I’m just going to tell you now, your wedding day WILL be stressful and there might be some complications, but you can plan ahead to reduce all that stress and keep everything as organized as possible.
The tips I’m about to share with you won’t guarantee that your wedding day will be perfect but it will prevent any chaos from happening.
1. Choose Bridesmaids and Groomsmen Who Actually Get Along
This is very important. If there was recent drama that occurred between your friends, make sure they aren’t in your wedding party. Remember, you want to limit as much stress, especially drama, on your wedding day.
2. Choose People That Will Actually Stand By You and Stick By You, Even Throughout the COVID Pandemic
Yes, you heard me. This goes for your wedding party, vendors or any helpers on your wedding day.
When you first ask someone to help you with the wedding or when you ask a friend to be your bridesmaid or maid of honor, ask them if they are comfortable being there on your wedding day even during COVID. If they agree to it, they have no reason to back out last minute unless they catch COVID. The reason they are your helper or bridesmaid/maid of honor is to stand by you and help you with whatever you, the bride, needs.
For my wedding, my Maid of Honor and one of my bridesmaids decided not to continue on with their roles because of fear of catching COVID. I completely understood but they didn’t let me know until LESS THAN 2 MONTHS before our wedding day. They had about 4 months to let me know ahead of time (around when COVID had just hit the U.S.) but they didn’t until it got closer to the wedding date. So many things had already been finalized and I was panicking.
This honestly put a lot of stress on me since I was already worried about other things and then I had to worry about how to replace my maid of honor and bridesmaid to make both sides of our wedding party even. Yeah, It was a mess and we ended up having to remove one of our groomsmen which I felt really bad about but there was nothing else we could do.
Anyways, whether you’re the bride, bridesmaid/maid of honor or wedding helper, PLEASE be honest and open with one another and give each other a heads up before proceeding with anything. DO NOT wait until the last minute! This will prevent unnecessary stress and any last minute changes to your wedding plans.
3. Choose People Who Live In the Same State as You
If you’re having your wedding out of state or a destination wedding, disregard this point.
It’s so much easier when everyone in your wedding party and all your vendors are in the same state as you. It’s also easier because then nobody has to travel back and forth to your state for your bridal shower, bachelorette, or wedding. Choosing people who live in the same state as you makes it easier for you to meet up with those people and help them plan out special events and visit venues together.
4. When Creating Your Guest Seating Chart, Separate Guests Who Don’t Get Along
It’s always best to keep guests separated from those they don’t get along with, whether that’s a friend or family member. Just make sure you seat them with a group of people they are related to or somewhat know and get along with.
It doesn’t matter if they are family and don’t get along. Separate them. You want to avoid creating unnecessary drama on your wedding day at all costs. The last thing you want is a fight or argument to happen at your wedding. And it happens, trust me. I’ve witnessed it before and it wasn’t pretty. You don’t want your wedding guests to remember your wedding for that.
If you are doing an assigned seating like I did for my wedding, assign guests to a table with people they are related to, get along with very well, or are at least acquainted with. Avoid seating guests with people they don’t know.
5. Create a Packing List
You will need to pack everything needed on your wedding day like wedding certificates, wedding attire, accessories, and decorations. This will ensure you don’t forget anything at home. Try to make separate packing lists for each category. For example, one for wedding attire and accessories and one for wedding decorations.
I’ve created a FREE packing list template so you can use it on the day of your wedding. Feel free to change it up according to what you need to bring.
I suggest packing everything a few days before the wedding so then you aren’t rushing to pack it all the night before. Also double check to make sure you packed EVERYTHING. On the day of my wedding, I forgot to double check my things and 10 minutes before the ceremony, realized I left our wedding certificate at home…I had to send two of my bridesmaids to get it after the wedding ceremony. So, please double check your packing list the night before or before you leave your house!
6. Communicate With All Your Vendors
Don’t forget to communicate with your vendors about every detail of your wedding and what you’d like for them to do. Share your Pinterest boards if you have to and be open and honest with them.
