5 Simple Tips to Help Take the Stress Out of Planning a Wedding

1. Learn to say no
Planning a wedding is exciting and fun but it can also be one of the busiest times of your life. If you don’t want to end up being a nervous wreck a week before your big day, learn to prioritize and say no to any new commitments that would take away from other important wedding-related tasks. It’s really okay to say no every now and then.

2. Become the queen of organization
The more organized you are, the better your wedding planning experience will be. Keep a digital copy of all of your important documents, contracts, and information in one file on your computer or in google docs so that you can easily refer back to them when you need to. If you want to be able to bring important documents along to meetings with vendors, you can always create a wedding binder that contains all of the information you need. Plus, it makes for a great backup copy too.

3. Have a little fun
There’s no need for you to be a frazzled bride-to-be. Take out your calendar and schedule a few fun days in-between all of your planning. Make fun and time with friends a priority in the weeks leading up to your wedding. Sometimes it’s important to come back down to earth and remember why you’re choosing to marry your partner. Trying to control every single aspect of your day is only going to leave you wishing it was over. Go out and enjoy an afternoon with the girls where you don’t talk about the wedding at all.

4. Move your body
Exercise does wonders when you’ve got a lot on your plate. Sometimes you just need to take a breather and focus on your health. This doesn’t mean that you need to schedule an hour at the gym every day either. If you’re strapped for time, a simple 15-20 minute walk or yoga session will make all the difference to your stress and energy levels.

5. Just breathe
Take a complete timeout from wedding planning as often as you need to. Every bride deserves a relaxing soak in the tub or a heavenly hot stone massage to relieve some of the tension she might be feeling. (If you're a Main Street bride you'll actually have a spa gift certificate you can use!) It can be difficult to make time to simply relax but do your best to find the time, even if it’s just 30 minutes a week.