It is currently wedding season and out of town and destination weddings are growing in popularity. I’m actually leaving for an out of town wedding next week and thought I would put together a checklist of sorts for the most important items to pack. There’s nothing worse than showing up at your destination and realizing you forgot one of the most important things. Those most important things are as follows….

1. The Invitation – Why? Because it has the address of where the ceremony and reception are being held and you don’t want to bother the bride and groom if you don’t have to on the day of the wedding to ask where the address is because chances are – they’re too busy to be checking their phone. It also has the time of the event and believe it or not, I’ve heard of a few cases of people showing up or completely missing the ceremony because they thought it was at one time and it was actually earlier.
2. The Gift – This one is pretty important especially if you have a very personalized gift, say something with an engraving or something very specific for the couple because you’re not going to find it anywhere else. If you were just going to write a check, this probably isn’t as big of a deal but still not something that you want to forget.
3. The Outfit – Don’t forget the outfit you planned to wear for the wedding. Personal experience says this can be quite a pain as my fiancé once forgot his when we were in Florida for a destination wedding. Especially don’t forget this if you are in the bridal party. This should be one of the first things you pack for the trip in general. This includes everything from dress and shoes all the way to make up and jewelry.
4. An extra “nice” outfit – A lot of times, the family will want to have another dinner or get together with all the wedding guests. Whether it’s the rehearsal dinner or a different night, don’t forget to pack something extra to wear such as another dress for girls or another button up for men. Just because it wasn’t mentioned that this may occur, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared.
5. The Camera – Chances are, the wedding you’re going to is in a pretty cool place that you’ve never been to so don’t forget to pack your camera so you can spend your free time exploring the city. Also, before you go, don’t forget to look up what there is to do in this city so that you have a set plan for your free time.