5 Easy Ways To Not Lose Your Cool While Wedding Planning
1. Do your research to set realistic expectations/budget.
We’ve all heard the phrase “champaign tastes on a beer budget.” Do not let it describe your wedding vision! Research the scope of weddings in the area you’ll be getting married and then compile your list of “must haves.”
2. Give yourself enough time.
This applies to the wedding day itself as well as the wedding planning process in general. If you have grandiose wedding dreams, don’t try to get married in the next few months. If you want your save-the-dates out by October, don’t wait until September to schedule your engagement session. This is much easier when you have trustworthy and experienced vendors to manage your expectations about how long things take. (It’s almost always much longer than you think.)
3. Reassess your priorities often.
Don’t forget that the only things required for a wedding are you, your spouse, an officiant, and a witness. Don’t feel like you have to include something in your wedding because other people do. Don’t care about wedding cake? Don’t have one. Want to be able to relive your wedding day over and over? Put hiring a photographer and videographer at the top of your to-do list. That brings me to my next tip:
4. Hire vendors you can trust.
Read reviews. Scour websites. Ask your friends for referrals. Ask potential vendors questions to see how quick and open they are in their responses. Personality is paramount when it comes to wedding vendors. You’ll be working with these people for a long time! Make sure they’re people you can tolerate, at the very least. Even better, find vendors you enjoy talking to and problem solving with.
5. Delegate. Delegate. Delegate.
Be willing to give others the reigns when it’s appropriate. Be honest with yourself about your available time, skills, and desires. Of course, you don’t want to push extra work onto anyone who isn’t willing or able. But, for example, if your retired mom is and begging to help, let her try her hand at the seating chart. You can always tweak things later but there are many tasks that other people can do! Getting things started is half the battle.