Wedding planning is the busiest season for weddings. Even the most excited bride-to-be will run to the bridal shop to check out the best designer gowns to complement their big day. But apart from the wedding dress, weddings involve endless decisions to make, all while trying to juggle your work, social life, family, and monthly bills.
It’s normal to feel the stress and pressure of the wedding planning process. But it’s easy to get overwhelmed if there are a lot of factors to consider. With that in mind, here are ways to overcome the stress and anxiety of wedding planning.
Learn to prioritize
For most couples, handling the wedding details is what often drives them crazy. If you keep obsessing on every little detail, you’ll certainly end up dissatisfied and unhappy. Sometimes, all it takes is a positive attitude to pull off a great wedding.
Often, brides have a habit of overspending on things that aren’t really necessary before they even begin with the planning process. They get overwhelmed with all the fancy details, so much so that they lose sight of what matters to them.
Prioritizing the essentials will keep things in a better perspective. This should include the most important things you expect for your dream wedding. This could be the catering service, wedding attires, invitations, flower arrangements, venue, etc.
After listing them down, go over the list repeatedly throughout the planning process. This will avoid any feelings of regret or the need to upgrade the menu constantly. Checking in with your top priorities will help you focus on your budget. It feels much better if all the key pieces are already in place to avoid unnecessary stress down the road.
Stick to your budget
Staying on top of your budget is one of the major sources of wedding-related stress. It all comes down to the budget when things get rough and serious during the planning process. If your stress and anxiety stem from how you’re handling the wedding budget, take a moment to clarify your spending.
Set a wedding budget and break it down into different categories, such as the venue, food, attire, decorations, photographer, and entertainment. As you work with the vendors, use a spreadsheet and a budget calculator to monitor your spending and identify areas that require adjustments.
For extra measure, consider leaving five percent of your budget for miscellaneous expenses that may arise unexpectedly. Surprise costs include vendor meals, service charges, insurance, postage, overtime costs, and unexpected guests.
Stop making comparisons
Weddings should be an intimate celebration, not a contest.
Comparison culture is prevalent in the wedding industry. With social media feeds and Pinterest boards filled with pictures of fancy weddings and luxurious celebrations, these images will certainly stir up feelings of jealousy, causing couples to compare their wedding to someone else’s.
Although Pinterest and Instagram are great sources for wedding inspiration, weddings should be completely authentic and unique to couples. If you keep on beating yourself up just because you can’t wear the same wedding dress you found on a celebrity’s Instagram, you’re setting yourself up to an impossible standard that will only rob you of joy.
There’s no such thing as a perfect wedding, so remove yourself from situations where comparison starts kicking in. Keep in mind that social media is only a tool to inspire you and not to determine the overall worth of your wedding.
Start your wedding plan by defining your wedding vision. Create a mood board that reflects the personality of you and your partner. Browse on Pinterest if you run out of inspiration, but make sure not to add an interesting twist to make it your own.
Hire a pro
At the end of the day, you can always turn to a professional wedding planner if you feel burdened by planning and you can’t seem to move forward.
Hiring a wedding planner doesn’t always mean an extra expense. In fact, they are the greatest source of information if you want to find the cheapest vendors in your area. They will also help manage your budget while making sure your dream wedding will come to life. Not only that, but they’re also skilled at handling sticky situations and troubleshooting last-minute issues.
Your wedding should be the happiest time of your life, so don’t let the stress and anxiety ruin it for you. You can always turn to a professional to overcome the anxiety of the wedding planning process. They won’t only lift the burden out of you. They will also ensure you’ll get the most out of your money without sacrificing your wedding vision.
