THIS Will Help You Avoid the Trap of Wedding Decision Fatigue!
The devil is in the details and the details can be kept to a minimum or cut out entirely. This guide will save you from blowing your budget and decision fatigue.
Too Many Cake Tastings
Pick a flavor you can both agree on as the couple. You don’t need to sample 80 types of red velvet or lemon chiffon if those aren’t your typical flavor preferences of choice. Not everyone eats the cake and more importantly, you can’t satisfy everyone so you might as well satisfy yourself. My husband and I aren’t big cake people, but we both like cheesecake and he hails from the part of the globe that spins out baklava, so we had a baklava cheesecake served at our wedding from our neighborhood restaurant, no cake tasting necessary. (You also won’t undermine any shredding-for-the-wedding diet/fitness efforts!)
Overwhelming pallet of options
Can’t go wrong with just choosing something you both like!
Too Many Yes to the Dress Fittings
Before you even embark on this journey, have a few ideas in mind of the dress style(s) you like and what flatters your figure the most. You want to look bomb on your wedding day, so get the style that does you justice and don’t let your girlfriend, sister, mom or grandma come with you if they’re going to forget it’s YOUR wedding and not theirs. Most times you can pre-screen a bridal boutique’s inventory and going rates online so you don’t end up at the wrong store that you cannot afford or one that doesn’t carry what you’re looking for.
First Looks
In common tradition, the bride and groom sleep separately and don’t see each other the night before the wedding. So “first looks” is when the bride is finally hair and make-up ready, in her wedding dress, and her groom gets to see her for the first time before the ceremony. You’ll commonly see the bride nervously tap her groom on the shoulder, who has his back to her, also nervously waiting. Good for photography and videography’s sake, but other than that, unnecessary. I personally think it’s cuter when the groom sees his bride for the first time coming down the aisle.
Veil Length
I didn’t realize there was so many different veil lengths, but some include chapel, waltz, fingertip, cathedral. The most important thing here is to weigh veil length against your ceremony venue and dress style. Side note: it’s more important to weigh veil length against ceremony venue rather than reception venue, since a lot of brides take their veil off at that point so they can partayyy.
When in doubt, nothing beats a cathedral length veil, especially if you want photos of it blowing in the wind
Jewelry
This is where you can express your style, on-brand. On my wedding day, I wore the same jewelry I wear everyday: one necklace with my husband’s name on it and a key necklace that he bought for me as a gift on one of our trips. Granted, I had a beach elopement so the casual look was appropriate. Now if I had my wedding at The Met, then maybe I could stand to go up a few notches. Once again, weigh jewelry options against venue and wedding dress. Just remember, less is more because you: 1) don’t want to detract from your wedding dress and if you’re choosing multiple jewelry pieces, you 2) don’t want them to compete against each other.
I wore simple jewelry (the same 2 necklaces that I wear everyday) to match the tone of my casual beach elopement
Ceremony to Reception Outfit Changes
If you can afford this, go for it. If your funds are limited, then please, cut this out. You’re not on Broadway, you don’t need an outfit change between Act I and Act II. Especially if you bought yourself a beautiful wedding dress, you’ll want to wear that thing all day and all night long. Give your ONE dress that glory, since under normal circumstances, that’s first and last time you’ll ever wear it.
Bottom Line: It’s perfectly normal to want to concern yourself with every detail and want to take pride in all the intricate pieces that make up your wedding. There’s absolutely NOTHING wrong with that! The only thing wrong is when it starts to impact you in an unhealthy way. Eliminate some of these details and focus on what really matters – self-care, sleep, healthy levels of exercise, meditation and good nutrition leading up to your big day, so you don’t end up with overwhelming anxiety or stress acne on the day you say “I Do.”