The road between the initial “Yes!” and the final “I do” is a long one. Anything could go wrong mid-way. You see, planning a wedding may sound like a delightful affair, but it is certainly not a piece of cake. Whether you wish to conduct a simple ceremony with a small gathering or execute a luxurious celebration of epic proportions, you need to take care of a thousand things before you could read your vows to each other. This includes scouting the venues, working out the budget, negotiating with vendors, scheduling dress fittings, finalizing the guest list, so on and so forth.
Between this and that, things could majorly get overlooked, and you could easily feel overwhelmed enough to lose your cool. However, I’m here to help you through that, to show you that I understand the pressure, and the possibility of getting derailed from the tasks at hand. So, stick with me and check out the following tips which will help you stay focused throughout while planning the wedding of the decade.
Write, Write, Write
One of the best ways to round up some of the wedding chaos is to wield the power of a pen. Nothing is more relaxing than jotting down your thoughts on a blank sheet of paper, to effectively deal with a present conundrum or to set a future reminder in ink.
Not happy with the invitation card font?
Planning to come up with new ideas for the couple dance set?
Facing a budget imbalance?
Close to breaking down?
Write it all in your journal. Once you let the frustration out, you’ll feel much lighter and more inclined to focus on the solution rather than dwell on the problem.
Color-Code the Vendors
Navigating, negotiating and dealing with different kinds of vendors for the wedding is no easy feat. That is why I’d recommend you to color-code each booking in a separate planner to make the tracking easier for you. Denote a separate color to the venue holder, the caterer, the baker, the officiant, the DJ, the photographer plus the videographer, the florist, the transportation plus the accommodation manager, the dress provider and the wedding planner if you’ve hired one on the side etc. Mark appointment dates, follow-ups, deposit details and further questions in each vendor’s respective color-coded column, and stay on top of everything this way.
Set up a Vision Board
A cousin of mine, Sarah, has a huge portfolio in her closet, which consists of magazine snippets she’s collected over the years of the perfect dresses + accessories, and images from movies like ‘Bride Wars’ which she’s caught on her Windstream cable, etc. This inspiration portfolio shapes her vision of how she wants her wedding to be like. You can try this method too. Keep a vision board, which can be physical or even virtual, by your side at all times, so when you meet the vendors, you can tell them how you want the arrangements to look like. This technique will keep you from derailing.
Delegate the Duties
If you try to take on EVERYTHING yourself, you might end up showing at your own wedding devoid of any sort of energy and vigor. You’re the bride/groom, after all. The star of the event. So, spare yourself the feverish madness and assign duties to your loved ones. Divide the tasks with your partner and believe that everything will turn out all right at the end. This delegation will take the unnecessary burden off your shoulders and prevent you from being derailed.
Be an Early-Doer
Ours is the procrastinating generation. We can’t help but delay finishing our projects, starting a healthy diet, or fulfilling those long-established goals. However, I’d suggest you take a more proactive approach to your wedding planning. Why? Because the earlier you tick off the tasks, such as cake tasting, dress selection, and vendor booking, off your list, the more you’ll be able to enjoy the days leading up to the wedding later on.
Rely on your Trusty Tech
Imagine you’ve saved everything from venue forms to wedding portfolios on your device, and a malfunction wipes the entire data clean. How can you recover it? From your Drive. Yes, Google offers you a remarkable cloud-based storage option for protecting your data, and for accessing it from anywhere. Take advantage of it. Another technological bounty, which you can use for staying on track is the collection of smartphone apps on wedding planning, like Tie the Knot, iWedPlanner, and Todoist, etc. Simply download them and remain calm.
Take a Seat, a Sigh and a Sip
If you reach the eventual panicking stage and start to lose it, then follow these steps. Put everything aside and aim to re-center your energies. Sit down, preferably on the floor, close your eyes, take deep breaths, 1…2…3…, regain your willpower by remembering your best moments, and repeat this mantra, “I got everything under control”. Remove the cloud of stress from your shoulders and smile, because if no one else, I believe in you.
Planning a wedding is a herculean task, no doubt. It can drive anyone to the edge. So, if you feel like derailing from the track, then try the aforementioned tips to get right back on it. Let me know how it goes for you.
Sean Williamson lives in New York City and calls himself the 'tech-bro', given his special interest in everything that's digital. Besides writing for major technological sites in the spare time, he likes to stay on top of the latest developments, especially in the field of smartphone tech. His dream to create an app that solves if not all, at least some of the major problems faced by people at large. He works as a writer in a company.