Wedding planning is a uniquely stressful but completely wonderful experience. There’s nothing quite like the sense of anticipation and excitement that comes with laying the foundations for what will become the most romantic and beautiful day of your life. However, it’s also an extraordinarily bamboozling time and an incredibly steep learning curve. You can keep yourself sane by delegating to others and taking advantage of the plethora of advice that’s out there but it’s often difficult to know the good advice from the bad. As we get swept away in the exquisite panic that is wedding planning we can quickly fall afoul of bad advice or give in to our less informed or more ill-considered urges. This may cause us to slip into some of the most common “dont’s” of wedding planning…
Image by FlickrDon’t worry too much about trends
The world of celebrity weddings is undeniably fascinating. It’s utterly ostentatious and charmingly compelling but while it may be a fun spectator sport, it’s not really one in which we should participate. Celebrities tend to have a lot more disposable income than us and while they often work long and demanding hours their schedules are often more flexible than ours. The good news is that unlike them, you don’t have to worry about boosting your profile, you just have to create a beautiful day that you and your partner remember forever. Go for something that you love and you’ll find it probably coincides with celebrity engagement trends anyway. Remember that your wedding is for all time, and you want to be able to look back on your photos decades for now and enjoy a timeless style rather than a passing trend.
Don’t crash diet
While all brides want to look stunning in their wedding dresses, and by all means get into better shape if it will make you feel as beautiful as possible on your big day. But resist the urge to lose weight fast by crash dieting. While there are many diets out there that will enable a quick and dramatic loss of weight, they almost never work in the long term and can be ruinous to your health. Sure, looking stunning on your big day is important but it should not come at the expense of your health.
Don’t let your parents steamroll your invite list
Even if they’re not paying for it (now there’s a tradition that rarely stands up against the economic reality of the 21st century) they likely enjoy playing an active part in the wedding planning. However, many pushy parents can quickly transform their kids’ dream wedding into Mom and Dad’s high school reunion party. As much as you love them, it’s important to politely reign them in, especially if you’ll be paying $150 dollars a head to accommodate their golfing buddies.
Don’t try to compete with your friends
Aside from emulating celebrity trends, another common pitfall is engaging in the war of bridal one upmanship that can send your wedding costs skyrocketing. As tempting as it can be to max out one more credit card just so that you can serve Dom Perignon at your reception like Susan from work did, you should stick to your budget and make decisions based on what will make you and your fiance happy rather than what will impress your guests.