Yes, we know. You want to have that perfect wedding, who doesn’t. Truthfully though, there is no such thing as a perfect wedding but we are sure that you can come pretty close.Even if you plan everything to the letter ‘T’, with the most sought after world’s best wedding planners, you can’t be certain that nothing will go wrong on your wedding that. That is where the bridal emergency kit comes in. This is a kit that even the best wedding planners arm themselves with to avoid such occurrences from spoiling your special day. You might have opened this post out of curiosity or thinking what is the importance of an Bridal Emergency Kit on your wedding day. Well have you ever thought what would happen, when that very expensive high heel that you bought for your wedding suddenly gets broken and you already planned to show off with the high heels, imagine the magic a very efficient ‘Super glue’ could have performed there or you packing an extra high heel with you. Snacks are also very important; especially energy bars. Most times brides get overly excited on their wedding that they either forget to eat or refuse to eat before leaving home for the Church wedding. There was a certain incident during a family’s friend wedding, where we had to stop the convoy conveying the Bride and the groom to the reception, because the Bride needed to buy gala and drink as she was getting dizzy due to hunger, when we asked why she didn’t eat earlier at home, her response was that she thought she’d get to quickly eat at the reception venue. Safe to say she learnt something that day and we surely did too. So you can just get a couple of snacks and pack them somewhere to avoid stories that touch on your special day.
What Is A Bridal Emergency Kit?
Best definition, Wedding planners call it the ‘bridal first aid kit’ or ‘wedding day emergency kit’ or even the ‘wedding day survival kit’, they are all the same thing, just different names. The secret to why big societal weddings never have public mishaps or problems is because of the bridal emergency kit. The kit is a bag full of those useful little (sometimes, not so little) things that everyone seems to need but no one remembered to bring – except you, the bride. Every wedding planner that knows his or her onions goes to a wedding armed with one. Brides that are smart but are not sure of what to do, follow what has worked for the pros and that is why in this post we would show you how to put together a wedding day emergency kit that will take care of several common wedding day problems or issues.
Why The Bridal Emergency Kit is a Must-Have Wedding Day Survival Tool?
You need to be prepared if you want to plan a fabulous and flawless dream wedding. You have to be ready and prepared for any form of issues and emergencies (that could possibly arise) on your wedding day. We want to show you hoe to prevent or stop any ugly situation from happening on your wedding day, in this post. This is the same technique pro wedding planners use when organizing celebrity or socialite style weddings that always seem to appear hitch-free and perfect. Even if you stick to your schedule and lists while planning, there are things that always go wrong in every wedding, because there are just some issues which are beyond you control. You need to know and accept that. Example of such issues are; it suddenly starts raining, your lipstick stained your grooms shirt, a button falls off your gown, you (bride) or someone mistakenly spills red wine on your white wedding dress, guests having issues or getting hurt, gate-crashing drama by uninvited guests, a vendor is stuck in traffic and is running late, another vendor forgot to bring something, venue utilities are not working (i.e air conditioner, generator, etc). Anything can go wrong on your special day and we know the sort of things that usually go wrong and the good news is that we also know how to stop them from ruining your wedding day and spoiling your fun and yes! – we will show you how, as you keep reading. It is normal for certain things keep you up at night, thinking “what if this or that goes wrong…”, no matter how much time you and effort you spend planning every detail of your wedding. Unfortunately, some last-minute wedding issues and problems are totally beyond your sight and control. Luckily,you can quickly stop and get ahead of such issues when they arise from getting out of hand to avoid spoiling your fun or getting noticed by guests by preparing and planning ahead on how to solve any of them (if and when they happen).
Why Something Always Goes Wrong In Nigerian Weddings?
Yes, 99% of the time – it is a fact that something always goes wrong but 99% of weddings worldwide and not just in Nigerian Weddings. Yes – something will go wrong on your wedding day, and if you don’t prepare t have a place in place, ahead of time to stop any wedding day issue or problem that will arise then your guests will notice and your special day will be ruined. When you have over 100 guests, you never know when someone might need medical help or some antacid or even aspirin. You never know when one of your vendors might not deliver in an agreement. So what will you do when you are faced with your very own worst-case scenario, on your wedding day? are you going to scream or cry?
Checklist: Packing Your Bridal Wedding Day Emergency Kit
We are big on planing your dream wedding yourself, so we have made a checklist of all the items in a kit and why this kit is a must have. You can follow the list to put together your own personalized Bridal Emergency Kit. So what should be inside a bridal wedding day emergency kit? Without much ado Naija Cupid weddings gives to you a list of Bridal Emergency Kit that you need for that special day; These items can be put right inside your purse or your chief bridesmaid’s purse. They can also be packed in a small bag or backpack, which is comfortable enough for you.
These can be inside a purse or small bag.
- Mobile Phones (Be sure to put themon slient or off before church ceremony and reception)
- Makeup
- Breath mints
- Hair brush/comb
- Hairspray
- Legal documents needed
- Perfume (travel size)
- Nail file/emery board
- Handkerchief/small face towel
- Portable mirror
For Your Appearance Needs
- Baby powder/white chalk (Useful for covering last minute stains on a white dress)
- Hair pins & hair elastics (aka rubber rings) – for adjusting hairstyles.
