Packing for the wedding day: four boxes that cover it

On the morning of the wedding, the question is never whether you packed something. It is where it is. The shoes are in a box, but which box, and is that box at the house or already at the venue? Four boxes cover nearly every wedding, as long as each one has three things written on it: where it needs to be, by when, and who is taking it.

The rings and the paperwork

The rings, any documents the registrar or officiant has asked for, the envelopes of cash for suppliers who are paid on the day, and the speeches. This is the box that must not go astray, so it has one named person and it goes to the ceremony, not to the evening venue.

Getting ready

Shoes, the steamer, the emergency kit — safety pins, plasters, a sewing kit, painkillers — make-up, phone chargers and something to eat. It needs to be wherever you are getting ready, before the hair and make-up start rather than when they finish.

The day's odds and ends

The guest book and pens, the table plan, the place cards, the favours, the cake knife, the card box. It goes to the venue early, often with a supplier or a friend who is helping set up, and it is the box people forget to name anyone for.

Overnight and the day after

Clothes for the morning, toiletries, and — if you are going straight on honeymoon — the passports. This one is not needed during the day at all, which is why it gets left in the wrong car.

Tie each box to the day

The trick is not the list of what is in each box; it is tying each box to a part of the day. "This box has my shoes in it and needs to be at the house for nine" is a sentence someone can act on. If the time the hair and make-up start moves, the box's deadline moves with it — which is only easy if the box knows which part of the day it belongs to, rather than having a time scribbled on its side.