5 Tricks That Beat Wedding Overwhelm
Feeling overwhelmed with all the choices involved in planning your wedding?
With hundreds of beautiful wedding locations to choose from here in the Hudson Valley in every size and shape imaginable, dozens of wedding services to sift through, dates and times to settle on, not to mention all the details of colors, styles, invitations, menus and themes...it's enough to drive the sanest bride to be absolutely MAD.
Here are 5 tricks from Professor Sheena Iyengar, author of The Art of Choosing, that will stop wedding overwhelm in its tracks and prevent the stress of decision-making.
1. Let Someone Else Pick.
If it's an area of your wedding that is of lesser importance to you, why not let someone else pick?
You can delegate the decision to your fiancé or your uber-organized Maid of Honor. And I bet your mother would be pleased as punch if you ask her to pick for you.
Letting someone else make the little choices frees you up to take your time with the choices you care about most.
2. Call On the Experts.
It takes hours of time and hard research to sift through the choices of locations, professionals and styles available for your wedding.
Give yourself a short cut and ask a wedding expert for his opinion. He knows weddings inside and out and can steer you in the right direction.
It's like investing in stocks. I'm probably better off asking Warren Buffet for his opinion rather than trying to sweat it out on my own. (A lot better off!)
3. Ask Your Family & Friends.
Rather than taking the total burden of the responsibility on yourself, ask your close family and friends to share their thoughts. An honest opinion can make your choices much easier.
DANGER, Will Robinson! While Professor Iyengar has a point, I've been working in the wedding business long enough to know that taking an opinion poll can be a complete disaster. Everyone (and their mother, and their mother's next door neighbor) will have an opinion about your wedding they just can't wait to share.
Be very careful whose opinion you solicit and only ask people you trust. For instance, if your best friend is a fashion diva, she's a good one to ask about your wedding gown. But that's probably not a decision to leave to your little brother.
4. Give Yourself a Time Limit.
One of our couples actually visited literally 30 different locations before making their final choice. And then they went on to visit a dozen DJs and nine photographers...Do you really think they had a better wedding than our couples who only looked at three choices?
No. But they did have a lot more STRESS.
You can easily spend weeks or months researching ceremony officiants, photographers and florists in the Hudson Valley. One of the best ways to make any choice easier...and save yourself a lot of time...is to set a time limit.
Vow to give yourself only 1 hour of research. If the choice is super important to you, give yourself a week. Set a limit that is reasonable for you.
If you feel like you have too many choices, give yourself a cut off date and stick with it. This leaves you more time and energy to actually enjoy what it feels like to be engaged.
5. Go With "Good Enough."
There are some choices for your wedding where you will want to spend the time doing research and making careful selections. But there comes a time when "good enough" is really good enough.
If you find your head swimming with options for non-critical decisions in planning your wedding...JUST PICK ONE. I guarantee it will be good enough, and it immediately relieves the decision-making pressure.
After all, as long as you get the Big Decisions right...like marrying the right person...the rest is a piece of wedding cake.
Got any tips for making wedding decisions easier? What has worked for you? Leave a comment and share your wisdom!