Everyone says "wedding planning is stressful."
It’s practically a cliche to say this. Let’s get to the real reason to what makes it stressful, and it boils down to one sentence.
The great majority of couples have never planned a wedding before, or any event this size, and it’s a lot of pressure to get everything right because once it’s done, it’s done.
That’s a lot of pressure!! Pressure leads to stress, and stress leads to . . . well . . . stuff that’s not so fun.
Avoid the headaches, and enhance your day by remembering some of these simple hacks to make your wedding day easier!
Here are our top 5 mistakes to avoid when wedding planning that are often overlooked.
1. Overlooking important details in your contracts.
Aside from budgeting, and chasing down RSVPs (really cousin Ben? Why can’t you let me know if you’re coming or not??), navigating and coordinating your vendor contracts can be stressful. However, it’s even more stressful if you don’t. Vendors will put certain requirements in their contract. These requirements are there so your vendors can do their best work, and create the experience you hired them to produce on your wedding day. Sometimes you may run into one vendor that has a policy which overlaps with another. A perfect example of this is that often times Venues will have access times for other vendors to setup and tear down before and after your event. Meanwhile your other vendors (i.e. floral, catering, entertainment) may have required lead times and strike times for them to do their work. It’s important that you coordinate the timelines between these vendors as well as the start & end times of your event so that contractual requirements are met, and your vendors can produce the best experience. Otherwise, if you don’t do this, you may be faced with either the issue of having to change your wedding day timeline after invites have been sent, or delays in service on the day of your wedding.
WHAT WE RECOMMEND:
It’s important to carefully read through your contracts, take important notes, and compare policies between your contracts. Not only is it a good idea to have all of your contracts in one convenient place to look through them, it’s also a good idea to start your own document where you write down important things from each contract that may overlap with other vendors.
2. Not setting time aside in your day to breathe.
Wedding days can be, and usually are, a whirlwind. They go by so quickly, and it feels like every minute is go, go go! It doesn’t have to be this way though. Having time to breathe and soak things in will be so important to creating memories.
WHAT WE RECOMMEND:
Don’t plan too much! Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in wanting to do “ALL THE THINGS” on your wedding day. Make lists, prioritize, and make cuts. Most importantly, schedule some time for you and your new spouse to be alone before the day is over.
3. Worrying about if something doesn't go exactly to plan.
Let me share a secret with you. 99% of the time weddings don’t go exactly to plan. There are so many moving parts, so many people, and so many things that are completely outside of anyone’s control that can affect your wedding day. Here’s the good news, 90% of the time these things are minor inconveniences at best.
WHAT WE RECOMMEND:
Let your day unfold the way it does. If a limo or photographer runs late, if the officiant doesn’t get the script exactly right, whatever it may be, *let the mistakes be the little gems that make your day special and unique. Focus on the big picture, and that’s the fact that you’re joining your life with your best friend, and you have your favorite people to surround you in this moment. Basically, don’t sweat the small stuff.
*This is not to say that you should let everything slide. If a vendor really messes up you should definitely address it with them.
4. Not having an emergency fund.
This is often the most overlooked part of any wedding budget. As the old saying goes, “Save your money for a rainy day.” Until the robot overlords takeover, we have to rely on our fellow humans to make things happen, and this includes our wedding day. However, sometimes things happen to our fellow humans that make it so they’re unable to carry out their services. In these more rare and unfortunate circumstances the only option may be to hire another professional at the last minute. The issue that most couples run into is that they’re at the mercy of who’s available, and often times they haven’t put aside an ample emergency fund to cover if this happens.
WHAT WE RECOMMEND:
This is a tough one to really narrow down. We understand everyone’s financial situation is different, and along with that everyone’s budget is different too. You’ll have to decide and figure out what you think an appropriate amount to put in an emergency fund will be. If you were to ask us, at the time of writing this, we would say $4,000-$7,000. The reason we suggest this is that the vendors you would most likely need to hire last minute are the creatives – photography, videography, and DJ. The reason being is you typically pick these because they have an artistic style you like, and they often work in small teams or even solo. Having the funds set aside to afford whoever is available in case of an emergency is a huge stress-relief!
5. Taking time off before the wedding.
Often times when it comes to taking time off couples are thinking of the honeymoon, and who can blame them? The first vacation as a married couple is definitely a milestone to look forward to! That being said, the week leading up to your wedding can be one of the most action-packed, intense, and potentially stressful times if you feel like there’s too many things to do and not enough time.
WHAT WE RECOMMEND:
Again, this is one of those things where people can differ greatly. You really have to know yourself, and your future spouse to make the call on this one. We recommend taking off the week of your wedding if you can. If you can’t do the full week, then hopefully at least 3 days before (i.e. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday). This way if and when anything last minute comes up that you need to do, you can do it.
BONUS MISTAKE TO AVOID: Waiting until the last minute to turn in vendor materials and planning forms.
Sometimes wedding planning is weird in the sense that you know there’s still a lot to do, but you can’t do all of it yet. For example, you can’t get a final estimate on your catering until you get a guest count with your RSVPs. However, sometimes there’s things we can do that we put off to the last minute, and doing this not only stresses you, it also stresses your vendors.
WHAT WE RECOMMEND:
Every week during wedding planning, put on your calendar one hour to do a “wedding check-up”. This is where you pull out your binder/planner (or in our case login to your online planner), and read through the questions your vendors have for you. Some vendors offer a more personalized experience they are willing to put time into and create for you, but they’ll in turn require some more info from you to achieve this. By scheduling a “wedding check-up” on a regular basis you’ll naturally accomplish completing what your vendors need from you on a more even keel, and you won’t be stressed with as many last minute tasks when it gets to be close to your wedding.
Do you agree or disagree with our list? Let us know in the comments!!
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