot of guests, but this is a must and shows your appreciation. Try to divide writing thank you notes over a few weeks to make it more manageable, and use a template if you’re having writer’s block.
Discuss Finances
One of the most important things to do after your honeymoon is to discuss finances with your partner. As a newly married couple, your financial situation will be a lot different from when you were single; so you’ll want to organize your money and decide if you want to merge bank accounts. Being newlyweds is exciting, so you can also discuss any financial goals you want to work toward in the future. For instance, if you want to buy a home together to have more space, you’ll need to make a budgeting plan and save up. Researching how to get preapproved for a mortgage and other financial requirements for buying a home will help you determine how much you can afford together, and can prevent you from overspending.
Along with your goals, talk about your current financial situations. It’s important to know if you or your partner have debt, a low credit score, or any other circumstances that may impact your goals. From here, you can work together to review your combined income and expenses to create a monthly budget to live on.
Print and Share Photos
While it’s hard to beat the excitement of your wedding and honeymoon, you can still look forward to reliving and sharing these memories with family and friends. Your wedding will live in your memory forever, but having pictures to help you look back on this milestone is important too. After your honeymoon, you’ll probably be anxious to finally see all of your wedding photos of you getting ready, with your spouse, and with all of your guests sharing your special day.
Once the pictures are edited and processed, sift through all of the options and decide which ones you like best. It can be tempting to want copies of them all, but try to choose your favorites to save money on printing costs. From here, you can create a photo album to remember your wedding day and can share them on social media with friends and family. Don’t forget to give your guests access to the photos so they can share them as well!