So, you’re going to plan your own wedding? Good for you! There’s no reason why you can’t pull off a lovely wedding and reception that’s just as good as any wedding planner could do. You will save yourself a bundle and know that you had everything exactly the way you wanted it to be.
Stay Organized
The best thing you can do is to keep your records straight. Start a binder or accordion file just for the wedding. You will have contracts, paperwork, ideas, photos, and swatches that you’ll want to refer back to. Having it all in one place will make your life so much easier. And if you start off right, you won’t be hunting for the caterer’s contract the night before the wedding or the bakery’s phone number. What about the wedding favors? You’ll have it all right there. You may be tempted to use online or electronic devices to record all your details. But suppose that iPhone goes missing or your computer crashes? You don’t want to lose all your data. It’s ok to make scans of important contracts, but try not to do everything online so that you still have hard copies when you need them.
Stay Open to Ideas
You’re going to start getting advice the moment you announce you are engaged. Everyone and their mother will have opinions about what will work best for your big day. Instead of getting upset or feeling overwhelmed, listen with an open mind. You may not like the picture of the cake your coworker’s godchild had at her wedding, but at least take a look at it. You may get a great referral to a baker in the area. Mom may want you to wear a ruffled hoop skirted gown, and if she suggests it for the fifth time, politely tell her that you’ll think about it. You may not like her exact choice of dress, but she may know of a great bridal shop or seamstress who can find you the dress of your dreams.
Stay Confident
You may wake up one day during your wedding planning and wonder what you were thinking when you decided to plan your own wedding. Relax. Take a deep breath. And take a day or two off from wedding planning. If you’re running at a feverish pace, chances are your fiancé is too. Why not take a weekend to swear off all wedding talk? You’ll both feel better about the whole thing in a few days. All wedding plans and no real life fun can really start to wear on a person’s stamina. If you’re making yourself crazy, others probably feel it too. Stay confident that you can plan the wedding. Take one task at a time. Leave yourself extra time to complete it and then move on. If you’ve already ordered the cake, let the baker worry about it. If you’ve picked out your shoes and they’re sitting in your closet ready to go, don’t obsess over whether you chose the right ones. Just go with what you bought. Don’t overthink the details and you’ll find that you are calm, cool, and collected throughout the process.
Planning a wedding isn’t easy. But it doesn’t have to be a nightmare either. You can do it. And remember to lean on the support of your fiancé, mom, bridal party, friends, coworkers, and anyone else who has offered to help.
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