A WEDDING IS LIKE A MICROCOSM OF LIFE ON STEROIDS

Sounds a bit extreme, doesn’t it?  I’ve worked with thousands of brides to be and believe me this is true.  Think about it.  You have all the stresses of life in a short, concentrated period of time with a deadline and a big party at the end of it.  Don’t you love the word deadline?  Not very positive, is it?!

You have a budget of your own hard-earned money or that of your family, you have relatives (some of them difficult) to appease and still have the wedding of YOUR dreams.  You are emotionally involved with the man that you love and suddenly you have turned into someone he no longer recognises.

Then there are decisions that have to be made…100s of them.  And you can’t even move beyond what type of wedding dress to buy.  Halter, strapless, with lace sleeves, without lace sleeves, fishtail, empire, and on and on…

Ah, and then you have to choose who sits next to who.  Suddenly you have to become a diplomat and negotiate with your parents, his parents and anyone else who has an opinion.  Then some people begin to drop out and you have to start all over again.

I almost forgot.  You have to choose the wedding venue, the caterers, the wedding gown, the flowers, church wedding or civil ceremony, the invitations, the bridesmaids, the colour scheme, where to get married, who is going to marry you, music, your shoes, a veil or not, hair, makeup, hen night.  Have I forgotten anything?

How are you feeling now?

Then the big day arrives and you’ve been dreaming of the ‘perfect’ wedding for months or even years and you decide to put relatives, emotions and alcohol in the same room and expect the perfect event.  No chance!            

So my best advice is to roll with it.  The ‘perfect’ wedding is rare and an unrealistic aspiration.  Plan a wedding that is the best for you and your fiance…no one else.  Life will throw you curves frequently and we can’t always avoid them but we can choose how we respond to them so stop, think, breathe and choose your response.

Take a few deep breaths from time to time…breathing is important!  Limit the amount of people you involve in each decision.  For every person there is an opinion and too many opinions can overwhelm you so limit the opinions.

If you would like more help with your bridal stress, visit my page products.thebridalcoach.co.uk/ to learn more.