You’re engaged…Congratulations!! As a recent newlywed, I share in your joy of marriage and… your potential miseries surrounding planning a wedding! What’s that, you say? Planning a wedding might not be 100% fun? For those superhumans out there who relish every second of planning your wedding, I commend you (and also would like some of whatever you’re drinking). For the rest of us mere Homo sapiens, I have compiled a list of surefire ways to stay sane while planning for the biggest day of your life, based on my own–completely biased–experience: Scroll down for the scoop!
1. Hire a wedding coordinator. I know, if you’re anything like me, you’re thinking, “I love planning and am so organized! Why would I waste money on this?” My venue required that I hire a day-of coordinator, and it ended up being my saving grace. My rockstar coordinator Michelle thought of tiny details I never would have thought of, allowed my family members to enjoy the day and not have to coordinate, and ran everything so seamlessly that if anything had gone wrong, I certainly had no idea (until our sendoff when the sparklers prematurely had burned out, which we actually found hilarious/made for fun pictures of cell phones lighting our path). If I could do it all over, I would have hired a full-time coordinator!
2. A friend gave me this piece of advice, which was such a stress/money-saver: “Choose three things you care the most about to spend money on, and see where you can save on everything else.” And I believe it’s possible to do this within any budget. You love flowers? Don’t skimp on those. Dream of a fabulous dress? Dream big! For us, our priorities were venue, booze, and photographer. We worked to save on everything else (we booked our flowers through a close family friend, and I got my dress second-hand), then towards the end when we found we had some wiggle room in our budget, we were able to add some fun extra things like a reasonably priced photo booth and cigars.
3. Have a destination wedding where everything is planned out for you ahead of time and you don’t have to worry about anything. You think I’m kidding…I’m not kidding.
4. If you’re not taking suggestion #3 above, give yourself time to plan. I had a seven-month engagement, which isn’t exactly short, but when planning a Hill Country wedding for 140 guests, having a few more months to plan would’ve been nice. Because we had to bring in most of our own vendors (which we wanted, to have our own personal touch), I felt like I had to make a decision every day. By the end, I didn’t want to make another decision ever again EVER.
5. Make time for wine and a close friend at least once a month week day (this is a safe space, y’all).
6. Lean on your hubby/wifey-to-be for support. In the midst of wedding planning, my then-fiancé and I decided to build a house because WHY NOT?! (protip: Don’t do this.) After several (hundred) mortgage and floorplan emails had been exchanged, I–shaking, on the brink of hysteria, wine bottle clutched in hand–calmly asked my fiancé if he’d handle all house stuff until after the wedding. He gladly did so without complaint. Hey, what’s a life partner for?
7. Take a deep breath, and remember what this is all about: you and your partner making a vow to love and support each other for the rest of your lives. And that’s the easiest part about all of this.
Photos: Laura Elizabeth Photography
Follow newlywed Kim as she eats, drinks and plays her way through Houston at AdventuresInANew(ish)City, and on Instagram!
