Mountain Bride on a paddle board in Lake Tahoe
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Destress Your Wedding-Planning | Lookback Lesson #11

Mountain Bride on a paddle board in Lake TahoeFrom Carrie Compton via Hindsight Bride

Nobody really talks about the fights or tears during wedding planning, do they? A handful of blogs, maybe, but most of the wedding related advice you get online has to do with checklists, timelines, and how to negotiate with vendors. Oh, and lets not forget all of the gorgeous pictures of happy brides and grooms celebrating a perfectly sweet wedding.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Other people’s gorgeous weddings inspire us and fill us up with ideas for our own wedding. But sometimes all of those ideas and information can stress us the eff out.

Let’s face it, wedding planning can be overwhelming. You’re in it for the long haul. You’ve spent months becoming a near expert in wedding flowers, vows, and gowns. You are immersed in wedding this, and wedding that, until you want to tear out your hair. Ack! It really takes over your life! And if you’re doing any DIY, your physical space is likely taken over with a bunch wedding crap.

Hindsight Groom and I started fighting over stupid stuff. Really stupid stuff, like which fabric patterns to use for our ceremony bunting. I knew it was time to build in some wedding-free time.

We both needed a break to unwind, to think about something other than THE Wedding. We essentially needed to build in time to reconnect and recharge our batteries. So we started taking wedding-free breaks. We’d go for a hike, or a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, or have a nice dinner together at home.

A wedding free break can take an entire day, a week or just enough time to take a run, or a hike, or a paddle, or a few runs at the ski area. Just make sure you set some ground rules: No wedding talk, and be in the moment (read: don’t even think about the wedding.) Just enjoy everything that that one minute has to offer at that time, and then enjoy the next one. I promise, as little as one hour of wedding-free time each week can keep the stress demons away.

P.S. This works with stressful jobs to. Go to the gym, or to the library and enjoy some “me time!”

P.P.S. I know some of you will balk at taking time out, especially as you get closer to your own wedding. But seriously, try to take at least 15 minutes a day to relax, clear your mind and experience yourself as something other than “The Bride.” There still is a complex, intelligent, womanly center within that candy-coated bridal shell ;-)