10 Ways to Deal with Wedding Related Stress

I’m going to say it – planning your wedding is STRESSFUL. No one tells you that when you’re headed into it full of optimism with a shiny engagement ring on your hand. However, six months into it when you and your fiancé are bickering over inviting his ENTIRE fraternity house, you’re going to realize it – this is HARD.

I’ll personally tell anyone who asks that I hated wedding planning. My husband did a lot of the more taxing items like the seating chart but I still didn’t care to make decisions like what the centerpieces were or what our flowers looked like. I was CONSTANTLY stressed about dumb things that I look back on and wonder WHY I thought they were such a big deal.

Planning your wedding should be FUN, and you should be celebrating the season of life that you’re in at the time, not hoping that it’s over soon. Here are a few tips to mitigate some of your stress!

1. You don’t always have to listen to everyones ideas about what YOUR wedding day should look like. That’s something that you and your fiancé have to worry about, not your mom or grandma.
2. Figure out what’s making you the most stressed and ask yourself, “is this reason REALLY worth all of this brain power and stress?” If it is, figure out a way to deal with it in a simpler way. If it’s not, walk away.
3. Don’t sweat the small stuff. No, seriously. No one is going to compare their invitation suites to make sure that the paper is the EXACT same shade of eggshell.
4. Prioritize what your most important things are (ie: should you be spending more time on finding a photographer than researching what font is going to look best on your invitations?).
5. HIRE A PLANNER if you can! They’re going to do all of the literal and figurative heavy lifting for you during the process and make your role enjoyable and easy.

6. Take time off of wedding planning. It’s ok to not even think about it for a few days – sometimes that makes it better because you’ll come back to it with fresh eyes.
7. Find a bridal party who is happy to help out, and learn how to delegate (as a Type A personality I find this extremely difficult but IT HELPS).
8. Stop comparing your wedding plans to your friends or Pinterest. While Pinterest is a huge help when it comes to planning a wedding, it’s also a major downer if you fall down the rabbit hole.
9. Remind yourself that people aren’t trying to be annoying when all they want to ask you about is wedding planning. Try to divert the conversation from wedding planning to something you’re doing at work or a funny story that recently happened to you. People are trying to be kind when they ask about planning but they don’t realize how stressful it can be when that literally the only thing people are asking you about for months on end (believe me, I’ve been there).
10. Keep an eye on your budget. The easiest thing to do is make (or download) a wedding spreadsheet. When you sit down at the beginning, try to ballpark what you think everything will cost and then keep track of all the money you spend. There are so many little things when it comes to wedding planning that all of a sudden you can find yourself $3,000 poorer on random things.

AND ONE MORE EXTRA TIP! – I think it’s the most important.

11. Remember, this is ONE DAY OF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. Truthfully, it will never be the “best day of your life” but it’s going to rank up there in the top 5. Remember that it’s about getting MARRIED to your favorite person in the world. When all the stress hits or you’re overwhelmed, ask yourself if you want a huge party to show your wedding dress off to 200+ people or you just want to experience an intimate celebration with close friends & family or just the two of you.

Remember, it should be a fun once in a lifetime experience to plan your wedding day! It’s also totally ok to not have any interest in it and hand it over to a trusted friend, family member or professional planner. Either way, at the end of the day, you’re married!!