If you are planning your own wedding, or converting it over to a wedding planner, wedding planning can be stressful, in seeking to balance your vision of the wedding with those of your family (and his!). Here are four principles, or suggestions, that will relieve the stress of planning for your special day.
Rule #1: Select Your Battles
In early stages, in my own wedding planning, I was thinking around the portions of the wedding that were especially important to me. If there was going to be conflict with my family, these were the things I was ready to go to the mat for: the venue, the officiant, the invitations and the size of the wedding. The trick, I found, for these particular judgements was to seek advice from no one in my family aside from my husband-to-be. Rely on your choice, and move on.
Rule #2: Delegate and Move Ahead
Somewhat related to the first rule, if you consult your wedding party for help, don't micromanage--you'll just produce more stress for yourself. Save your energy for the details of the wedding that matter most to you. If you can't trust the people in your wedding party to respect your wishes or to comprehend your taste, then don't assign jobs to them, period. I decided to let my wedding party choose their own dresses, and it worked out wonderful! I did not need to spend any time working with coordinating dresses with shoes, going to fittings, and so on.
Rule #3: Be Thoughtful regarding Spending
The cost of a wedding can simply spiral out of control because of myriad particulars that are not critical to the wedding itself, plus watching the spending total rise really can stress a bride and groom out. Do you really need those mesh bags of Jordan almonds? How many flower arrangements do you REALLY need? Are etched party favors completely required? Do you need a carving station and a pasta station, and so on? Maybe approved hors d'oeuvres are adequate. In fact, you might skip the cocktail hour entirely if you wish to, and go straight to the dinner. I promise, nobody will care, as long as they're having fun!
Rule #4: Lastly, Keep It In Perspective
I'm sure you don't need a reminder however a wedding is a celebration of dedication. In the long run, all that matters is that you've used your vows in front of those closest and dearest to you. The material aspects of your wedding will fade however, you and your visitors | friends | company will always remember the moment you and your fiance became husband and wife.
I do not believe there is such a thing as totally stress-free wedding planning, but I bet you are able to come close to it. Forget about all the fantasy weddings you see on TV and create your own reality. Make a great wedding by making it YOUR wedding.
