Tips from a Not-So-Newlywed Bride
Making Life Manageable: I want to share some of our “wedding strategy” that allowed my husband, Steven, and me to enjoy ourselves and not spend all of our free time wedding-planning – after all, you need to have some time to relax! So listen up as I share some tips on making your life manageable as you balance everyday life with wedding tasks.
The most important thing is to not let wedding planning overrun your life. I know, it’s a tricky balancing act, but if you can pull this off it will make your life more enjoyable. Set aside a night each week and outlaw any wedding talk! You can do something fun, like go to a movie, or even just relax at home over hot cocoa – what you do doesn’t matter, as long as it gives you a break from wedding stress. Can’t dedicate a whole night? That’s ok, do lunch or dedicate an hour for something fun!
Another key is to plan ahead. The more you get done now, the less you’ll have to do as your wedding approaches. Trust me; you don’t want to be scrambling the night before your wedding to take care of loose ends.
Why not enlist some help turning your vision into reality? Delegate tasks to your maid or matron of honor, best man, and attendants – they’re here to support you, after all! It could be as simple as helping you to print your wedding ceremony programs, or the guest name-tags. You can even turn tedious activities in to a party when you add snacks, drinks, and music – the more hands the merrier!
Whether you’re doing most of the planning yourself or sharing the duties, remember: yes, it’s important to make sure things turn out well, but don’t sacrifice your sanity to make sure that every last detail is perfect. It’s all about finding balance, and finding a place where you can get your planning done but still have time to relax and enjoy yourself.
I know, it’s so obvious, but I’m going to say it anyways – relax! Clear your mind of wedding worries and enjoy the company of your friends and family. Trust me, you can ignore your “to-do” list for a couple hours and it won’t run away on you. It does take effort sometimes to relax, but when you do take some time to do so, you’ll be able to return to planning with renewed energy. Everyone needs a break, so make sure you give yourself one – you deserve it!
As one last word of advice, let me tell you the best decision my husband and I made: we decided to be done with anything wedding-related before our rehearsal dinner started. By having this deadline, we had time to wind down and were able to enjoy the wedding festivities. Set a deadline, and then after that, take off your planning hat and start enjoying YOUR wedding – you will be glad you did!
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March 11th, 2008 at 11:44 am
hmm good suggestions. I didn’t have the time to do that and ended up doing things last minute. Wish I would’ve done what you suggest instead. Would’ve saved me a lot of stress!
I like the doing things idea. Even not wedding-planning couples should do something like that.. helps keep relationships from getting stale!
March 11th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
great tips! keep these comin
March 11th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
hmm that’s not the time here. Betsy, your comments time tracker looks a little off… just to let you know!
March 11th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
@:) — thanks for the heads-up. We’re working on finding a solution for that. It appears as though occasionally some comments are registering a few hours off, and other times, it’s been working fine. (e.g. this post these comments are showing up as 3 minutes after the hour, but on the back end it shows a different time. weird!)
All part of the joys of the internet! Thankfully, we get to mostly concentrate on photography, rather than web-developing. But, if/when we find a solution, I will let you know.
March 11th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
gotcha. no problem, just wanted to make sure you knew!