Here is the thing. Weddings can be very stressful and it’s not exactly surprising, is it? Months and months of planning all comes to a point and occurs within a matter of hours. Multiple vendors, various locations, and endless decion making all has to come together in an organized and well-thoughtout way or else choas ensues. I’ve seen it, you’ve probabaly witnessed it and you’re definitly trying to prevent it with your own wedding. Sometimes it can be helped (planning endused problems) and other times it can’t (weather indused problems). I’m writing this post today to try and help you with the parts that can be helped. As a wedding photographer, I’ve witnessed stressful weddings and not so stressful weddings all while compiling a list to help my future clients obtain the latter. Not to mention, I’ve been a bride myself so by following these tried and true ways to help make your wedding more manageable, you can count on cutting back the stress of your wedding making it more enjoyable which is the ultimate goal!
5 Ways to Make Your Wedding More Manageable
- Keep it small.
- Stay organized.
- Don’t do it alone.
- Prioritize your wants and needs.
- Hire a wedding planner.
Keep it small: It is so easy and common for weddings to become these gigantic events where everyone and their friend is invited. You want it to be a big party and for all of your loved ones to be there. I get it! The problem that happens with this idea is that sometimes the invitation list gets so long and you begin to not know some of the guests maybe even a lot of them. Then you start to worry about the budget for food and making sure that everyone fits in the venue. Can we say stressful? In order to make sure your wedding is manageable, I suggest keeping it small or cutting it down a bit. Try not to worry about offending people that don’t make the cut because they will likely be fine either way. Plus, planning for a more intimate wedding can actually end up being an incredibly special event with more options as to where the budget is spent rather than only on food and the venue. Just think of it like this, the less people you have to manage, the more manageable your day becomes.
Stay organized: Staying organized during the planning phase will help keep stress at bay. There are a ton of tips and resources to help plan your wedding and the best thing you can do is to keep it all together in a file, google doc, or binder. During the months of dreaming, planning, and decision making you will probably collect an abundance of information. Making sure you keep it organized and easily accessible will help you follow through with plans and make sure that nothing gets missed.
Don’t do it alone: I’ll be talking about a wedding planner below but in this case, I’m suggesting that you allow other people to help you with the planning process and on the day of your wedding. Decision making is one of the easiest ways to get stressed when it comes to your wedding but if you let people help you plan and decide things, then that burden won’t be only yours to carry. Share your file, google doc, or binder with your mom, sister, and/or bridesmaid(s). Hand someone else the power of making decisions on your wedding day so you aren’t constantly being interrupted with questions. Believe me, it will make your wedding so much more enjoyable!
Prioritize your wants and needs: When it comes to making decisions such as the venue, menu, flowers, decor, dresses, etc. you have to consider what is a want, need, or something that can be passed on. With every wedding, there is a budget and by taking the time to write out your wants and needs and putting them in order of your priorities, you will have a better chance at staying on track and managing your expectations.
Hire a wedding planner: This is the one tip that I didn’t do but know now would have been a huge benefit to our day. Not only that but for all of my clients, I know that hiring someone to take lead on the day’s events would be paramount to creating a stress-free and more enjoyable wedding. Without a wedding planner, when decisions have to be made and plans change, you and your fiance are likely the people that will be asked but you can imagine that while getting ready and trying to prepare yourself for the big day, the last thing that you’d like to be doing is making all sorts of last minute decisions. That’s where a planner or day-of coordinator will come in handy!
Lastly, I asked my clients and friends to give their opinion on what could have made their wedding more enjoyable and less stressful. This is what they came up with and I hope you enjoy their input!
- Plan where your photos will take place the day before your wedding. This saves time and cuts back the stress of making the decision on your wedding day.
- Consider doing a destination wedding if planning one locally gets too stressful. They are more intimate, include less people, and make for a great trip with your friends and family.
- Have more than one conversation with your photographer before the wedding. This helps you get to know each other better and creates a more comfortable and authentic environment when it comes to the photo part of your day.
- Consider planning the bridal party photos the day before your wedding. It’s a new trend but also helps with timeline constraints if time is limited on the day of your wedding. Plus, it allows for more creativity with your bridal party!
- Hire someone to clean up after the wedding. Some venues offer this service and some don’t which leads to the question of who is going to do it. Likely, it will either be you and your fiance or your parents. The last thing you want to be doing after your wedding is cleaning. The same goes for your family.
- Make sure you have a detailed timeline for the day of your wedding so that everything is planned for. If you don’t plan out each part of the wedding day, it will be hard to stay on track and on time.
