Your wedding day is expected to be one of the best days of your life but this also brings a large number of pressures. A survey carried out among 1,000 newly-married women by Getting Personal identified top twenty concerns, which included bad weather, choosing food everyone will like, pressures to look good and family politics.
It’s not surprising therefore that stress levels often run high and although a few wedding nerves are all part of the experience, it’s important that on the day itself you are able to decompress, be your most fabulous self and enjoy all those moments that you have looked forward to for so long.
In this blog, we share ten steps to dialling down those stress levels on your all-important day.
Don’t worry about the weather
Unless you are getting married abroad then you will be dealing with the unpredictable British weather. To avoid this becoming a stress-factor, ensure that you work closely with your venue and/or wedding planner to ensure that you know exactly how the day will flow, come rain or shine and then forget about it – there is no point in worrying about things you can’t control.
Here at Carlton Manor, we have a magnificent 200-person tepee that can be added to your package if you want to ensure you can be outside whatever the weather. Depending on the season, you can also easily plan ahead regarding concerns about either rain or heat, including using waterproof make-up, providing hand-operated fans as wedding favours, having complimentary umbrellas to hand or hiring some portable fans or heaters.
Don’t overcrowd your day
Try to ensure that you have as little to do on the morning of your big day as possible. The more you schedule, the more that has the potential to overrun or get delayed. Try and keep it down to simply getting dressed and ready and have any other treatments in advance. You’ll thank yourself for it on the day!
Hiring a professional hair and makeup artist is becoming more and more the norm, as it takes away the pressure of having to do it perfectly yourself and transforms a possible stress factor into a pamper session. Ideally, book someone who can come to you, so all you have to do is sit back with a glass of bubbly and enjoy!
Eat breakfast
Nerves, excitement and a million other things to think about can mean a lot of couples skip the most important meal of the day. Breakfast is essential however for balancing blood sugar levels and boosting energy. The best breakfast contains a mix of protein, fat and complex carbohydrates to ensure you don’t add being ‘hangry’ into the mix.
Appoint a photo-wrangler
Making sure the right people are in the right place when required is sure to send those stress levels soaring, so assign someone to corral guests for you, ideally someone who is not shy and has a loud voice! Your only role here should be to smile and look fantastic.
Allow time for travel
If it’s not a single venue wedding, ensure you have done a trial run of your journey to the ceremony, ideally on the same day of the week and time as your ceremony is taking place. It’s supposed to be fashionable for the bride to be a bit late, but if you want to stick to this tradition, it’s much safer and less stressful to park around the corner for five minutes!
Laying on transport for guests is an easy way to alleviate the stress of stragglers or people getting lost in transit but according to research by Bridebook, more and more (63%) couples are now choosing to have their wedding ceremony at their reception venue, as this makes a lot of the pressures disappear. Carlton Manor is a fully licensed venue, meaning that our couples have a lot less to worry about on the day.
Hand over your phone
A controversial one, but do you really want to spend your special day looking at a screen? According to RescueTime data, people on average check their phones 58 times a day and that habit can be hard to break. Giving your phone to someone else means that you are free to be present, in the moment and also that any last-minute supplier questions can be handled by a trusted second-in-command.
Pack a survival kit
If you are prepared for all eventualities then this means less to worry about on the day. Your kit should include things such as plasters, some basic medication, tissues, eye drops, spare contact lenses if you wear them, a mini sewing kit, wet wipes and dental floss. Give this to someone trustworthy to look after for you and you’ll have that security of knowing that it’s there for you both if you need it.
Wear in your shoes
To avoid having to break out those plasters from your survival kit, both bride and groom should wear their wedding shoes around the house for a few weeks in advance. Tips to help break your shoes in include wearing them with socks (or thicker socks for men) to help stretch them, accompanied by a 30-second blast with a hot hairdryer if they are leather. On the day, dab Vaseline on any potential blister zones. You can also lightly sandpaper the soles of new shoes to give them a bit more grip.
Speak to suppliers
Make sure you are speaking to all your suppliers in the weeks and days leading up to your wedding, to ensure everyone is on the same page and knows what they should be doing and when. This can mitigate any nasty surprises and will help you to feel more in control. Wedding insurance that covers such eventualities as suppliers going bankrupt can also be a good investment and will help to give you peace of mind.
Remember why you’re there
The final and most important step is to keep your eye on the bigger picture, which is that you are there to marry the person you love in front of friends and family. If you are relaxed and having fun then your guests will too, so try not to stress about any little things that don’t go to plan, as it’s unlikely your guests will even notice.