If there are any changes to anything relating to your wedding plans or timeline, let them know. This will prevent miscommunication, stress and unexpected changes on the day of your wedding.
7. Stay On Top of Wedding Planning
You cannot procrastinate with wedding planning. You just can’t. Time flies by really fast when you’re wedding planning so you always want to make sure you complete your tasks on time.
You never want to wait until the last minute to finalize any type of wedding plan because you’ll end up rushing and it’ll just stress you out even more. Stay on top of your plans and deadlines. Set reminders for yourself if you have to!
8. Choose People Who Are Organized
Remember, organization is KEY to a stress-free wedding! Choosing the right photographers, videographers, decor team, DJ/MC, and wedding party who know what they’re doing and are good at planning or organizing themselves, will ensure your wedding will go smooth! Trust me on this.
I purposely chose my bridesmaids, not just because they were my closest friends, but because I knew they were good at planning events and brainstorming ideas so I knew they’d be super helpful with wedding planning. Every person who helped with our wedding in some way, were chosen for a reason because they knew their stuff. Our DJ knows how to control music, our MC knows how to entertain people and grab their attention, our decor team knows what they’re doing and is always great at decorating.
It’s best to choose people who you know are organized, understanding of your vision, respectful and are specialized or have had experience in whatever role you plan to assign them to.
If the people you choose aren’t very good at planning or aren’t very organized, you can still help them by sharing your ideas and wedding vision through your Pinterest board. Otherwise it’s probably best to hire someone who can help you better plan, like a wedding coordinator. Which leads to my next point…
9. Hire a Wedding Coordinator
This is optional but HIGHLY recommended!
Honestly our wedding coordinator was the backbone to keeping our wedding day going smoothly. I know some venues might require you to hire a wedding coordinator but for ours, it was optional. We almost didn’t hire a coordinator but I felt like the day of the wedding was going to be the most chaotic. I decided that if there couldn’t be two of me at the wedding (one being myself, the bride, and the other making sure everything is going well) then we might as well hire a coordinator to make sure the wedding is running smoothly. We also loved our coordinator’s personality and passion towards wedding planning so that was another reason why we booked her.
I honestly do not regret getting a wedding coordinator. She made sure she understood and knew our wedding vision, our wedding timeline, vendors, wedding decor, EVERYTHING. Our coordinator knew the whole wedding day from top to bottom and always checked in with us throughout the day. She also helped us finalize our wedding timeline and create our guest seating chart!
You should definitely invest in a wedding coordinator if you have the money. There are good and bad coordinators out there so just make sure you do some research on them before booking! If you don’t have money for a wedding coordinator, you can always look for a close friend or family member. Preferable someone who is good at planning and organizing and willing to help you run the wedding.
10. Hire a Catering Company or Cater through Your Venue
I also highly recommend investing on hiring a catering company or catering through your venue! I know it can be expensive but trust me when I say that it will save you and your family so much time and stress.
Definitely do your research and see which companies provide the best and most affordable food. I also suggest doing buffet style to reduce your catering cost. My husband and I catered through our venue and yes it was pricey. They charged $35/person for buffet and $25/kid. I believe we paid around $3000 which included catering fee, coordination fee, and equipment fees. It sounds like a lot but honestly after the wedding we were thankful we went with catering.
I know some couples choose to cater their own food which is totally fine and I respect that. It’s just that it can be pretty stressful for not just you but your family or friends (whoever is helping). We wanted to avoid putting any stress on our families so they could relax and enjoy our special day with us. They were able to just sit back and relax instead of rushing to refill drinks or setting up the food. It’s just a hassle and we didn’t want any of it.
I hope you found these tips helpful! Don’t expect your wedding day to be 100% perfect, because it probably won’t be. However, these tips will help make things less stressful. Just remember to take a deep breath, go with the flow and stay positive even if something goes wrong. Don’t let anything ruin your special day!
