If you’re anything like me, then you’ll understand how easy it is to let the stress of planning an event get the better of you.
Especially when the event you’re supposed to be planning is this wonderful, amazing, utterly life-altering event otherwise known as Your Wedding.
(If however, you’re nothing like me and you don’t relate to that statement at all whatsoever, then I’d suggest that perhaps this article isn’t for you, because clearly you are Wonder Woman, and you should just go get on with your perfect life and leave the rest of us to our petty human troubles.)
But hear me out. I know this might sound crazy, especially to anyone currently in the throws of wedding planning, trying not to drown in venue brochures, overpriced invites, and relatives who flat out refuse to get along. But the stress of wedding planning doesn’t actually have to take over your whole life. In fact, wedding planning can even be fun if you do it right. So if you’re struggling to find ways to cope with the stress of planning your big day, here are 4 tips to help you out.
Ask for help when you need it: wedding planners or friends
You don’t have to do everything at once, even if it sometimes feels that way. Real Simple put it best when they said, “Your role in the wedding is to be the bride―not the caterer, the florist, or the bandleader.”
This goes for the all the stressed out grooms out there too. Even though there might be loads to do, that doesn’t mean you and your fiancee have to do it all. There’s no shame in accepting the fact that we need all the help we can get. Delegation will become your best asset for wedding planning.
Wedding planners, aka The Professionals, can be the perfect solution to a struggling couple. In fact, if you want to avoid having to answer the phone to speak with twenty different people throughout the process then you need to look at working with a wedding planner from day one.
Recently on The Job Lot, luxury wedding planners Snapdragon offer a great example of what you can expect from an expert. They’ll work round the clock, tirelessly, to ensure everything is perfect for you, all so you don’t have to worry.
There are even some beautiful stately home venues, like Sandon Hall and Chatsworth House for example, that are willing to offer you help and advice throughout the entire planning process. Sandon Hall even promises to manage the event for you on the day, so that you can give your full attention to actually enjoying your big day.
But, if you don’t hire a professional and have a few close friends or family who can assist you, it’ll be easier to divide and conquer. Where you can assign a person to an element of your wedding planner, such as decorations, catering or venue. You still get to have final say but won’t have to always be on the phone or checking emails (unless that’s what you want to be doing).
Make time for self-care
According to the Holmes and Rahe stress scale, marriage is one of the top ten most stressful events in a person’s life. Which is why many look to wedding planners to ease the stress, knowing that a wedding is a huge undertaking.
People tend to underestimate the value of decent self-care at the best of times, but during the particularly stressful periods of your life, it is especially important to make time for a bit of TLC no matter how busy you are.
These TED talks on the importance of self-care outline plenty of reasons why self-care is so important, and offer advice on ways you can look after your mental health. Not only is self care a good habit to pick up to help with wedding stress, but it’s also something which will help you in plenty of other areas of your life as well.
So make sure that you make time for something that makes you feel good while you’re planning your big day, because frankly, your mental wellbeing is far more important than your wedding.
Don’t sweat the small stuff
Everyone deserves to have the wedding of their dreams, but too many people forget that a wedding doesn’t have to go perfectly for a couple to have the perfect wedding.
Things might go wrong, it happens all the time – that’s just life. And in the years to come, are you really going to care about flower arrangements and napkin colours? These things might all seem like the be all and end all now, but trust me, in the years to come they won’t be.
If you aren’t sure about a part of your wedding planning or want to know if it will be workable on the day, wedding planners can offer you great advice. Remember that they’ve done this hundreds of times and can tell you not only what won’t work, but offer alternatives you might love even more.
And don’t forget who it’s all about
Your wedding is first and foremost about you and your intended, and nobody else. The Huffington Post emphasises the importance of not letting “anyone (or anyone’s opinion) drive a wedge between you two,” because it’s not about any of them.
It’s about you. So don’t shy away from reminding anyone who crosses the line from supportive to overbearing that it’s your wedding, not theirs.
