PREPARING YOUR BAG FOR THE WEDDING CEREMONY

Many a time, in spite of the best preparation and immaculate arrangement, that very last week ahead of the wedding gets chaotic and things get mislaid or left behind.
As a wedding in-charge, in spite of frequent intimations, I have had couples who fail to remember the rings, the marriage license and the candles for the unity candle ritual as well as other things not so crucial.

At a certain Friday evening run through I intimated the couple to be certain to bring their marriage license to the Saturday afternoon wedding and they stared at each other and at me with a taken aback look. In the enthusiasm of the coming of family and friends and with the last minute arrangements, they merely did not remember to get their marriage license. There was a brief absolute state of alarm.
I told them I would do research of the law and call them early Saturday morning. The consequence was that we had the full ceremonial wedding on Saturday. And on Monday, after they got hold of a license, we had an informal wedding with just their parents and me.
The law does not consent to a ceremony to be carried out prior to acquiring the license and I did not want them ever to doubt if their marriage was legitimate.

I can assure that not remembering to bring important things leads to all kinds of anticipation and anxiety and time and again postpones the start of the ceremony.
This is mainly problematic when the couple lives a long way from the ceremony location and we have to pass the time while somebody goes to get the marriage license.

So, what is the way out?

Put together a listing of everything you require for the ritual e.g. license, rings, candles, roses for the mothers, etc.

Pack each article in a bag well in advance of the ritual and put it in a location that it cannot be unrecalled.
For those last minute objects like wine or roses, put down a big note on the outer surface of the bag.
You might be able to appoint a family member you can rely on to be in charge for inspecting the items with the checklist and fetching the bag to the service location. Be sure you can rely on them.

Believe me, something go off in the mind that last week ahead of the wedding.