A stress-free wedding: 6+1 tips for the planning and the day itself

Insights · Wedding planning

Planning a wedding involves a lot of decisions, but it doesn’t have to involve a lot of stress. Most of the time, the stress comes from the same few things: leaving it late, losing track of paperwork, money and other people’s opinions.

Here are seven tips, six practical ones and one about mindset, drawn from what we see every year with the couples we photograph. This isn’t a list of every wedding task. You will find that, step by step, in our wedding planning checklist. This is about the approach: how to get to your day feeling calm.

Contents (8)

1. 1. Start early and keep everything in one place
2. 2. Set a budget and agree who pays for what
3. 3. Book the church, the venue and your suppliers early
4. 4. Build the wedding around the two of you
5. 5. Listen to advice, keep what suits you
6. 6. Put together your own inspiration board
7. 7. Relax and enjoy the day
8. Frequently asked questions about a stress-free wedding

1. Start early and keep everything in one place

Start planning well before the day. The more time you have, the fewer decisions you will make in a rush. You don’t need to do everything at once; you just need to know what comes next.

Keep all the wedding paperwork in one place: a folder at home and a shared folder on your phone or laptop that you can both see. It also helps to set up an email address just for the wedding. All your supplier emails live there, and you never have to dig for that one quote from a month ago among the newsletters and bills.

• One shared folder for quotes, contracts and receipts.
• A simple spreadsheet of suppliers, phone numbers and what has been agreed.
• A shared calendar for appointments, fittings and deadlines.

2. Set a budget and agree who pays for what

Set a budget at the start and do your best to stick to it. It’s easy to get carried away, and before you know it you are wondering where all the money went. Splitting the total into categories helps, as does noting every cost the moment you book it and leaving a small cushion for surprises.

Agree early on who is paying for what, too. When families are contributing, an honest conversation at the beginning saves a lot of misunderstandings later. And decide together which three things matter most to you. That is where it’s worth spending; elsewhere, compromise comes more easily.

3. Book the church, the venue and your suppliers early

The church, the reception venue and the people you want with you on the day are the first things to book. Many of them fill their calendars early, especially spring and summer Saturdays, so the longer you wait, the fewer options you will have.

For the order of bookings and how far ahead each one is usually made, we have a separate guide: how early to book a wedding photographer. If you are still looking for a place, see our guides to churches for weddings in Patras and wedding venues in Achaia. And don’t leave the paperwork until the last minute: the marriage licence takes time.

4. Build the wedding around the two of you

Take your inspiration from yourselves: the places you love, the music you listen to, the way you spend time with your friends. A wedding that feels like you is easier to plan, because the decisions come more naturally.

Choose things you both like, and don’t leave your partner out of the planning. They are not just another guest on the day. Split the jobs according to what each of you enjoys, one taking the music and the schedule, the other the decor and the invitations, and make the big decisions together.

5. Listen to advice, keep what suits you

Ask friends who married recently. You will pick up plenty of useful tips: which supplier was reliable, what they would do differently, where they spent money for no reason. Keep only what feels right for you, though, and hold on to your own picture of the wedding you want.

When the opinions start piling up, one simple line helps: “Thanks, we’ll think about it.” You don’t have to justify every decision. It’s your wedding.

6. Put together your own inspiration board

Take photos, save posts on Instagram and Pinterest, and put together your own inspiration board. That way you will work out, if you don’t know already, which style you love, and you will gather ideas for your own day. After a while you will notice certain colours, materials and moods coming up again and again. That is your style.

A board is also the best way to brief your suppliers: your florist, your venue and we understand what you want far faster from a few images than from long descriptions. For ideas, see our guide to wedding decoration.

7. Relax and enjoy the day

The last tip matters most. Relax and enjoy the run-up, and the day itself even more. Focus on what you are celebrating, not on the pressure to make everything go exactly to plan.

Something small will always change: a delay, a flower in a different shade, a cloud. If the weather worries you, read what we do about rain on your wedding day. A good wedding day timeline with a little breathing room between moments does more than any amount of perfectionism. Ask a friend or your maid of honour to be the contact for suppliers, so your own phone stays quiet.

And don’t worry about the photographs. If you feel awkward in front of the camera, have a look at “We’re not photogenic”. The best photos happen when you forget we are there. At her party, Mina put on a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses and danced with her family and friends (their story). Those are the moments that stay with you.