7 Wedding Stressors and How to Deal With Them
With wedding planning comes a variety of things to stress you out. From figuring our your budget to choosing the right vendors, there is so much to think about! Today we're sharing seven common wedding stressors and giving you manageable tips on how to deal with them.
1. The Budget
The wedding budget is one of the biggest wedding stressors. If you don't have money put aside for your wedding, finding the amount of money needed can be a challenge. Some brides take out loans, some have family members who are willing to fund their wedding, and others have to wait to get married until they have enough saved up. After you have the money for your budget, it can be difficult to keep track as you start spending money! Here are some tips to help you with your wedding budget:
Create a realistic budget that accounts for your priorities. After you've decided what you absolutely want at your wedding, add all of the items you'll need.
Once you've set a realistic budget to cover all of your wedding costs, find a way to track your budget that works for you. Wedding websites, like TheKnot.com and WeddingWire.com, have a wedding budget tracker. You can also use create a spreadsheet in Google Sheets and track it on your computer or phone.
Create a category for "extra expenses" and allot a specified amount for any extra items you may need for your budget that you didn't account for at the beginning. This reduces the stress and anxiety from overspending by giving you a little wiggle room in your budget.
2. The Guest List
Planning your wedding guest list comes with a lot of outside opinions. Your parents may want all of the extended family to be there, as well as some of their friends. If you invite one coworker, you may feel pressured to invite all of them. First and foremost, you need to keep your wedding budget in mind, because that ultimately decides how many guests you can invite. Remember that your final guest list is ultimately up to you and your soon-to-be spouse, not your friends and/or family. Here are some tips for creating your guest list:
Do you want a big or small wedding? Decide how many guests you actually want to have.
Determine how many guests you can afford, based on your venue size and food costs per person.
Create your list in order of immediate family, close friends, extended family, and extended friends.
Consider any partners and/or kids of guests on your list. Decide if you will allow children and/or plus ones.
3. Choosing Your Bridal Party
If you have a lot of close friends and family, it can be hard to choose who to include in your bridal party. Your exact amount of bridesmaids and groomsmen may depend on who you want to stand by you. It can also be a challenge if you don't have many close friends and family. Here's what we recommend when choosing your bridal party:
Choose the people who are the most special to you.
Choose people you know will be there for you on your big day and all of the days leading up to the wedding (all of the planning and preparation).
Don't choose people just to have more people. You may regret choosing someone that you will no longer have in your life a few years later. Remember, there's no right amount of bridesmaids/groomsmen and you don't even have to have them at all!
Don't worry about having an equal number of bridesmaids and groomsmen. It's becoming much more common to have an unequal number of each.
4. Managing Expectations & Opinions
As soon as you announce your engagement, you'll get bombarded with questions about your wedding plans and opinions you didn't ask for. It can quickly get overwhelming! We recommend that you set boundaries from the very beginning. Make it clear to your friends and family what you will and will not be sharing. Let them know when you want their advice and opinions and when you do not. Be kind and be assertive.
5. Finding Your Dress
Finding your dress can be one of the most enjoyable parts of wedding planning, but it can also be stressful! Picking your style, the length, staying under budget, getting it altered...all of these things can be exhausting. Don't worry! These tips will help you choose your wedding dress:
Set your budget first. Typically, a wedding dress and all of the accessories and undergarments account for 10-15% of the total wedding budget.
Start looking early! You'll need to start shopping six to nine months before your wedding, because it can take about four months to get your dress made plus another two months for your alterations.
Consider your wedding theme and location. A beach wedding and a winter wedding are going to have two totally different gowns.
Start researching shops. Ask for recommendations and read the reviews! Know someone who recently got married? Ask them where they got their dress!
Call around. Before visiting a shop, call them to ask their price range (or look online). Also ask if they charge a fee for trying on dresses and if you need an appointment.
Wear your wedding shoes when you try on dresses and at your alteration appointments to get an accurate dress length.
Keep an open mind! You may end up falling in love with a dress that you would have never thought to try on.
6. Booking Vendors
Finding the right wedding vendor that suits your budget can be a challenge! If you're using a wedding website, they have lots of vendor recommendations in your area. You can also try joining wedding Facebook groups to ask for local recommendations. When it's time to meet with a vendor, be sure to ask lots of questions and read the print before signing a contract.
7. The Seating Chart
Planning out your seating chart can feel entirely daunting when you first start. You have to consider where to seat everyone so they'll get along and not feel left out. You have to figure out how many seats per table, how many tables you'll need, and how to display your seating chart. Will you have a large sign? Will you have a centerpiece with the table number and names? Will you have place cards for individual seats? For our best tips on creating a seating chart, read our blog on creating a seating chart with ease!
We hope reading these tips for dealing with seven common wedding stressors will give you some relief and help you feel more prepared to tackle wedding planning! Follow us on Instagram @alyssanapierdesign for more DIY wedding tips, inspiration, and more!