How to have a Stress Free Wedding
How to have a Stress Free Wedding
Ok, so maybe it's impossible to have a stress free wedding, but you can certainly do things to make sure stress is kept at a minimum! Here are a few tips and tricks to help you have a relaxing and enjoyable wedding day!
1. Pick the right Venue and Vendors
Everyone wants a gorgeous venue that has an amazing backdrop for your most amazing day, right? But before you confirm that venue, make sure you ask around about how well organized and friendly that venue is! The owners of venues can really put a damper on your day if they are rude or unorganized or have a bad attitude. The same goes for your vendors!
The last thing you need on your special day is to have someone moping around and snapping at you and your guests. Hire professionals and read reviews and ask your other vendors about their reputations. Having qualified people with good attitudes and sunny dispositions can make a world of difference in having a great experience or a miserable one! The above photo is at Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville and I can tell you that not only is the venue absolutely gorgeous, but the owners are total angels. They go above and beyond and always have a smile on their faces. That's what you want!
2. Surround yourself with Helpful people
Being a bridesmaid or a groomsman is more of a responsibility than some people think. When choosing who is going to be standing next to you on one of the biggest days of your life, make sure they are going to be helpful to you! There is no reason for the bride or the groom to be worrying or fretting about anything on their wedding day. Assign tasks to not only your bridal party but other friends and family so that you can relax and know that everything is going to be taken care of. Even simple things like having a designated dress carrier and positioner for when you are taking photos will give you peace of mind and a helping hand during every aspect of the day! Allow help also! I know some people (myself included) like being in charge of all the things but weddings are a huge undertaking with more moving parts than you can imagine, so allow yourself to be helped.
3. FEED YOUR VENDORS
Going back to the whole having happy people around you, FEED YOUR VENDORS. We are there for 8-10 hours and we get hungry. I'm not talking about throwing them a sack lunch either, set aside in the budget enough money to have a plate for every vendor and their assistants. Hungry people are not happy people and unhappy people do not do their best work. So if you want to get the best out of everyone and have everyone be in high spirits, give them food! They will be very grateful.
4. Do a First Look
Ok, so I know some people are very traditional and they don't want to do a first look and that is completely fine. But I'm giving advice on how to make your day as stress free as possible and a First Look definitely helps with that! Let's even talk about that tradition for a minute. The tradition of not seeing the bride until the altar goes back to the days of arranged marriages. The fathers of the bride were worried that the groom wouldn't find the bride attractive and that the groom would flee if he saw her before the altar. So they made it a tradition to not see each other until then. They even went so far as to put a veil over the bride's face so that he couldn't see her until the very last second! Some confidence, dad! In this day and age, I'm fairly certain all of my couples have seen each other and are in fact attracted to one another so that tradition is kind of a non issue now. Again, if you want to wait to see each other, by all means! It's YOUR day, you do what YOU want, but having a First Look has a lot of benefits. First, it ensures plenty of time for photos with your spouse. Not only that but it usually helps ease those pre wedding nerves. I can't tell you how much both the bride and groom relax after seeing one another. It's also a more intimate moment to have caught on film. It's up close and personal and you aren't sharing your reaction in front of all your family and guests. It is usually more heartfelt and I can promise you, ladies...if your man is going to cry when you walk down the aisle, he is going to do it with or without a first look. They usually just cry at both so you get two moments to capture of the waterworks instead of just one! LOL. But seriously, the biggest bonus is not having to worry about whether people are having a good time during the cocktail hour while you are taking photos or if the wedding runs long and you have not done a first look, worrying about how much sunlight you have to get all the photos in. It's just one thing you can get done before the ceremony so that the rest of the evening is relaxing and fun.
5. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes
I'm sure not all wedding dresses are the most comfortable attire in the world, but make sure it fits and fits well! You don't want to have to worry if your boob is going to pop out or if your stomach looks tucked in or any of those crazy things we get in our heads! You want your gown to be fitted properly and comfortably and to have soft material. I've seen several wedding dresses with pockets also and to me, that's one of the greatest things I've seen in my whole life! So get a comfy, well fitted dress with pockets! And if you're dying to have stilettos at your wedding, that's fine! But maybe pack a pair of tennis shoes or flats that you can slip on for the reception so that dancing is fun and not painful!
6. Make a list of family photos
There are always a lot of family and friends at your wedding and while you are taking photos, it gets hectic and hard to remember who you have included and who you haven't. I always send my couples a questionnaire beforehand to fill out that includes a place for them to write out exactly who they want in their family portraits. It makes the family photo portion of the day go by quickly and efficiently and it ensures that you haven't forgotten anyone special that you would like to get a picture with! So before your wedding, sit down and write a list of exactly who you want in your family photos.
7. Remember that this is YOUR day!
As much as I have said to delegate tasks and ask for help and listen to advice from professionals and your friends and family, remember that this is YOUR day. Don't let anyone try to take over and make decisions that should be yours to make. If your heart has been set on getting a pizza bar for the food and someone is telling you no, you get that pizza bar! If you don't want any kids in the wedding and you have family members making you feel bad, you tell them that you don't want any kids there. You will be happier and more at ease with decisions that were important to you if you stick to your guns and do it your way!
8. Hire a Wedding Planner
DIY is great and all, but weddings are a HUGE undertaking and not something you do on a regular basis. Planners know weddings. They know all the little things that you may not think about and they know how to help coordinate your day. Let them take care of all the details for you. I promise that the extra money you spend to get a good planner will save you BIG on headaches and worries later on.
The above photo shows one of my couples with Marmaros Productions. They are professional and kind and do a great job!
9. Relax and have FUN!
This is one of the best days of your life! Remember to enjoy it and take it all in! Take time to dance with your spouse and eat your food and laugh with your friends. It goes by in a blink and you'll wish you had stopped worrying about the little things and embraced the day as a whole. Everyone's wedding day has mishaps but it makes them unique and it doesn't ruin the outcome. So relax and have fun and don't sweat the small stuff!
