fbpx

Ideas & Advice

5 Simple Tips to Take the Stress Out of Planning Your Wedding

November 11, 2021
November 11, 2021

CJ's Off the Square | 5 ways to take stress out of planning your wedding

 

As our wedding season is winding down, it has me thinking about all that I have learned this year throughout the planning process that I can share with future brides to help make their wedding planning process as smooth and stress free as possible.

So today, I am sharing with you five simple tips to help take the stress out of planning your 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 ok to say no every now and then.

Sometimes life happens. A new job opportunity or the perfect new home comes on the market and you have to jump at the chance.

But if you can avoid making any other major life changes during your engagement, this will go a long way to keeping you focused on the wedding and not feeling pulled in a dozen different directions.

 

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 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.

PRO TIP: Use Google Drive or Dropbox to create a folder where you can easily save all of your wedding planning documents. From the planning guide and timeline we create for you here at CJ’s Off the Square, along with your other vendor contracts like the one you will most likely have with your photographer or florist. You can also save key inspiration photos in this folder rather than relying on Pinterest or Instagram. It’s a great way to have quick access to all the important documents and easily share these with anyone else who may be helping you during the planning process.

 

CJ's Off the Square | 5 ways to take stress out of planning your wedding

 

3. Don’t forget to have a little fun

Feeling frazzled is so 2020! Believe it or not, when it comes to your wedding, being stressed about every little detail is 100% optional. And the best way to stay grounded (besides working with our planning team here at CJ’s Off the Square) is to stay connected with the people in your life that matter most to you.

Take out your calendar and schedule a few fun days in-between all of your planning. I’m not talking about just your bachelorette, but even something as simple as drinks after work or going to get a mani-pedi with your mom. Don’t let the little things that you enjoy doing with your friends and family fall by the way side because of wedding plans.

And if you haven’t been on a date with your fiancé lately, GIRL …do it now!

It’s easy for our partners to feel a little left out or even overshadowed by all the wedding plans. So give them a little extra love and attention and make plans for a romantic night in or out where you don’t talk about the wedding at all – just focus on each other and remember all the reasons why you’re getting married in the first place.

 

4. Schedule Your Planning

It’s easy to let wedding plans take over your life if you don’t set up some clear boundaries right from the start. I love the idea of adding “Wedding Wednesday” to your schedule.

It doesn’t have to be Wednesday precisely, but it can be helpful to focus on one day mid-week where you will commit to working on the wedding. Schedule in at least one hour every Wednesday where you will work on one aspect of your wedding plans, or schedule an appointment to meet with a prospective wedding vendor.

Wednesday is great because it is in the middle of the week. You can correspond with vendors or schedule meetings and get a much faster response time and much more availability for meetings mid-week than you ever will during a busy weekend.

Remember, wedding vendors are busy making those weddings happen on the weekend …so availability is super limited. If you want to be a vendor’s favorite client, make yourself available to meet during the week whenever possible.

Choosing a day like Wednesday is also great because it creates a built it deadline. I suggest that you focus on one aspect of your wedding each week. Take, for example, wedding flowers. Spend the first Wednesday researching ideas and inspiration, the next week you can focus on researching local vendors and scheduling a consultation with them for the following Wednesday. But the last Wednesday of the week, you can make your decision and go ahead and sign a contract, make a deposit, and cross another item off your list before you move on to the next big thing. If you chip away at your wedding to-do list one week at a time, it will go a long way to keeping you sane.

Finally, and perhaps, most importantly, by using a weekday to work on wedding plans, you leave your weekend open for staying connected with your fiancé, family and friends (see above!). I also find that during the week, I am more disciplined with my time because I am in “work mode.” My mindset and actions are more focused when I am “on” for work rather than when I am “off” at home.

So whip out your phone or your day planner (if you’re old school) and pencil in a little date with yourself every Wednesday to work on your wedding. Your family and friends will thank you – promise!

 

CJ's Off the Square | 5 ways to take stress out of planning your wedding

 

5. Delegate …or better yet, let it go

Yes, your wedding is a big deal. But don’t lose sight of what is most important to you. Part of the planning process here at CJ’s Off the Square is to set priorities for your wedding day – and it can’t hurt to remind yourself of the things that matter most and to delegate …or simply let go of some of the other stuff that isn’t as important to you.

Can’t find the perfect favor? No big deal! Let it go.

Bridesmaid dresses giving you anxiety dreams? Delegate! (Try my 30 minute bridesmaid dress challenge here and tell me how it goes!)

No one really cares about the favors or what your wedding party looks like. They care about you. And seeing a stressed out bride on her wedding day is not the memory you want to leave them with.

 

I hope these 5 tips to take stress out of wedding planning were helpful for you. Give one or more a try this week and tell me how it worked for you!

 

To learn more about CJ’s Off the Square and our full service wedding packages, click here.