We don’t know if you’ve heard, but wedding planning can be a teeny tiny bit stressful. And by teeny tiny bit, we mean five-alarm fire stressful. Sure, each wedding is different, and your stress tolerance will depend a lot on your personality and experience with planning larger events. Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned planner or undergoing your first major stress test of your planning prowess, it’s important to find time to breathe during the chaos.
Start Early
Oh wow, giving yourself plenty of time will help you be less stressed? You don’t say?
Look, we aren’t trying to re-invent the wheel here. It’s on the nose, but it works. Start as early as you possibly can. If you can plan well ahead of time and start aggressively checking the boxes of what you need to do, your life will be significantly improved come time to tie the knot.
Get a Second Ring
Not a super expensive diamond one. No, you want something simple. You want that great backup ring that you can throw on and not worry about it. Having a silicone ring to wear limits the likelihood of your ring getting damaged and is one less thing to concern yourself with. Bring out the nice ring for special occasions and keep a silicone one as your daily driver.
Once your wedding is over and you can handle extra stress in other areas, you can bring out the nicer one more often if you like. Bring out that sweet his and hers wedding ring set for the rest of your life, but hold off until after the wedding if you’re trying to minimize every possible stress.
Hire a Wedding Planner
Not everyone has this in the budget. If you don’t, that’s okay – it’s just going to take more disciplined planning on your part. If you have the funds for a wedding planner, seriously get one. Having a pro to handle a lot of the big-ticket items will significantly reduce your stress level. Now, if you have to stretch your budget thin for a wedding planner, the financial stress may outweigh the wedding stress you alleviated, so you might want to plan it yourself.
Delegate
Wedding planner isn’t in the budget? Time to get your friends involved. Delegate to your bridal party, groomsmen, family and friends. Whoever is willing to help, let them. We understand that this wedding is your project right now, and you might have trouble letting even the smallest bit be handled by someone else. That’s not unfair. Choose who you delegate to wisely, for sure, but remember why you trust the people you’ve asked to help you. You can always make edits as necessary, but outsource what you can. It will help you sleep at night.
Don’t Neglect Your Routines
Is the gym a vital part of your life? Are you a zombie if you get even a minute less than eight hours of sleep? Sure, your style may be a little cramped when planning a wedding. However, it’s important to do everything you can to keep your routines in place. In a world of chaos, those routines will give you a sense of normalcy. Also, when you sleep and eat well, you’ll be more alert and energetic; both of these things will come in handy when wedding planning crunch time hits. Whatever you do, don’t skip breakfast. Seriously, it’s important.
Take a Minute to Yourself
Yes, you’re marrying the love of your life and surrounded by your friends. That’s awesome. Still, even the biggest extrovert in the world needs a minute alone every once in a while. Communicate with your fiancé and be honest when you just need a minute to yourself to recharge. Whether you need a spa day or just an hour to watch Netflix and recharge, be honest about what you need and when you need it.
Build in Buffers
The idea that you jet set off to your honeymoon the morning after your wedding is romantic, sure. Most couples go on their honeymoon within a week of their wedding, with many of them going within two days. It can, however, be beneficial to build in a buffer after your wedding. You don’t have to wait a month, but giving yourself at least a good 48 to 72 hours post-wedding before heading out can be really helpful. That time allows the reality of married life to set in and gives you time to breathe after your wedding day. Trust us; you want at least a couple of days between your wedding and honeymoon. You’ll thank us later.
Take Days Off
Do not. We repeat. Do not plan your wedding every single day for weeks on end. You need a day off. Define the times and days you’ll plan and, more importantly, when you won’t. It’s easy for wedding planning to feel all-encompassing, but you need breaks. We don’t care how much you need to plan all the time. You need days off or you will burn out and not have any fun. Even during crunch time, set aside an afternoon here and there where you go do something with your spouse that is fun and has nothing to do with your wedding.