Bridal Meltdown (And How to Stop It)
Somewhere in the planning,
most bride-to-be’s, to some degree or another will go into
emotional overload. This can include anything from crying every
20 minutes to screeching at the top of her lungs for no apparent
reason. The upshot--completely normal.
Next to buying your first home
(and other life-altering events), your wedding day is one of the
single most stressful events in your life. The extremely calm
and put together bride-to-be’s are the ones that scare me.
Underneath that calm exterior is likely a bride ready to blow.
No, the bride who is starting to come unglued is the one I trust….this
is expected.
There are no surefire methods
to stop this emotional train from jumping the tracks, but you
can try to soften the crash. Many brides also work or go to school
(or God forbid, go to school AND work) and the strain and pressure
of trying to keep up with her job and/or her studies AND trying
to plan the most important day in her life will eventually take
an emotional toll. Some tips for trying to slow down this speeding
train are as follows:
1) If
you can afford it, hire a Wedding Coordinator or Consultant.
These people are awesome. Some misconceptions of wedding coordinators
is that they do ALL the wedding planning and take over. This isn’t
true of most of them. To make sure you get someone who will work
WITH you, interview a couple or ask other brides for their opinions.
Wedding Coordinators should offer suggestions and do a great deal
of the comparison shopping for you. Most established coordinators
have a stable list of vendors and/or suppliers who offer them
discounts for using their services--usually substantial savings
that he/she can pass on to you. Most coordinators are worth every
dime and well worth the peace of mind for the bride who is so
busy she can’t plan her own wedding.
2) If
you can’t afford a Coordinator, DELEGATE.
Rally friends, family and anyone else who would be willing to
help you out. Friends can check out reception halls, bridesmaid
dresses, catering suppliers, and lots of other bridal necessities
and weed out the riffraff. It’s like having a lot of wedding
coordinators for free. Once they have done a lot of the work of
narrowing your choices, it will make it easier on you to make
final decisions.
3) If
you have access to the Internet, you could surf there for HOURS
finding a lot of the things you need. There are
literally hundreds of bridal sites. One of the larger perks is
that most suppliers on-line offer deeper discounts for wedding
accessories, invitations and other needs than buying things at
bridal stores or invitation stores. UW has the largest “on-line
wedding mall” of anyone around and you could buy most of
what you need without ever leaving your chair.
I had a girlfriend, that, toward
the last weeks before her wedding, every gift that arrived sent
her to the floor in tears. Personally, I thought she was nuts,
but I knew that the strain was starting to wear on her. Another
suggestion: have all the wedding gifts and respond cards shipped
to your mother’s, your Maid of Honor’s, anywhere but
your house. Sometimes, just getting the wedding out of your face
for awhile will help you pull yourself together.
Weddings are stressful and
you won’t be able to avoid all of the stress that comes
with it. Getting people to help or hiring a professional will
go a long ways towards relieving some of it. On your wedding day,
the only tears that should be shed are those of joy. This is my
wish for your wedding day.
