As any newly engaged couple will know, wedding planning can quickly turn from fun and exciting, to seriously overwhelming!
With so many tasks to juggle, suppliers to coordinate and guests to manage, the pressure of planning such a huge celebration is enough to make even the chillest of brides feel like a nervous wreck.
We believe the journey leading up to your wedding should be a positive and uplifting one, which all comes down to prioritising your wellness (and sanity!) along the way.
Are You Dealing with Wedding Planning Stress?
First things first, it’s important to acknowledge your feelings throughout the wedding planning process. It can be all too easy to get caught up in your to-do list without stopping to consider your mental and physical wellbeing.
Some clear signs that you might be dealing with wedding-related stress include:
- Feeling tired, drained and exhausted
- Feeling worried and anxious when you think about anything wedding-related
- Procrastinating on your wedding plans due to overwhelm
- A feeling of pressure, or like a huge weight sitting on your shoulders that just won’t go away
While it’s completely normal to be feeling a little nervous about the big day, this should only play a small role throughout the process. Ultimately, if wedding planning is making you experience more negative emotions than positive ones, it’s time to get this back in balance.
Luckily, there are some simple and effective strategies that can really help you get those emotions in check. Keep reading for 14 tips to help you deal with wedding planning stress and anxiety throughout your journey!
Create a Clear To-do List
One of the biggest causes of wedding planning overwhelm comes from managing the mountain of tasks that seem to be ahead of you. Without any kind of game plan, this can quickly lead to anxiety, procrastination, and last minute panic.
Our first tip? Don’t let your to-do list beat you! Instead, get on top of it as early as you can. We recommend getting all of those thoughts out of your head and onto an actionable task list you can easily follow step by step. Once you see everything laid out in writing, it almost never seems as impossible as it did in your head.
You can also take the pressure off even further by creating a digital task list and setting yourself automated reminders, so you can feel confident that nothing will be overlooked.
Delegate Tasks
Repeat after us: it takes a village to plan a wedding! Remember, this isn’t just your day. Your wedding is a celebration for both you, your partner, and your closest loved ones – so don’t feel like you have to do everything solo!
Truthfully, you’d be surprised how many of your family and friends would be more than willing to lend a helping hand. While we’re not suggesting you assign everything over to your bridal party, we do recommend delegating some simple tasks and asking for help when you need it.
You can also take the “divide and conquer” approach when it comes to working with your partner. For example: maybe you’ll take care of flowers, styling, decor and catering, and ask your partner to organise music, lighting and photography. Remember, you guys are a team!
Follow a Timeline
If you’re a natural procrastinator, be warned – leaving your tasks until the very last minute will likely leave you feeling stressed and anxious as the big day approaches. The final few weeks of your wedding should be restful, relaxing and exciting, so create a clear wedding planning timeline that allows you to get everything ticked off at least 3 weeks out from the day. You can check out our 12-month wedding planning timeline as a guide to get you started!
Prioritise Self-care
This is a big one! The busyness of wedding planning can often mean your self-care gets neglected. Lack of self-care can quickly lead to stress and burnout, so it’s really important you put some time aside throughout the wedding planning journey to focus on yourself.
This could be 10 minutes every morning to take a walk, a weekly yoga session, or even a non-negotiable monthly treat like a massage, facial or mani-pedi. Taking some time out for yourself is one of the best ways to reset and recharge, allowing you to approach your wedding planning from a positive frame of mind.
Set Boundaries
Throughout the wedding planning experience, it often feels like everyone has an opinion. Friends and family will likely offer their (well-intended) advice on everything from your menu choices to your dress code.
Here’s the thing – this is your day, so you have complete control to plan it your way. If your friends and family are actually contributing to wedding planning stress (rather than being helpful), it’s time to set some boundaries. A simple statement like “Thanks so much, we’ve got it covered!” or “Thanks, that’s something to think about!” can be a great way to acknowledge their input before swiftly changing the topic.
Another clever way to set boundaries is by creating a wedding website. Instead of dealing with ongoing texts, emails and phone calls from wedding guests, simply lay out all of the need-to-know details in a wedding website for them to refer to directly. This not only saves you time and stress, but also ensures your guests are better prepared, too.
