When I say that I LOVED planning my wedding, I whole heartily mean it. Planning the start of our marriage was a blast for me, and STRESS FREE! One thing that I hear from my Brides is that they’re stressed, so i’m here sharing my secrets on how to be a stress free bride for the days leading up to your wedding, and on your big day!
I’ll be the first person to admit that I’m a very high strung person, i’m the classic type A, OCD perfectionist that should have hated everything about wedding planning. But instead, I was a calm, relaxed, STRESS FREE BRIDE!
Here’s my secrets:
Plan ahead: Even though I shot 11 weddings from May until our wedding, my DIY projects were done, and the most time consuming stuff was done long before wedding season kicked in. I knew I was going to be busy so I planned ahead and wrapped my bottles in the winter on the weekends. The stuff that I didn’t have done, I planned for evenings to finish it. To-do lists also were a HUGE help!
Make lists: Whether it’s a to-do list for what you need to make, or lists for items that need packed in the car, MAKE IT! Put in it your phone, email it to your fiance, MOH, and Mom, hang it on the fridge. The to-do, mark things off as you complete them. The list for items that need to be packed for the venues, mark those off as they make their way to the car. But most importantly, HAVE EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE at least a day before they’re getting moved. This way, if you can’t find something, you have time to look without feelings rushed, which will make you feel stressed. Put your slip, shoes, jewelry, perfume, any other details your photographer wants to photograph in your dress bag so all that stuff is in one place.
Take time off work: While taking the whole week off of work before the wedding isn’t realistic for everyone, it played a huge part in keeping me stress-free. I had time to run errands. I had time to breathe, sleep, eat, THINK! If you can’t take the week off before your wedding, think about taking Wednesday on off. Wednesday you can dedicate to errands, Thursday for manis/pedis, and Friday for the rehearsal dinner.
TIMELINE! I’ve blogged about this before, and I’ve shown Brides at consultants how detailed my timeline was. Our DJ just admitted to me that he was slightly concerned I was going to be a Bride who was a pain in his butt about timing. Truth be told, that timeline kept me organized, and told everyone where they needed to be. There was no gray areas.
Plan for the unexpected: Along with the timeline, I planned for things to run over. My hair, I set aside an hour just for my hair. When we finished in 45 minutes, it felt like we were ahead of schedule. When I planned for an hour (yes, an hour, I know our awesome photographer probably wanted to kill me!) for family formals, it meant that if other pictures ran over, family formals weren’t cut down to only 20 minutes. Brides, keep in mind that if you have to travel from ceremony location to reception location and it typically only takes 5 minutes, plan for 20. When you have family and bridal party to gather and get into cars, the 5 minutes goes by QUICK!
Remember what the day is about: While I had one minor bridezilla moment the morning of (my Mother tried setting up two ugly banquet tables to put drinks on without table clothes…ummm no!) the only thing I cared about that day was that by 6 pm, I was going to be a wife to my best friend. We could had forgotten something at home, which was a home, but as long as I was marrying Joshua, nothing else mattered.
A small piece of advice I give my Brides when we have our last consult for the timeline is that if something doesn’t get done, you’re the only one who is going to know it didn’t get done. If you wanted blue napkins, but had to settle on gray, you’re the only one who’s going to know the difference. Don’t allow something so small keep you from being a stress free bride on the most important day of your life!
Lastly, your wedding day is about you and your new husband. While the details are beautiful and they help tell your story, they’re not the reason your family and friends are there, they showed up to celebrate your love! Brides, don’t sweat the small stuff, it’ll just keep you from being a stress free bride!
Venue: The Grand Barn at the Mohicans
Photographer: Kaitlin Noel Photography
Florist: Bouquet Studio
Dress: Coming Attractions
Tux: Howard’s Tiger Rags
Hair: Courtney West