- Hairbrush or comb
- Hairspray
- Hairdryer
- Lint roller
- Hair ties
- Transparent nail polish (also helpful for stocking runs)
- Nail glue and nail file (to quickly fix a broken nail)
- Coloured nail polish (the shade of the bride’s nail polish)
- Matching lipstick or lip gloss in bride’s colour
- Cotton balls /swabs
- Pack of safety razors
- Extra earrings back/hooks (These seem to disappear at the most inconvenient time)
- Baby wipes
- Portable pressing iron
- Sunglasses
- Stain remover stick
- Pair of flat slippers or comfortable shoes (for bride to change into)
- Makeup (eye pencils, mascara, lipsticks, concealer to cover up a pimple or a blemish) (Most times, you will have your makeup artist with you but just in case you don’t, it is good to be prepared)
- Extra underwear-slips, new panties and undergarments (most bridesmaids forget to carry extra)
- Sewing kit: buttons, needles and threads (in the colours that match the outfit or the couple, bridesmaids and groomsmen) Also, white and black threaded needles for immediate use.
- Small scissors (to cut tags, straps and threads from new dresses)
- Safety pins and straight pins
- Pairs of extra socks (one or more groomsmen may have forgotten to bring one)
- Shoe polish (the matches colours of shoes of the couple, bridesmaids and groomsmen)
- Shoehorn
- Drinking straws (for drinking without messing up your lipstick)
For Your Health and Toiletry Needs
- Antacid: Chewable gelusil, Andrew’s liver salt
- Pain Killers: Panadol; Aspirin; Paracetamol. (These will help with relief from stress induced headaches)
- Plasters/band-aids (preferably in bride’s skin tone to cover up blisters
- Hand sanitizer
- Hand lotion
- Contact lens solution and cases
- Sanitary pads
- Body cream
- Liquid soap
- Deodorant (helps freshen you up after dancing)
- Razor blades/Shaving sticks (these might come in handy for one of the groomsmen)
- Insecticide sprays/insect repellent (for outdoor ceremonies; ensure that it is odourless or it has a nice fragrance)
- Toothpaste and new toothbrushes
- Tissue box/Packs (for spills and tears)
- Heat pack – instant
- Ice pack – instant
- Mints/Breath spray (helps with offensive mouth odour from certain foods such as onions and garlic)
- Extra Handkerchiefs for wiping off sweat
Other Essentials to have in a Bridal Emergency Kit
- Extra copies of church and reception program
- Extra copies of direction to the venue
- Mobile wifi modem
- Extra phone recharge cards (or you can always recharge with the shortcodes)
- Phone Chargers/Powerbanks (you don’t want you battery to run low, do you?)
- Some cash (just in case, you might need it)
- List of Phone numbers of
- Key family members (bride and groom)
- Bridesmaids and groomsmen
- Wedding vendors
- Car hire service
- Manager of venue location
- Disposable cameras/digital cameras with extra memory cards and batteries (your phone can equally come in handy here)
- Identification cards (driver’s license)
- Staplers with pins/Cellotapes/Masking tapes/Duck tapes (for quick fix for hems of any ripped dress)
- Notebook and pens
- Lighter
- Extension cord
- Hangers
- Small Flashlight (Your phone’s flash can do just as well)
- Umbrellas (Just in case the rain comes in attendance or its really sunny)
- Blotting sheets – A long day (& nervous sweat) can result in a shiny face. (Blotting sheets will help the bride look picture perfect all through the day without ruining the makeup)
- A time piece (To stay on time; your phone can also help)
- Crochet hooks (to hook up tiny buttons at the back of the wedding gown)
- Extra neck ties, bow ties and cufflinks
- Bottles of water (to keep everyone hydrated especially the bride)
- Snacks/Energy bars (in case anyone gets hungry, especially the bride)
Tips on Packing the Bridal Emergency Kit
It is the role of the maid of honour/chief bridesmaid to put together everything for the wedding day emergency kit but you can’t leave it to chance. It is best you do it yourself or you do it with her. Get a folder that will hold all your checklists and planning details and also put the above list in there too. Then get a small travel bag or backpack and fill it with all the items listed above as you tick them off your list.
This is how you create your own bridal wedding day emergency kit.
Who Should Keep the Emergency Kit on the Wedding Day?
It is the duty of the chief bridesmaid or maid of honour take charge of the bridal emergency kit. It should be kept as handy as possible. Possible in the boot of the car that conveys the bride. Every other person of the bridal train and the groomsmen should also be aware of that, just in case of any emergency.
Planning Ahead In-Case of Any Wedding Emergency
On a final note, now that you know the list of things you need to put together your own personalized bridal emergency kit, thanks to Naija Cupid Weddings. Once you have your wedding emergency kit packed to take care of any little mishaps or issues.you shouldn’t bother or worry about them, because they are what they are, ‘little mishaps’ and nothing more. You should focus more on enjoying your day and keep reminding yourself to just enjoy it.
Have fun as much as possible, focus on making memories and relax, knowing you have made plans for any eventualities.
If you think we might have missed adding an essential item to the checklist. Kindly notify us by dropping a comment below.
