7 Things you need to do After your Honeymoon

1. Review your vendors and suppliers

Your wedding couldn’t have happened without the hard work of a large number of people, so take the time to review the experts who worked hard to make your wedding come together. Word of mouth is very important in the wedding industry – as you’ll know yourself by now – so do those whose service you were particularly pleased with a solid and write them a glowing review online!

2. Send thank-you notes

Thank-you notes aren’t standard practice in Malta, which is a shame because they’re always appreciated by the receiver. If you do plan on sending out thank-you notes, do so within two months of your wedding. Try setting a goal, like 10 a night – you can do so while there are adverts on TV, or while you’re waiting for dinner to be ready. Don’t try to handle it all yourself – get your spouse in on the action too. Remember – no matter who writes the actual notes, you should both sign each one.

3. Clean and store your dress

The sooner you dry-clean and put away your dress safely, the better. It’s important to use a service that specialises in wedding dresses so that they use the right chemicals and materials. Once it's back home, store it in a cool, dry place like an out-of-the-way closet. Avoid places which might be damp or musty, such as the basement or the garage.

4. Do something with all your wedding décor

What are you supposed to do with all the pretty little knick-knacks that made your wedding day so special? Do yourself a favour and find them a new home. You could sell the items to other couples planning a wedding (Facebook wedding groups are great for this kind of thing), find a way to work them into your home décor, donate them or, at worst, throw them away. Believe us, you don’t need this stuff cluttering up your new home so early on.

5. If you’re changing your name and address, do so officially

If you choose to take your spouse’s last name or join it up with your own, and/or if you’re moving to a new address, it's a good idea to change the information on your identity documents within 90 days of getting married. This includes your ID card, driver's license, credit cards, and passport.

(Yes, your passport)

6. Order your wedding photos

Don't put off your photo selection and video requests too long! Most photographers and videographers issue a standard contract that gives you six months to a year to select album photos and edit footage for your video. If you don't, you may have to pay extra – and won’t it be nice to have all your pictures and videos in hand to re-live that special day?

7. Sort out finances, taxes and insurance

A dreary set of tasks, but they have to be done. You've likely had the "money talk" long before you said "I do," but now's the time to merge accounts if you choose to. If so, head to the bank to fill out the necessary paperwork and get new debit cards and checks made. Also, now that you and your spouse are a legal unit, you will need to start filing your taxes jointly. You'll also want to think about changing beneficiaries—most newlyweds switch their spouse to their beneficiary on work and life insurance documents. Once you get all that out of the way, it’s one less thing to worry about.