If you have recently got engaged and are now looking to start planning your dream day, then the wedding planning process can seem stressful. Many people have been planning their dream day their whole lives, so it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when it finally becomes a reality.
However, it is possible to plan a wedding without all the wedding planning stress. It’s expected that there will be some situations that may cause you some worry throughout the wedding planning process, but if you follow our 7 top tips, your wedding planning should avoid the worst of the conflict and frustration that can sometimes occur!
1. Set Your Budget
The biggest area of stress in any wedding is the budget. Everything costs more than you think and there are hundreds of little details that will need a piece of that pie. Setting a spending limit well in advance and agreeing to stick to it is the single most useful piece of advice we can offer.
The best thing to do is to sit down with your fiancée, and your respective families if they are helping with the costs, and try to put together a budget that you can stick to. Once you have a figure, break it down into specifics and assign percentages or real values. We think that creating a spreadsheet is a really great way to ensure that you stick to the overall budget, and it also allows you to see what areas you have spent money on, and what areas are left.
It’s good to have an idea of some of the bigger costs that your day will entail. For example, a reception will usually take up to 50%, dress and suits up to 10%, flowers up to 10%, entertainment up to 10%, ceremony up to 5% etc. Obviously these are just guidelines so some things may take more and some may take less. Part of your task is to juggle these costs and bring them down to an affordable level by compromising and saving money in the right places. Doing so in advance will really help to lower any stress that you might have.
2. Make A Plan
Wedding planning is a meticulous and detailed undertaking that gives you as much as you put in. It does take time and it does take effort, but the more you put into your plan, the easier it will be.
Once you have a budget, you can begin planning where to spend cash, where you can make savings, what you want, where you want it, when you want it. There are lots of things you can start to think about, such as colour schemes, the guest list, entertainment and of course the venue! The more you have planned, the less stressed you’ll feel.
There are some really great websites that will help you with this planning too, such as Pinterest where you can get inspiration and create your own mood boards of images that inspire you. Instagram is also another app that will really help you when looking for inspiration and making plans.
3. Keep Control Of Your Day
Weddings are family affairs with lots of competing opinions and needs. Managing all those is your job as the happy couple. Taking control early on and letting everybody know who is in charge can save a lot of stress as the planning goes on.
You don’t have to be mean about it, but it’s important to assert yourself and let everyone know whose wedding it is and who gets the final say.
You will have family members asking for certain things, requesting invites for their friends you have never met, to buy favours you don’t like or hire a band you can’t stand. By asserting control early on, family and friends will know they can make suggestions but should also learn that’s where their rights end.
4. Meet Your Suppliers In Person
One element of stress around wedding planning is the dependence on others to deliver on the day. That’s why we suggest meeting all of your suppliers in person. Shake their hands, look them in the eye and discuss everything with them in advance. One thing that we can suggest is to attend some wedding fairs, and perhaps see which ones your suppliers are attending so that you can speak to them in persona, and maybe see them in action at the fair too. This is particularly true if you have booked live music or other entertainment for your day.
It does take time and it does take effort, but having confidence in your suppliers gives you confidence that everything will be all right on the day. If you are sure they will deliver, you won’t feel so stressed.
5. Delegate Tasks To Your Wedding Party
Delegation may not come naturally to you but it’s a very useful technique for managing the wedding planning as a whole and the stress it can generate. It’s also one of the roles of your Maid of Honour and bridesmaids.
If you trust the people around you, let them help. As long as they have a very clear idea of what you’re looking for and what you expect, delegate tasks to them to complete for you.Having less to do yourself will allow you to take a step back and keep half an eye on the bigger picture. The more control you have over what’s going on, the lower the stress levels will be.
There will always be an element of stress involved in wedding planning as it comes with the territory. However there is no reason why stress has to become too much to bear or interfere in your enjoyment of what’s going on. After all, you’re supposed to enjoy the entire planning process not just the wedding day itself!
6. Give Yourselves Plenty Of Time To Plan
This may not always be easy to do as it will depend how long you have to plan your day, but it’s a good idea to give yourselves plenty of time to plan your wedding. Remember that most people start planning their weddings at least a year in advance. Although this might seem very keen, it’s actually quite a short period of time in the wedding world!
When you come to plan your day, you will find that many suppliers, venues, photographers etc will be booked at least a year or two in advance, especially the higher end, in-demand ones, so it’s a good idea to set your date in advance so that it gives you enough time to plan everything you’d like.
7. Attend A Food Tasting
Of course we all know that the food on your big day is one of the most important things, and something that all your guests will remember! As well as meeting your suppliers in advance it’s a good idea to attend a food tasting at your venue. This will allow you to test out the menu before the day, and ease your stress as you will know exactly what food will be served on the day, plus it’s a good excuse to go out for a free meal together!
We hope that these tips will help to take the stress out of your wedding planning, and ensure that you remain as calm as possible in the lead up to your special day. Remember that wedding planning process should be enjoyable, so try to stay as calm as possible and enjoy it!
