Planning your wedding is supposed to be enjoyable, exciting and fun. Unfortunately, the lead up to the life-changing event can also make you feel overwhelmed and stressed. There's just so much to do and to organize, to ensure that everything runs smoothly on your big day. From sending out the save the date cards, to finding the perfect wedding dress, and sorting out the wedding reception seating arrangements, everything requires your full on attention.
If you struggle with anxiety on a regular basis, seek out help from friends, family and trained professionals, to help you overcome the burden of wedding planning stress.
You can manage stress, prior to your wedding, by following our simple and realistic planning process tips...
Anticipate Anxiety
Being prepared for stressful situations can help you manage your feelings and reduce potential panic attacks. Anxiety prep can help you to identify the moments that you associate with stress, so that you let them go and free yourself of worry.
- Alleviate the pressure by hiring the services of professional suppliers and vendors
- Delegate the planning of things that you find stressful
- Share the responsibility of planning and decision making with your future spouse
- Create a wedding checklist and stick to it
- Accept that it's okay to have a pre-wedding meltdown
Be Budget Flexible
Money is one of the biggest sources of stress for couples getting married. Sticking to your agreed wedding budget can sometimes be challenging. Having a more flexible approach to wedding planning and spending can greatly reduce the overload of financial stress.
- Allow room for overspending by setting your budget 15-20% higher than you originally estimated
- Be realistic and don't plan a wedding that you can't afford
- Look for ways that you can save time and money in the long run
- Seek out recommendations from friends and other couples that have used vendor services
- Vet vendors and suppliers carefully before signing on the dotted line
Plan Ahead
Plan your wedding as if you're getting married a month before the actual big day. Planning ahead, in advance, gives you some comfortable wiggle room just in case you experience stress during the lead up. If everything goes to plan you'll be able to relax in the weeks before your big day arrives. Should you encounter any wedding planning hiccups, you'll have sufficient time to sort out the problems and issues.
Don't Sweat The Small Stuff
Worrying about absolutely everything is what every bride is conditioned to believe that they have to do. Sweating over the small stuff, like which wedding favours to choose or who should sit ne xt to whom, will quickly pile on the stress. Give your focus to the important matters and let someone else take care of everything else.
Avoid The Drama
A wedding is a potentially stressful event for any bride and groom. It's also often an opportunity for other people to cause unnecessary drama. Perhaps your bridesmaids can't agree on the planning of your hen party. Maybe you have a relative who doesn't get along with other members of your family. Whatever the issue is that someone else is causing, commit to avoiding the drama.
Do your best not to get involved in petty arguments or to get swept up in other people's stuff. Try to accommodate the needs of others, but make sure that you take care of your own first.
Relish Every Moment
Feeling stressed is a normal part of the wedding planning process, right? But it doesn't have to be so. Just because other couples you know were stressed out over the planning of their big day, it doesn't mean that you and your beloved have to feel the same way.
Decide to relish every moment of your wedding planning process. Accept that you may have to tackle unpredictable situations and difficult people, and decide to enjoy it anyway. The lead up to your wedding day is an event in itself. Embrace the butterflies, the excitement, and the stress.
Take Time Out
It's kind of ironic that in planning a wedding and a new life together, couples often struggle to make time for each other. To manage stress prior to your wedding day, add 'Time Out' to your essential wedding planning checklist. Spend regular quality time giving each other the attention and affection that you both deserve and need. Forget about the planning of your wedding, and focus on having fun together instead.
- Enjoy romantic evenings together, and avoid talking about the Big Day
- Do the fun stuff that you did together when you were dating
- Share the excitement of new experiences
- Strengthen your loving bond
- Create happy memories of your pre-wedding time
From the moment that you send out save the date cards, commit to managing pre-wedding stress so that you and your future spouse can enjoy every single aspect of your special day.
