Capturing your wedding season in a journal helps you savor the emotions, memories, and details for years to come. Future generations will love reading Mom’s and Dad’s perspectives on the engagement and wedding day. But how do you start? What should you include? Below, we’ve put together a guide on how to create a wedding journal from the bride’s point of view, the groom’s, and some tips for both.
Journaling Tips for Both the Bride and Groom
- Write honestly: In order to capture your memories as clearly as possible, make sure to share your authentic emotions. Try to focus on how you felt in the moment—whether nervous, joyful, or a little of both—rather than trying too hard to sound polished or poetic.
- Organize your entries by key moments: When talking about the engagement, you could discuss the day of the proposal and sharing the incredible news with loved ones. Then make an entry for each step leading up to the wedding, like finding the dress or inviting friends to be in your bridal party. For the wedding day, describe getting ready, putting on your dress or suit, the first look, vows, and highlights of the reception. Were there butterflies in your stomach as you walked down the aisle or saw your bride walk down? Reflect on what each moment meant to you. How did your first dance with each other feel?
- Make your entry come alive through sensory details: Describe how things looked, sounded, and smelled. Do you remember what songs played against the sound of laughter and dancing at your reception? What about the clink of champagne glasses during the Maid of Honor’s speech, or the delicious aroma as you cut the cake? Or perhaps it felt more like a blur—like all the details blended together into one beautiful and mesmerizing tapestry?
- Tell about unique pieces that made your day extra special: Did you incorporate any time-honored traditions or start new ones? Brides, perhaps you wore your mother’s veil, or grooms, maybe your ring was a treasured family heirloom. What was the significance of each detail?
Journaling Tips for the Bride
Brides, for your engagement, consider telling how the proposal carried personal significance for you. What thoughtful details did your fiancé include? Was it a private celebration between just the two of you, or did you gather with loved ones afterwards? How surreal did everything feel?
For the wedding day, describe the morning of: the first moments awake, getting ready, the nerves and excitement in the air, and having your closest friends surround you in beautiful dresses. How did your perfume smell? How did your ring sparkle in the light or complement your other jewelry?
Share about putting your dress on for the first time. Was it everything you imagined? What about the walk down the aisle and seeing the groom at your first look or the altar? If you can, describe both of your expressions and emotions.
And don’t forget to include noteworthy moments: meaningful conversations, dancing, the vows, or speeches that made your heart light up.
Then add a post-wedding reflection—how does it feel to be married now? What are some characteristics you appreciate most about your spouse in this new stage of life?
Journaling Tips for the Groom
Grooms, describe orchestrating the proposal: nerves, planning with friends, hiding the ring, getting down on one knee. What was it like seeing your fiancée walk towards you and asking her to marry you?
For the wedding day, how did you and your groomsmen spend the morning? How did it feel to put on your suit? Describe the experience of seeing your bride for the first time. What were your initial reactions and emotions? What about the exchanging of vows? Could you process what was happening, or were you simply overwhelmed with joy?
Share some things you’re grateful for as well—people who came, the effort they put in to show up for the occasion, and of course, qualities you admire about your new spouse.
Extra Ideas
Below are a few extra ideas of how to elevate your wedding journal even further.
- Include photos or mementos in the notebook (see our blog post on How to Create an Instant Photo Journal for Weddings for more on this).
- Write on anniversary dates too—share how you’re celebrating each anniversary, and revisit your wedding with fresh eyes.
- Both spouses can write dual entries for the same day, then swap and read them together later.