Plan a Date Night
Your wedding is one of the most special milestones for you and your partner, but planning your nuptials might actually put a strain on your relationship. It’s easy to get caught up in the logistics and forget about the romance, so try to plan a date night every so often to simply enjoy each others company (without talking about the wedding!). Whether you organise a fancy dinner date or simply Netflix and chill, taking dedicated time out for just the two of you will remind you why you’re doing this.
Prioritise Sleep
The amount of sleep you get each night directly affects your mood, productivity and stress levels in a huge way. Make sure your wedding planning isn’t getting in the way of your sleep, as this can cause a vicious cycle of feeling tired, anxious and overwhelmed. Try to clock in at least 6-8 hours each night if possible. And yes, that means 2am Pinterest sessions are out of the question!
Keep Things Separate
It’s hard to take time out from wedding planning when you’re receiving email alerts every day from your suppliers. Create a dedicated wedding email address and keep your wedding admin separate from your personal life. This will allow you to truly switch off for those days when you just need a break. You might also want to schedule specific times where you’ll be working on your wedding, and lock this into your calendar each week. This means you don’t need to be constantly thinking about it 24/7!
Consider a Wedding Planner
It probably goes without saying that a wedding planner is a worthwhile investment when it comes to reducing wedding-related stress! Having a professional on your side can take a huge weight off your shoulders and give you peace of mind about your upcoming day. Whether you’d love to hand over the majority of your wedding planning to a pro, or simply want a coordinator to take care of setting up on the day, a wedding planner is definitely something to consider. See our top tips for finding the right wedding planner on the blog!
Track Your Budget
For many couples, the source of wedding-related stress actually comes down to the budget. If your anxiety is stemming from money and finances, take a moment to get clarity on your spending. Use a budget calculator to figure out exactly where your money needs to go, and make sure you track your outgoings along the way. Try to have about 5% of your budget set aside for miscellaneous reasons too, to cover those last-minute expenses that might pop up. You can check out our in-depth budget breakdown right here to get started!
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
If you adopt one mantra for your wedding planning, let this be it! Don’t sweat the small stuff. Yes, this can be easier said than done, but the success rate is 100%. Whenever you find yourself getting stressed about a wedding-related detail, take a moment to ask yourself, does this really matter? As the saying goes, if it’s not going to matter in 5 years, don’t spend more than 5 minutes being upset about it. This will help you shift your perspective as you focus on the bigger picture.
Stop Comparing
When it comes to wedding planning, comparisonitis is real. With Pinterest boards and social media feeds filled with images of luxury weddings and extravagant celebrations, it’s easy to find yourself comparing your wedding to somebody else’s. But remember, your wedding day is completely unique and authentic to you and your partner. Do you really want it to be a carbon copy?
Once you’ve clearly defined your wedding style and vision, created your mood board and made all of your major decisions, be sure to jump off Pinterest and stop comparing. Instead, get excited about all of the plans you’ve made for your own unique celebration!
Set the Mood
Let’s fast forward a bit to the morning of your wedding, when stress and anxiety can really start to sink in! Make sure you set the mood and create a relaxing, positive environment for these last few hours. Your surrounding environment can have a huge impact on how you feel, so create a playlist of your favourite songs, drink a cup of soothing peppermint tea, or diffuse some lavender oil to help you stay calm throughout the morning.
Remember Your Why
Finally, the very best tip we can give you. Remember your why! At the end of the day, your wedding isn’t really about the party (although the party is definitely a highlight). It’s about marrying the love of your life, sharing a meaningful commitment with each other, and celebrating your union with your closest loved ones. How special is that?! Whenever those feelings of stress and anxiety start to arise, take a breath and remind yourself about what’s truly important.
We’re huge advocates for making the wedding planning experience positive and stress-free, which is why we’ve designed a suite of wedding planning tools to help you along the way. Learn more about our digital wedding planner, wedding website builder and budget calculator to get started. Or, head over to the WedSites blog for more planning tips, printable checklists and wedding inspiration for modern couples!
