Photo by: Lauren Kinsey Fine Art Wedding Photography on Grey Likes Weddings via Lover.ly
Stressed out by wedding planning? Kiss a puppy!
If you've been dreaming about a getting engaged, when you finally get a ring and get down to the business of planning a wedding, you'll probably be surprised by how much of the wedding planning process kinda sucks. Sorry. To the rescue? Me, with four easy easy ways to make the suck-y parts of wedding planning suck a little less.
WEDDING DOWNER 1: Everything cost 1,000,000 times more than you anticipated.
Unless you're in the business of event planning or you've been crunching wedding-y numbers for years, you're probably going to be surprised by how much it costs to alter a wedding dress or serve your guests a no-frills chicken dish.
SOLUTION: If all the numbers are making your head spin, start by putting the amount you want to spend on your wedding into a budget tool (this one is my favorite) to get a reasonable idea of how much you should be allocating to each of your wedding expenses. That tool gives you a basic idea of how to break down your budget and lets you adjust the numbers if you want to spend, say, more on your dress and less on stationery.
WEDDING DOWNER 2: Everyone wants to help plan your wedding—or, heck, plan it for you.
Your mom's already pulled her wedding dress out of storage, and your mother-in-law handed you a binder with decor inspiration.
SOLUTION: You can't blame them for being excited—even if their attempts at being helpful are really cramping your style. If you're feeling smothered, give the moms a job. Maybe you don't care about wedding favors or dread researching hotels for your guests. Tasks you don't want to focus on anyway are great outlets for all their planning energy.
WEDDING DOWNER 3: Your groom is useless.
Want your guy's thoughts on table linens? Invitations? Aisle decor? Ask once. If he just doesn't care, don't give yourself an aneurism trying to get his input.
SOLUTION: Put him in charge of things you know he's excited about. Rory REALLY wanted to pick our wedding band, so I told him to go wild and backed off. (Fine, maybe I gave him a HELPFUL list of things to check for when reviewing the contract. But I mostly backed off.) I also put him in charge of planning the honeymoon. "Don't ask me," I said. "Just get it done." Was it EXACTLY as I would have planned it? No. But I saved myself a lot of stress by letting it go.
WEDDING DOWNER 4: People are bitchy about your ideas.
Your bestie knows you want a short wedding dress, but she keeps emailing you pics of floor-length gowns. ("Short's not formal enough!") And your boss won't stop sending you destination-wedding venues, even though you'd never get on a plane for your wedding.
SOLUTION: Learn how to smile and nod. You don't have to love all their ideas—or any of 'em—but you'll save yourself a lot of angst if you smile and say, "That's a great idea! We'll definitely think about" rather than butting heads about why you will NOT have carnations at your wedding, or whatever.
Are you feeling like wedding planning sucks? Or is it all rainbows and butterflies for you?