Bridal Meltdown (And How to
Stop It)
By Cheryl
Starkey
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.
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