The minute you wake up on your wedding day, you’ll be thrilled and excited (and perhaps a little bit nervous.) In just a while, things will get very hectic as you dress, pose for pictures, and then take that car ride to your ceremony. But wait…these morning moments are special as well. You can add an unforgettable memory or two (or twelve) right now at the start of your new relationship together! Take the time on your own or with your loved ones to make the most of them:

Time By Yourself

1. Wake up early and go outside. Especially if you’ve climbed out of bed before sunrise, enjoy the starry night sky, or the glow of the sunrise in the distance, or just the peace and quiet. Take a moment to absorb that you’re actually watching the sun rise on your wedding day.

2. Get out your video camera and record your thoughts and excitement as you start your wedding day. If you both record separate messages, they can be added to your wedding video.

3. Write in your journal about everything you’re feeling, and then add a closing note. You’ll then ‘close the book’ on your single life with that final entry, only to start a new journal once you’re married. It’s a terrific and symbolic keepsake.

4. Look through your scrapbooks, or read through some of your old journals, to reflect on what a remarkable life you’ve had thus far.

5. Get some exercise. Go for a walk or a run, or do some yoga, to get a great start to your day as you unwind a little bit.

Time With Your Family

6. Make some coffee and sit down with your parents for a heartfelt chat. Talk about how excited and happy you all are, and thank them for their years of love and support.

7. Spend some time with your siblings. Lounge on the couch with some coffee or breakfast, go for a walk, or watch old home movies of your childhood moments or family vacations. Take a moment to thank them for their support and friendship too.

8. If you have kids, spend some quality time with them before the day gets busy. Have breakfast together, play outside with them, pile into bed and read a book to them.

9. Save the day’s newspaper as a record of your wedding day. Go out and buy copies to present to your family as well.

10. Propose a thank you toast to your parents and your family. Mimosas, coffee, even orange juice is fine. The first toast of the day is for your loved ones.

Time with Your Friends

11. Have breakfast together and laugh away those nerves.

12. Get outside – go play some golf, go to the driving range, play touch football together.

13. Revisit a special location. Go back to your old high school and climb the bleachers. Go back to your old grammar school and sit on the swings. Take pictures as a tribute to your history as childhood friends.

14. Share the beauty salon trip VIP treatment you get as bride and bridal party.

15. Give your bridal party special gifts and thank you notes this morning.

16. Videotape your friends wishing you luck and making jokes during your breakfast or ‘getting ready’ time.

17. Share the ‘Old, New, Borrowed, Blue’ ritual with your bridesmaids, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, and others, and capture every moment on videotape

Time With Your Fiancé/Fiancée

18. Talk on the phone 1st thing in the morning when you wake up, and then again right before you climb into the car to go to the ceremony. Share plenty of romantic sentiments and express just how thrilled you feel at that moment.

19. Send each other a surprise gift or flowers (with a great card) to be opened right before you leave for the wedding.

20. Separately, write notes to each other expressing the excitement and happiness you feel as you get ready to marry, the wishes you have for your future, and then don’t send them. Seal them in envelopes and put them aside to be read on your first anniversary.