Five ways to escape stressful pre-wedding prep.

 

Your wedding will be one of the most fantastic, beautiful, and memorable days of your life… it’s just the getting there that’s the hard part! It’s no secret that planning the perfect wedding can be stressful (and that’s putting it lightly), but it doesn’t have to be so stressful that you want to scream and tear your hair out. In fact, there are quite a few methods you can use to take the pain out of all that pre-wedding preparation… and you never know, you might actually find that you’re having fun along the way!

Here are five great tips for escaping wedding planning stress, and enjoying every moment of your journey:

 

1. ORGANISE EVERYTHING IN ADVANCE. 

 

 

One of the best ways to reduce pre-wedding stress is to have complete peace of mind that everything you need to ensure your big day goes off without a hitch (other than the getting hitched part, of course!) is arranged, scheduled, organised, and booked, with deposits paid and bookings confirmed. It may sound obvious, but you’ll be surprised at just how many couples leave the essentials until the very last minute!

Choose a hairdresser, find a makeup artist, get suits sorted, and get yourself pencilled into their books… then you can relax a bit knowing everything is in place. It’s recommended that for makeup artists and hairdressers especially, you book as far in advance as you can, leaving you with plenty of time for trials to make sure you get the perfect look you’ve been dreaming of.

 

2. UNDERSTAND YOUR OPTIONS. 

 

 

One of the biggest causes of stress is the unknown. At work, for example, we may feel at ease working on a familiar project, but more stressed working on something new that we don’t really have a good grasp on yet. So making the unknown the known is one of the very best ways to deal with pre-wedding stress. Exploring and understanding all the different options available to you is a good place to start.

You may walk past a florist every day, but are they the best choice for you? Your best friend may have used a certain photographer, but could someone else be more suited to your wedding? Wedding directories are your secret weapon to managing your stress levels, giving you all the information you need to make informed decisions that you’re truly comfortable with, providing complete peace of mind.

 

3. ASSEMBLE THE BEST A-TEAM. 

 

 

It’s a bit ironic that the people who are supposed to support you, stick by your side, and help to make wedding planning easier can also be the people that can create the most pre-wedding stress! While you may feel obliged to ask a cousin to stand up beside you as you marry the love of your life, or to welcome an old school friend into your wedding party, the last thing you want is a wedding party behaving badly!

We’ve all heard the term ‘bride or groom-zilla’, but honestly, some wedding party members can be equally as bad, and it’s the type of stress that you really don’t need in the run up to your big day. So think about your supporting cast carefully, and make sure that whoever you choose to walk by your side on your wedding day isn’t likely to be a source of stress. Don’t feel bad for making a decision that’s best for you. It’s YOUR wedding, after all.

 

4. DELEGATE YOUR TASKS.

 

 

Delegating is never an easy thing to do! When the stakes are so high, it’s natural to want to retain control over every single aspect of the wedding planning, but with so many decisions to make and things to get done, trying to do it all yourself can be overwhelming, and it can be a major contributor to pre-wedding stress. So while it may be difficult, try to offload some tasks to other people.

That’s not to say that you should let your partner choose your dress, or let your dad go cake tasting! Instead, look for smaller tasks that you could ask your wedding party to manage on your behalf, such as confirming appointments or receiving deliveries for example. And if you don’t quite trust your wedding party to get it right, you always have the option of working with a professional wedding planner.

 

5. REMEMBER: THERE’S NO RIGHT OR WRONG.

 

 

Sure, there are some things are worth getting stressed about. A big red wine stain on your white dress or shirt? Scream away! But honestly, unless you’re incredibly unlucky, major stress inducers like this will be rare when you’re planning a wedding. Instead, most couples find that they’re getting themselves worked up about the smallest of details, worrying about how weddings are ‘supposed’ to be done properly.

The truth is that there really is no right or wrong when it comes to planning a wedding. Can’t find any shoes that you like? Don’t stress. And if you’re stressed out about what favours to choose — or even if you should gift your guests or not — remember that every wedding is different, and there’s nothing that says you NEED to do it this way or NEED to do it that way.

 

 

KEEP AN OPEN MIND.

Ultimately, minimising stress during pre-wedding preparation is all about keeping an open mind. If you enter into this with a very rigid idea of what needs to happen, when it needs to happen, and how your wedding is going to be, you’ll find that it’s much easier to become stressed out.

Instead, try to take a more flexible approach to planning your wedding. It may be easier said than done, but by looking at all your options and going with the flow, you’ll find that everything just seems calmer. Be organised, build a great supplier dream team, and don’t be afraid to let others help out… the secrets to being very chilled out!

 

 

Sarah Pelham is the Beauty & Wellness Expert for Bookwell.com.au, an online platform for instant bookings for hair, nails, beauty and massage appointments. For nearly four years Sarah has worked closely with hundreds of salon owners within the beauty and wellness industries. She has her finger on the pulse of new trends in this growing market.