KAPATHY's Top 10 Ways to Cut Down on Wedding Planning Stress

I'm now happily married and want to give my two cents back to my lovely PW ladies!

Many of you commented on how calm and relaxed I seemed in the last week of planning and I can attribute it to these pieces of advice...

Kapathy's Top 10 Ways to Cut Down on Wedding Planning Stress

1. Make a budget, theme and color scheme EARLY and stick to it.  Not doing any one of these things can make the whole planning process a lot more difficult.  There are plenty of ways to keep your budget down- there is no reason to go into debt over a wedding.  Changing your theme or color scheme can really make the budget explode.  Choose the things that are really important to you and book those vendors first.

2. Only take on the DIY tasks that you feel confident that you can complete without going crazy.  Sure, you can take on every DIY project under the sun, but if you don't give yourself enough time or if you don't have the resources to complete it, the projects will stress you out and look unprofessional.

3. Make a detailed to-do list with dates, timelines and deadlines.  Stick to it.  Start your projects early and stay on schedule.  Again, if you stay on schedule, you can keep the stress down a lot later on.

4. Get help.  I know that I have a rare breed of DH that enjoys craft projects, but all of your FIs can help when given a task.  It's their wedding too and should be helping you when you ask for it.  Also, enlist your friends.  Give them some dinner and drinks and you can have an assembly line a-la Henry Ford in place.  We filled all our favor boxes in less than 10 minutes with the 4 friends I invited over and all it cost was my time to make some enchiladas!

6. Have fun.  Wedding planning should be fun.  Yes, it can and will be stressful at times, but those are the times when you need to take a step back for a bit.  Breathe and do something fun with FI.

7. Finish all projects at least one week before the wedding.  This is hands-down the reason why I was so calm the last week before the wedding- I literally didn't have anything to worry about.  If you have things left over, try to give them to someone else.

8. Take care of yourself.  Eat well.  Exercise.  Be healthy.  This alone will keep your stress down.

9.  Give yourself ample time for the day of.  I made a VERY detailed day of itinerary and did my best to stick to it.  We were at the salon much longer than expected, the cake delivery was off and our photog was 30 minutes late.  We were able to stay on schedule because I put extra time throughout the day. 

9. Spend the money and hire a DOC.  I was extremely lucky that I found such an amazing PW bride to help me out- and I know she’ll have a very successful business in her future.  I don’t want to imagine what it would have been like without her.  If it’s not in the budget, get a friend to do it and be specific what your expectations are for her.  

10. Remember what your wedding is all about- you and your FI.  Other people will give you advice, input, and opinions, but it’s your wedding.  Do what you want to do to make it the wedding of YOUR dreams.