What to do when your feeling overwhelmed by planning your wedding or elopement.
You’re so excited, you just got engaged! You are going to get married! Yay!
You start telling your close family and friends all about the proposal and just how excited you are to spend the rest of your life with this person. THEN, you get all bug eyed when… after you tell them… you get flooded with questions….
When's your wedding going to be?
What's the date?
Where are you guys having it?
Are kids invited?
You’ve got to have a band, are you having a live band?
Are you going to be at cocktail hour?
Overwhelmed is normal when there are this many questions… that don’t have answers yet.
Pinterest Overload
Maybe you have so many pins on Pinterest that you don't even know where to start your wedding or elopement planning. Like… what time of year, what colors, how many bridesmaids, what kind of cake, what kind of flowers, where are we going for our honeymoon, who should we invite, so many questions... it can get super overwhelming!
Take Some Time
I think the first thing you need to do when you're feeling overwhelmed by wedding planning is to take a week off from wedding and elopement planning! Don't look at Pinterest! Don't talk about it! Don't make any decisions for one week! While your taking a break from wedding planning, take some time to think about your future marriage and your relationship. What do you want it to feel and be like NOW and 50 years from now. So while your dreaming of the good stuff, go and get outside and do something fun together! Enjoy the life you have together!
Long Term
After that week is over I think you need to sit down with her fiance and really think about your long-term goals about your marriage and what that means and looks like to you each other. I think that will really help you figure out what you really want the day to look and feel like.
When you say your vows to each other, what will make perfect?
Another thing to think about is to make sure you also think about if this didn't happen… I would totally regret it. Is it super important for Grandma to be there? If grandma can't walk and you pick a venue that isn't handicapped-accessible you might regret that if that was something that’s really important to you. What will make it a perfect day?
Top Three Things
Picking your top three things it's a great idea to also nail down what you really want. You and your fiancé should both take some time to individually pick out your top three things you really want for your wedding/elopement day. After you share your top three things, pick one of those things to be the MUST HAVE thing. Knowing your top and must have list will really help keep everything in perspective when making decisions for your wedding day.
Lists
Make a list of to-dos and know the order of what things to get done first! The long story short, check off location and time of year first, then tackle the big vendors, other vendors, then little details. When you have a list, it’s easy to check things off and feel like your getting stuff done. I have a great elopement planning checklist that can be found here:
Trust
Make sure you trust yourself and trust each other on what really matters! What you're going to look back on in 20 years 50 years 70 years about what really mattered that day? Do your best to make each other happy with the wedding day and keeping what matters most front and center.
Important Things
You're making the best decisions you can because your keeping the important things in mind with your relationship front and center. The best part of that wedding day is getting married and saying your vows! Remember all the other stuff is just icing on the cake!