The Dark Side of Wedding Planning -

Whether you’re newly engaged, a couple months in or a few weeks out from your wedding, you come to realize that wedding planning can be fun (Seriously who doesn’t like tasting cakes and trying on wedding dresses?), but it’s more often than not STRESSFUL. The anxieties will come in waves as you plan your wedding, but there are four known stresses you can expect and be prepared for.

Unexpected expenses will come up.

No matter how well you plan your wedding budget, unforeseen costs will arise. Whether it’s postage stamps for invitations, beauty treatments, bridal party gifts or other popular wedding costs couples forget to budget for, you should have some wiggle room in your budget.

Everyone will have an opinion.

Your parents, his parents, the neighbors, the postman—don’t be surprised that everyone will want to throw in their two cents about what you should and shouldn’t do for your wedding. They’ll give their thoughts on your wedding to “help” you, so take the advice with a grain of salt.

There will be relationship challenges.

You’ll find that wedding planning involves keeping everyone happy and measuring up to what people expect, especially if parents are paying for/involved with the decision making. And between you and your fiancé, you’ll be surprised by what your partner doesn’t care for and what he does care for. This can cause disputes, so be ready to make some compromises.

Wedding day mishaps will happen.

Things can and will go wrong on your wedding day. Drunk relatives, unexpected delays and bad weather are just a few common misfortunes. Hopefully it won’t be anything too big, but it’s realistic to assume something won’t go your way because there are so elements and people involved. What do you do? Prepare as much as possible before your wedding and have your planner make sure everything goes right—or be ready to fix anything that goes wrong—on your wedding day so you can enjoy one of the most special days of your life.

There’s a lot to balance with wedding planning—staying financially (and mentally) stable, managing various relationships and understanding that unpredictable situations may come up is just the beginning. But if you prepare for these stresses in advance, you’re in a better position to not only overcome wedding planning, but actually enjoy it!