The 14 Most Stressful Parts Of Planning A Wedding
The 14 Most Stressful Parts of Planning a Wedding
The moment you get engaged to your future spouse is magical. Almost immediately after you've said "Yes," you start mentally planning and picturing your wedding day. The elegant wedding dress, the stunning venue, the extravagant cake, and the romantic first dance all start flashing through your mind: Your dream day is soon going to come true. However, when you sit down and start really trying to plan your wedding day, you'll realize that this is going to be much more stressful than you had previously assumed.
Arguing With Your Fiancé
Your wedding is one of the most important days in your life, so it's no surprise that you and your fiancé have clear ideas about how it should and shouldn't be celebrated. Arguing is inevitable: Don't take it to heart, and learn to compromise. This wedding will be a collaboration between the two of you, even if you get there via a shouting match.
Bridesmaid Dresses
You've selected your bridesmaids, and it's time to go and buy their dresses. Unfortunately, what you want them to wear, and what they want to wear, probably doesn't match up. Stay true to what you want, but don't take things to far: Listen to their feedback and thoughts on the dresses. These are your best friends after all.
Catering Selection
How are you going to feed everyone at your wedding? Do you want a buffet? A sit down dinner? A food truck? Only finger food? There are so many options when it comes to deciding what food to serve at your wedding: The best way is to choose is to look at your budget, the number of guests, and what best suits the venue.
Changing Your Name
If you're changing your name when you get married, you need to start taking care of this as soon as possible. Changing your name isn't as simple as you may imagine: It involves endless forms, which will take up a vast amount of time. Make sure you start on this project as far in advance of the wedding as you can.
Creating a Timeline
You probably have an image in your head of what your wedding day will look like, but creating a timeline for the ceremony and reception is harder. How long should we serve drinks for before dinner? What time should the dancing start? How long will dinner take? You need remember that everything involving large groups of people always takes longer than you imagine, and try not to stress on the day when you're running far behind schedule.
Deciding the First Dance
Your first dance is a nerve-wracking moment. Everyone is watching with cameras at the ready, and there is a huge sense of expectation. Decide on a song you love, and don't pressure yourselves to perfect those dance moves: As long as it means something to you both, that's all that really matters.
Delegating Wisely
You may want to keep control of every single minor detail of your wedding, but this isn't going to be possible. You need to delegate to whoever you can, as much as you can. Trust some details to other people otherwise you'll never make it to the wedding alive.
Drama With the In-Laws
Even if you have a perfectly amicable relationship with your in-laws, your wedding is likely to fracture it a little. They'll have their opinions on how they believe things should be done, which you may not agree with. Listen to their words and advice — you don't want to upset them — but feel free to ignore or follow them. It's your big day, not theirs.
Estimating Food and Drink
How much do people really eat? How much wine will each person drink? Estimating food and drink quantities can be extremely challenging. Opt for having too much, rather than too little: No one ever enjoyed a wedding where they were hungry and the drinks ran out.
Guest List
Trying to settle on exactly who to invite to your wedding is a nightmare. The key is to be ruthless: This is your special day, so don't invite any "friends" who you don't actually enjoy spending time with. Unfortunately for family members, this doesn't apply: They all need to be invited, no questions asked.
Late RSVPs
You selected your guests carefully, and now you're questioning your friendship as they have failed to RSVP. These nightmare guests will only reply after being bombarded with multiple phone calls, emails, and maybe a strict note from your mother.
Music Decisions
Selecting between a live band, a DJ, and a personalized playlist is difficult. Everybody you ask for a recommendation from will give you different advice, because there is no best option. As long as there is music playing, everyone will happily dance the night away.
Seating Plan
Once you've finally received all your RSVPs, it's time to create the seating chart. This is a logistical nightmare that will require endless alterations. Try not stress about it too much: It's your big day, and everyone will be happy to be there, so don't concern yourself too much about how the conversation will flow between every single guest.
Staying Within Budget
You probably started planning your wedding with a fixed budget in mind. And now that you're in the midst of planning, the budget is looking more and more unrealistic. Make sure you keep an eye on the cost of every little detail — all those tiny extras can really add up.