Wedding Advent Calendar

Wedding season was definitely a weird one this year. I was so fortunate that my 2020 wedding fell just two weeks before everything shut down, so I can’t even imagine what all the brides & grooms are dealing with these day. Between postponements and cancellations and lost deposits, I’m sure they could really use some extra encouragement. If you have a bride or groom in your life whose engagement has lasted a bit longer than planned, this might be the perfect pick me up gift!

This wedding advent calendar was a gift I created for my best friend who got married back in October last year (she just celebrated her 1 year anniversary, Happy Anniversary Amy & Michael!). Daniel and I had some big roles in the wedding, I was Amy’s Maid of Honor and Daniel was Michael’s Best Man and he officiated the wedding! And killed it might I say :) So I definitely wanted to do something super special for Amy.

Having started the wedding planning process myself, I knew how stressful and time consuming it was and I knew the days leading up to the wedding were going to be the most nerve-wrecking and action packed. I wanted to gift something to Amy that would treat her each day, so I used the concept of a Christmas Advent Calendar and gave it a wedding spin.

Her gift box included twelve small gifts leading up to the wedding day and they were all mostly self care items or related to the wedding. To begin, I created 12 gift tags that I drew up in illustrator. One side of the tag had the gift number and the other side had the date to be opened and a clue to the gift. I printed the tags on card stock, cut them out, and folded them so the text was facing the outside. I used double sided tape to close the tags and added a small hole punch at the top.

For some extra decoration, I added some cute wooden beads to the gift tags and a sparkly gold twine. Totally not necessary, but I thought it gave it a cute look!

The most fun part for me was coming up with what I was going to give each day and writing the little clues. This is where you could totally customize the gift to the style of the recipient, but to give you some ideas, here were my messages and what I included in each day!

12 days until wedding day - Mini candle
“…for a relaxing environment as the countdown begins.”

11 day until wedding day - Hand cream
“…for perfect hands while showing off your ring.”

10 days until wedding day - Scrunchies
“…in case of any hair emergencies.”

9 days until wedding day - Passport holder & luggage tag
“…for honeymoon traveling.”

8 days until wedding day - Mary Kay lip scrub & lip balm set
“…to prepare for the first kiss.”

7 days until wedding day - Daily to do list notepad
“…for planning your to do’s the week before the wedding.”

6 days until wedding day - Champagne gummy bears
“…cheers to one week before the big day!”

5 days until wedding day - Colored pens
“…for writing alllll those thank you notes.”

4 days until wedding day - Mary Kay hydrating eye gel
“…for happy tears (I’ll probably need to borrow this on Saturday).”

3 days until wedding day - Lavender stress relief tea
“…in case the nerves are setting in.”

2 days until wedding day - Face mask
“…to enjoy a relaxing moment before all the celebration begins.”

1 day until wedding day - Picture frame with engagement photo of Michael & Amy
“…to remember, through the nerves and stress, what the day is all about.”

I packaged everything up in tissue paper (I actually purchased a few of the little gifts from Anthropologie and they always give you gift wrapping supplies if you need them, so I was able to repurpose the tissue paper they wrapped my items in). I tied all the tags onto the corresponding gifts and packaged them all in a cute keepsake box. I also tied a small letter board to the package (along with the extra numbers/letters) so that Amy could have her own countdown going in her home.

I love how this gift turned out and love how customizable it can be for whoever you want to give it to and whatever the occasion. Could be cute for a countdown to retirement, a countdown to a baby being born, or even a countdown to a 21st birthday. Let me know if you decide to gift this to someone special, I’d love to know what you included!

Xo Rachael