One of the most common conditions I come across as a celebrant is pre-wedding stress. I’m no stranger to it as I suffered it myself. Not only did I organise my wedding in 4 months, I decided to buy and move into a new house at the same time!
The pre-wedding period is full of one stressful decision after another, created by the desire to create the perfect day. However, organising the wedding is not the only thing going on in your life. You still have to go to work, feed the dog, catch up with friends, look after the kids, hang out the washing, pay the bills and find time to spend with your partner. That’s a lot of balls to juggle at once!
The results of wedding stress can be irritability, couples suddenly snapping at each other, restless sleep, strange dreams, loss or increase in appetite and feeling blue.
Most of it is created by anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. So here a few tips to help you cope with it and get to your day feeling cool, calm and collected:
1. Make a budget - the cost of weddings is one of the largest contributors to stress so do the prep work at the start so you know what you’ve got to spend and stick to it!
2. Share your feelings – tell your partner if you’re worried or stressed because, as your best friend, they may know just the thing to say to make you feel better.
3. Manage everyone’s expectations – talk to those who are likely to put pressure on you (normally the mothers) early on. Be really clear about the type of wedding you’re having and how they can be involved and support you.
4. Delegate tasks - utilise your family, bridal party and friends. Let people support you to take some of the pressure off.
5. Be flexible - despite your best efforts, an event of this magnitude can’t be totally under your control. You can’t control the weather, people getting sick or blackouts. Remind yourself that so long as you end up being married to the person you love, you’ve achieved your dream!
6. Be organised - create an event run sheet to plan out your whole day so everyone knows exactly where they are meant to be when.
7. Look after yourself – say no to things if you’re tiered, eat well, exercise, don’t drink too much, and take time out together banning wedding talk!
8. Stay focussed – when stress rears its ugly head, remind yourself that your wedding is just one day. It’s everything afterwards that makes a marriage!
You’re getting married because you’ve found the one person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Don’t lose sight of that amongst all the other distractions.
Remember to take deep breaths and if worse comes to worse, close your eyes, find your Zen place, and just tell everyone they can get Zenned too!
Please contact me to talk about how I can help you create a stress-free wedding!