Beating wedding planning stress is important – overall planning your wedding should be fun and hopefully enjoyable! Sometimes it can be like riding a wave of emotions, full of highs and lows and everything in between! Those initial euphoric feelings when you first get engaged & start wedding planning can make way for stress and overwhelm for some people. It’s important to know its totally normal and it can strike at any time of the planning process. it’s natural to experience some stress, but with some careful steps in place, you can reduce the amount of stress.
Many people feel pressured by the onslaught of decisions to be made, and it can be a really hectic time. Read on for our tips on how to cope with wedding planning stress.
1. Create a list.
The thing about planning weddings is that you often don’t know what you don’t know – make sense?? Stay with me! You may not even know what you want your wedding to look like – which is completely ok. If you’ve never planned a wedding before, or thought about it in too much detail, then really why would you know all this stuff? Take some time to make a list of the big things you know you and your partner are going to need to consider.
You can always add to this list (and no doubt you will) as you find out more. We’ve taken some of the hard work out for you by listing the key major items below. Obviously there will be some things that are unique to you but it’s a broad start:
- Venue
- Caterer
- Celebrant
- Photographer/Videographer
- Florist
- Styling items/stylist
- Cake maker
- Band/DJ
- Transport
This is a good start and again, you’ll add to it the more you get into the planning side.
2. Tackle Each Item in Order of Importance to You
We’ve said it many times before (like here) the importance of you and your partner working out your priorities for your wedding. Those things that are of most importance to you both, perhaps 3-5 items. Regardless of what they are, those are the things you will likely start with or give significance to with your budget, when you are planning your wedding. It may help when you feel your stress levels rising to remind yourself of your priorities and if it isn’t high up the order, it’s not deserving of getting stressed or worried about it!
Try not to sweat the small stuff, those things won’t be remembered and in the bigger picture, they aren’t important – easier said than done sometimes, but it is true!
3. Set Realistic Deadlines for Completion
Wedding planning does take time, and most of us have other things in our lives that require time and energy also – careers, study, partners, children, family members, hobbies etc. Only you know the amount of time you can dedicate to wedding planning, but ensure you give yourself enough time to complete things without being under unnecessary pressure. Create a timeline alongside your to do list and allocate enough time to do each item. Be generous with your timeframes, so if things take less time than you’ve allowed, you’re going to be ahead of the planning game!
4. Take regular breaks from planning
We know it’s super exciting, and at the start especially, planning your wedding is often all you can think about. But if you start to feel like the shine has really gone from wedding planning, take a break. Nothing is so urgent that you can’t give yourself a chance to relax and do something fun, spend time with your partner and do something completely unrelated to your wedding.
5. Delegate, delegate, delegate!
Hitting overwhelm is a sign you may need to enlist the help of your partner, friends and family a bit more. Try and do this before you get to the overwhelmed, stressed out stage! Most of the time, people love to help, so giving others a task is a great way of involving those who are close to you. Make sure both you and your partner are equally involved in planning, grab that to-do list and start figuring out who can do what.
6. Set Boundaries
As soon as you announce your engagement, it can feel as though everyone is offering you all this advice – much of it well meaning, but it can make your head spin even more! Be selective with who you share your plans with and how much you share. If the people around you are actually adding to your stress, its time to put some boundaries in place. Having a simple statement prepared can make things so much easier – “Thanks a lot for that, we’ll keep it in mind”, “Thanks but I think we have that part sorted” can be a great way to acknowledge their help without continuing the conversation.
7. Comparison is the Thief of Joy!
Tempted to compare every aspect of your wedding to what you see on the gram? “Comparisonitis” is a real thing, but you know what? Rarely will it bring you joy! It’s so easy to do, but keep in mind – your wedding is about you and your partner! Focus on your wedding, your plans and what you both want. Get inspiration for sure, but if you feel comparisonitis starting, back away!
8. Call in Professional Reinforcements
If you’re really struggling with wedding planning, maybe your job has ramped up and your time is in demand, maybe family life is preventing you from making progress. Or maybe you’ve reached overwhelm and you just feel stuck – if your budget allows, reach out to a professional. Wedding planners can help at any stage and will be able to help you find a clear way forward, find solutions to problems, and help you restore some calm.
Want to chat more about how Waipuna can help with your wedding? Download our wedding packages here!
Read our blog on unique wedding ideas – maybe you want to do something a little bit different?