You Can Have a Stress-free Wedding Day

By Tiffany Wilson

From the time that every woman is a little girl, they dream about their dream wedding. They have visions of themselves looking gorgeous floating down the aisle in their spectacular wedding gown, of their handsome groom gazing lovingly at them, the romantic music, the delectable dinner, and the amazing, scrumptious cake.

What every little girl doesn’t dream about is the hectic wedding day schedule, the tardy florist, the ripped wedding gown spaghetti strap, and all of the other things that can go wrong. Murphy’s Law can run rampant on a wedding day, and can reduce a glowing bride to a blubbering mess.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. You have to admit that you cannot stop Murphy’s Law from making an appearance, but you can lessen its impact with some careful planning and delegation.

With all the running around that you will be doing on your wedding day, you actually may forget to eat! A hungry bride is not a happy bride. Before your wedding day, make arrangements to have healthy food and water available for you and the rest of the wedding party. If you are getting ready in a hotel, talk to the catering department the day before and arrange to have them bring up some fruit, light pastries, and water to your room as you are getting ready. Then everyone can munch as they are getting their hair and makeup done. If you are getting ready at home, pick up a fruit plate and muffins from a local grocery store the day before.

Most often, wedding day problems are the result of miscommunication, or even lack of communication. Key people don’t know where to be, or when. A week before the wedding, give each key player in the wedding a wedding day schedule, and highlight on the schedule where they are supposed to be, and when. Provide this schedule to your floral designer, cake artist, wedding party, family members, and anyone else involved in the wedding. At the wedding rehearsal, review the schedule with everyone making sure they understand it. Carry a few extra copies with you in case someone forgets it, loses it, or didn’t receive it.

On the day of the wedding, there will be many details, anticipated and unanticipated, that may need attending to. It could be something with the caterer, DJ, or any other issue. To save yourself the stress of having to deal with these issues, designate a few “IR” (issue resolution) people. The jobs of these IR people will be to deal with these issues as they see fit, lessening the stress on you. If they are unsure as to how to handle the situation, then they will come to you. Make sure that these people are very familiar with your schedule and overall desires for your wedding so that they can make informed decisions. You can even assign each person to a particular aspect of the wedding, such as reception décor, ceremony décor, etc. And of course, make sure everyone else knows to contact these people first before coming to you with any issues.

There’s no sense in designating IR people to help you if no one knows about them. Put each IR person’s name, the aspect of the wedding that they are responsible for, and their contact information on the wedding day schedule. And who should be an IR person? In most cases, you should leave the wedding party out of this. For the majority of the day, they are going to be with you or the groom, getting ready, participating in pictures, and supporting you on your special day. Instead, ask Cousin Kate, Aunt Martha, or your friend Sid, who are all more than willing to help out.

Now a schedule is great – as long as everyone sticks to it! It’s easy to lose track of time on this hectic day. Ask one of the bridesmaids and groomsmen to be the “timekeeper” – they will be in charge of letting the bridal parties know when and where they have to be. Being the timekeeper is not an easy job on a wedding day, so be sure not to delegate any other tasks to the timekeeper so that they can concentrate on this very important task. Of course, unexpected things may happen causing the schedule to slip. Be aware of this and don’t be too hard on your timekeeper.

There is not way to anticipate all of the things that could go wrong, but you can attempt to prepare for them, once again by delegating. Ask someone that is not in the wedding party to act as a “go-for” – “go-for” this, “go-for” that. When the heel breaks off of your shoe, then your “go-for” is there for you to fetch a new pair of shoes. Once again, put your “go-for’s” name and contact information on the schedule. Your “go-for” should be willing to be available at any time during the day of your wedding, so make sure that they are prepared to make that commitment. Once again, don’t assign this task to anyone in the wedding party. Instead, Uncle Dan has a fast little car that can deliver the ring bearer’s juice-stained dress shirt to the 1-hour cleaners in no time.

All your hard work and planning have paid off, and you have had a magical wedding. At the end of the wedding reception, you and the groom will excuse yourselves to your honeymoon suite, and your guests will all make their way home. What about the gifts? Once again, delegate. Ask a friend or family member to pick up the gifts and cards and arrange to deliver them to your house when you arrive home after your honeymoon.

Congratulations! You just had a stress-free wedding day!

About the Author:

Tiffany D. Wilson is the owner of Platinum Blossom, which makes personalized lotions, lip balms, massage oils, and other bath & body favors for special events and businesses.

Tiffany may be contacted by email at  tiffany.wilson@platinumblossom.com.