5 Ways to Lift the Stress from Planning for Your Wedding

When you’re planning your wedding, take your time. Don’t feel like you have to rush everything, or set a date that requires you to hurry. If you’re going to be together for the rest of your life, you don’t have to make your wedding an incredibly stressful event. There will be stresses involved, but make the event itself joyous: take the time that you feel you need to plan your wedding comfortably. Here are 5 ways to make sure your day is joyful instead of stressful:

1. Don’t feel as if you have to make everything perfect or “story book.” Yes, have standards about what you want, obviously. But don’t let “perfect” override what feels honest and natural to you. Trust your own instincts, and don’t let wedding guides (even this one) override the ideas you’re most excited about.

2. Share what’s personal. Don’t be afraid to bare your emotions, to unveil who you are. Just as “perfect” shouldn’t override your own desires in your wedding, a perfect facade shouldn’t override who you are. Cry, laugh, don’t be afraid to show who you are and share personal stories. Others will delight in the most honest and forthright moments, and so will you.

3. When you’re stressing, pause and take some deep breaths. Sip some water. Have some food if you haven’t eaten. As the wedding draws near and a thousand things remain on your checklist, pause to look at the scenery and enjoy what you are doing. Even if you’re in a rush, even if there’s a deadline, it’s your day that you’re planning for, and you should remember to take care of yourself first and foremost.

4. Along the same lines, you won’t please every single guest. Don’t try. Accommodate people reasonably, but don’t let others start to take charge of elements of planning unless it’s your decision to do so and it’s something you want to trust them with.

5. Once your wedding day hits, if something comes up, don’t feel you have to solve it yourself. Delegate. Ask your wedding planner, mom, dad, sister, brother, best friend, whoever it is to help you handle the unexpected. Everyone around you knows it’s your day, and wants you to be able to feel every moment of it. They’ll want to help, and they’ll want to be needed.