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As of today, my wedding is a little less than nine weeks away. All the big stuff is planned, but wow are there many little details to think of. As a wedding photographer, I had the advantage of knowing what work goes into pulling a wedding together. I understood the costs and knew what to expect, or at least, I thought I did. Although I was at an advantage, I quickly discovered that I too had a lot to learn. Renting napkins and tablecloths costs how much?! What would make a lovely bridesmaid gift? Cousin so-and-so just got engaged and there is no room for her fiance on the guest list! On top it all the decisions, paying vendors, and picking seating arrangements, I also have to plan the honeymoon, get ready for the bridal shower, bachlorette, rehearsal, after wedding brunch, and transportation to the airport for the honeymoon. Hello, overwhelm.
My bridesmaids have been a big help in taking over the reigns, helping with smaller tasks, and keeping me on track, but there is oh so much to do! So I came up with a plan.
First, I made a master list of absolutely every little and big thing I had to do from renting lights for the reception tent, payment due dates, ordering invites, getting my passport photos, renewing my passport, printing photos for my memorial table, creating a wedding guestbook, creating invites for the bridal shower, scheduling my dress fitting, ordering the rings, wine for the reception, writing my wedding vows, converting American currency into Euros for the honeymoon, confirming our flights, meeting with a musician for the ceremony, and so many other tasks. It is quite the list. To keep things from becoming too stressful or last minute, I printed out monthly calendar pages from now until our wedding date and broke down the list based on our timetable and urgency. I wrote down each item needed from phone calls to make, to appointments, and DIY crafts for the wedding. By breaking down the entire list into smaller goals, it makes the projects more manageable.
After I had my itemized to-do list and the dates in which to do them, I was able to designate certain tasks to either myself, Matthew, our bridal party, or helpful family members and friends. Its the little things that truly help. For example, my cousin is going to take care of the flower petals for the flower girls the day of the weddings so I won’t have to worry about it. I am also going to be asking my sister to help with the tea station setup. Another cousin has volunteered to store our wine for our reception in her basement because we don’t have the room.
Now that we are prepared, the tasks are set in motion, and the to-dos are being checked off, its time to de-stress and have fun.
Your wedding is a time for happiness and love, not stress and worry. If everything is planned or getting there, then there is no use wasting precious energy worrying about things that you do not need to. It is now being taken care of. You’ve got this. Deep breathes.
To focus on the fun I decided to act like a silly bride. You heard me, I took inspiration from every girly wedding movie out there and pulled out all the stops. Here are some ideas to get you out of the overwhelm and into the wedding festive mood:
- Sit on your bed with a pile of blankets, pillows, and wedding magazines to daydream over.
- Pamper spa night: a hot bath, face mask, nail painting, and romantic movies included.
- Wedding planning slumber party! Get your bridal party together and plan away.
- Upgraded your reading list to cute contemporary romance novels and travel memoirs based on your honeymoon locations.
- I’m not one to advocate frivolous spending, but every girl needs to feel her best on her honeymoon. Do some online and in-store shopping for the honeymoon and special wedding events.
- Make wedding tasks fun: Matthew and I had a wedding invite stuffing party. Yummy snacks, red wine, and a good movie. If you have to build, design, or make things for your wedding, make the process a fun one.
- Make time to call a friend or hang out with the girls.
- Go wild planning the little parties leading up to the wedding: the bachlorette, bridal shower, and rehearsal dinner.
- Take care of yourself: go to the gym, get outside, eat healthy, drink plenty of water, get good sleep, meditate, unplug, and take care of your skin.
- Plan a few date nights. Don’t let the overwhelm take over. You’re getting married because you love one another so don’t forget to make time for each other that is not only about the wedding planning.
- Plan that honeymoon! The vacation is one of the most exciting parts about the wedding day. If you’re feeling stressed with wedding planning, take a time out to do honeymoon planning instead.
