Ideally, you only get married once. So when it comes to the run-up to your wedding, you don’t really know how you’re going to feel. It’s not like you’ve done it before. And well, as I navigated my way through the last stages of wedding planning, I wanted to document the whole host of emotions you go through. So here’s a few notes I jotted down in those last few weeks!
1 month to go
I think the vibe of the month before your wedding, is panic. The panic of feeling like you’ve forgotten something. The panic that the big day is so soon and you’re not done yet. The panic of not being quite sure what you should be doing. I’ve noticed that during this time, brides and grooms tend to make impulse decisions as well. They either change something last minute or book something extra they didn’t budget for, just to feel like they’re ~doing stuff~. I did the latter and finally booked a videographer for our wedding. It was the best panic-decision I’ve made though, so no regrets.
2-3 weeks to go
This is the peak of the wedding stress, a couple of weeks out. I suddenly realised I didn’t factor in how long it was going to take to do simple DIY jobs, and wedmin suddenly took over my evenings. For example – my instax seating plan – it was literally just printing photos on my instax printer and attaching them to a metal grid with pegs. Sounds simple enough. But I didn’t factor how long it takes to find the perfect photo of each guest. Cue breakdown.
There’s also a moment around this time when you look at your almost husband/wife and say “We should have just eloped, shouldn’t we?”. And they will say “Yeah… it’s probably too late now, right?”.
You basically just want it over!
1 week to go
Suddenly it’s the week before the wedding and you miraculously just… let go of it all.
I’m an absolute control-freak, but I realised that I’d done all the planning I could do. I couldn’t control anything else – the weather, what your guests think, if anything goes wrong, etc. That acceptance means you can actually start to enjoy it! Get a bit excited, wrap up work, start packing. It’s time for the good bit.
Your own wedding is, as you would expect, very surreal. So ultimately, there’s no right or wrong way to behave in the lead-up. Go full Bridezilla, have a month long party, or retreat into your shell to prepare. It’s totally your call.
But I have to admit, I’m glad it’s over! It was wonderful, but yeah, I’m grateful to have one less thing to stress about in my life!
Head over here to read absolutely everything there is to read about wedding planning and the wedding itself, lads.