We pretty much never leave home without our wedding emergency kit, which means it will (and has) saved the day for countless brides and grooms. Besides all of the rather obvious things like hair ties, band-aids, bobby pins, and hairspray, here are five things we have in our wedding emergency kit that you might not think of but we can assure you have saved our clients a time or two. 

1. A lightbulb in a Ziploc bag

WTH, you say? Stop being so weird? NEVER! The secret’s out: whenever you see a couple smashing a glass at the end of their Jewish wedding ceremony, there’s a 95% chance it’s actually a lightbulb in a Ziploc bag. Yes, sure, some couples are lucky enough to have an heirloom glass that they are willing to smash to smithereens, but most people just want that satisfying CRUNCH. We’ll wrap that baby in a linen napkin and the “Mazel Tovs” will be shouted to the heavens.

2. A pair of black socks

About five or so years ago, we were coordinating a destination wedding at Camp Wandawega when our groom realized he had forgotten his dark dress socks for his suit. Never-you-mind that packing list, we were THRILLED to finally have those babies come in handy after toting them around for so long. You’re not going to be holding up those pant legs showing off your athletic socks if we have anything to say about it.

3. Superglue

This is one of the most important things in our wedding emergency kit because you never know when you’re going to need it and when you do, it’s reallllly good you have it. Like at Amanda + Steve’s wedding when we opened the box of their stuff and found their cake stand in pieces. EEK! Bring on the superglue. We glued that bad boy back together and the guests were none the wiser. Phew! (We also went on to use bandaids, safety pins and aspirin from our kit before the end of the night, but that’s another story.)

4. Floral shears, tape, wire, and glue 

Everyone has that aunt that likes to give really good hugs, right? So, when that aunt gives you a really good hug and you’ve got a boutonniere on, well, it doesn’t always survive. Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered! Not only are we trained to make boutonnieres and corsages and fix a bouquet on the fly, but we’ve got all the tools we need to whip a replacement together and have it ready for you before you head down the aisle.

5. A sewing kit

We’ve used our little sewing kit more times than we can count to fix a button, a pant hem, or a zipper. But the best was at Tanya + Brett’s wedding this summer when we whipped it out for a real fashion emergency. The zipper on a guest’s dress literally fell apart while they were dancing! The grandmothers were on it though. We handed them our little sewing kit and they sewed the dress back together right there in the kitchen. If only we could carry a sewing wiz grandmother in our kit too…

And that’s not all…

We know we can’t bring a suitcase full of “what ifs” to every wedding (and generally speaking we’re not that far from the nearest Walgreens should anyone need something we don’t already have packed), but here’s the list of what we always have packed in our wedding emergency kit, just in case you need it!

• Tools: scissors, wire, nails, a screwdriver, zip-ties, glue, rubber bands, and more!
• Toiletries: hand sanitizer, baby powder, deodorant, bug spray, sunscreen, cotton balls, nail file/clippers, nail polish remover, lotion, and even floss!
• Hair stuff: bobby pins, brush, hairspray, ponytail holders, etc.
• First aid kit: bandaids, Neosporin, Pepto, Tums, tweezers, Tylenol, Vaseline, and aspirin
• Fashion emergencies: Hollywood fashion tape, safety pins, lint roller, razors, a sewing kit, shoeshine, Shout wipes, socks, and static guard
• Tape: duct tape, painters tape, floral tape, Scotch tape, double-sided tape, even a measuring tape!
• Tissues: because it’s a wedding and someone’s going to cry
• Those little things you never know if you’re going to need: batteries, binder clips, candles, chalk, extension cords, pens,  Sharpies, etc.
• Lighters: Lighters, lighters and more lighters!
• Mints: because everyone wants fresh breath before they head down the aisle!
• And, of course, a corkscrew/bottle opener because we NEVER want to be unable to jump in and open a bottle of wine or two!

*eye candy courtesy of Ryan Moore Photography (photo 1), Justine Bursoni Photography (photos 2 & 7), Bonphotage (photo 3), Brian Kinyon Photography (photos 4 & 5), and Jeremy Lawson Photography (photo 6)