I understand that planning weddings is freakin stressful. I know that it’s not an easy process. It’s very complex. You’ve got a lot of different things going on, a lot of different things you have to decide on. It can be very overwhelming. To help, these are the Top 7 Common Wedding Concerns that I hear all the time and some ways to solve them.
Top 7 Common Wedding Concerns
You’re worried about things, and that is perfectly normal. There’s a lot of money involved in it. Most people planning a wedding have never planned a wedding before, and they maybe have only been to a few weddings, and there are just so many options out there.
If you are freaking out, do not feel do not feel like you’re you’re the only one because everyone freaks out a little bit about their wedding. So these are the things I’m going to be covering. These are probably the big concerns that I see quite a bit.
- money
- pleasing everyone
- knowing what to do
- bad weather
- creating a schedule
- looking good in photos
- something going wrong
1. Money
I think this is the biggest concern most people have. I’ve yet to work with a millionaire that I know of. So everyone’s got some concerns about money. The first concern might be how big should my budget be.
Once they have an idea on a total budget, they have to decide how much to spend on each thing. How much should I spend on the venue? How much should I spend on flowers? How much should I spend on catering?
This is just life; we don’t have enough money (top ways to save money on your wedding). There are plenty of things I would buy if I just had unlimited money, and you would do the same for your wedding. Now, here are some of the things that I suggest you can do to deal with that.
First of all, get realistic numbers before deciding on your overall budget. Go through all the things and get realistic numbers like this is what is costs to get a good wedding venue. This is what I have to spend realistically on photography or a DJ.
You can find the cheapest options out there like a photographer for under 500 dollars, but I is that the quality you want? Make sure the numbers you are using are on the same level of quality that you want.
Once you have that realistic number for your total budget, I would suggest you decide on what’s really important to you and you put your biggest chunk of your budget towards the things that are most important and then go lower on your list of importance. Don’t spend as much money on stuff you don’t care about.
Another little fun tip that I’ve talked about before is having people put money towards something instead of buying random gifts. Yes, they could buy you pans, but is that what you really want? Is that meaningful? Have them contribute two hundred dollars towards a photo booth or something else. Not everyone is OK with asking people to do that, but it is a possibility. I have seen it work for some people.
In general, you get what you pay for.
I’m on my new laptop that just cost me like fifteen hundred dollars. Today I opened up my old laptop, which is like eight years old or something, and I almost lost my mind. It was so slow and so annoying, I wanted to bash it into the ground.
I am so happy that I spent the fifteen hundred dollars to get this new laptop because the other one was not functioning, and it makes me angry at slow. You don’t want that kind of experience with your wedding.
2. Pleasing Everyone
Everyone has opinions. You need to wear a veil. You need to put a tiara in your hair. You need you need to serve only vegan food. Everyone has opinions on things, and they’re all going to give them to you. Most people are very open about what they think should and shouldn’t happen at weddings.
You don’t want to upset those important people, and that’s where things get difficult. You don’t want to upset them, and you want people to have a good time. You want to please everybody you want to, but that is very difficult and hard.
Let’s talk about some ways that you can navigate pleasing everyone. First of all, know it’s OK to listen to people. There’s nothing wrong with listening to people, but that doesn’t mean you have to do what they say. When you just ignore people and tell them to shut up, that’s going to make them upset. At least listening to them and considering what they say is a good idea.
Focus on the people that are most important to you, like listening to your parents. You probably don’t want to really upset your brothers or sisters, grandparents, the people that are closest to you, but that crazy aunt that you’ve seen once in your life, who cares what she says?
In the very end, after you’ve listened, you might need to compromise. See if there is a way to make both you and them happy.
You have to remember, though, in the end, it comes down just the two of you and this is your day. So make the decision that is best for you.
3. Knowing what to do
You have to make a lot of decisions in planning a wedding. A lot of decisions. I mean, like 100 decisions and there’s so many options out there.
If you go look on Pinterest, if you go look in bridal magazines, you’ll see five million different ways you can do your weddings. There are all these colors, themes, things that you can have there.
Do I want to band? Do I want to do outdoor dominant indoor? Do I want to do a buffet? Do I love buffets are a little harder to do these days, but you know, so all these options, there’s just so much stuff to do and you don’t know what to do.
Start off doing research. Look at all the options, and see what you like. Start making a list.
It doesn’t matter if it’s popular. That’s not what this is about. It’s about what you like. Talk to people that have recently had weddings. What worked really well for you? What was a waste of time and money? What do you wish you had done that you didn’t do?
If all of this is too overwhelming, hire yourself a professional planner. They will take care of almost all of the stuff for you or at least minimize minimize the decisions that you have to make.
4. Bad Weather
Weather can have a big effect on your wedding day. People worry about the extreme temperatures. What if it’s too hot on the wedding day? What if it’s too cold on the wedding day? What if it’s really windy? What if it’s raining or if it’s snowing?
You want their guests to be able to go outside. You want to be able to do photos outside. It’s really hard to do photos outside when there’s a crazy rain, a snow storm, or whatever.
Know you can’t control the weather but you can always prepare for it. Have indoor and outdoor option so you know if you want the outdoor ceremony but if it rains you can move indoors. Pick a date that you know is going to be safer for the weather. If you pick December, you know it’s going to be cold. If you pick August, you know it’s going to be hot.
5. Creating a Wedding Day Schedule
Creating a schedule can be very overwhelming. You want to make sure you fit everything in, having enough hours to do all the things you want to do. You also have to figure out when to do things. What do you do first? When do you do this?
If you’re going to create a wedding schedule on your own, list all the things that you want to happen. Then, estimate how much time each thing will take. Then, arrange things in a logical order. You can’t do some things before you get your dress on and other things need to happen after the ceremony.
Making a schedule is not easy. I make schedules for my couples, or if you hire a planner, they can make a schedule for you. Feel free to check out my Wedding Schedule Template.
6. Something Going Wrong on your Wedding Day
A lot of stuff can go wrong at your wedding. There are lots of things to keep track of. You could forget this or that. Does the guest book go on this table or that one? Has the cake arrived yet? What if they play the wrong music? What if you have a hair or makeup issue?
I know that all sounds very scary, but there is a way to fix all of it. Prepare in advance. One, hiring good vendors that are going to take care of you. If you hire a non-professional, something could go wrong.
My biggest advice for if something goes wrong is don’t freak out. Most likely it is something small that won’t really matter. Relax and let it happen
7. Looking Good in Your Weddings Photos
People worry about how they will look in their wedding photos. They don’t know how to pose. They don’t know how to do anything with her hands. They’re worried about double chins. They’re worried about big arms, big hips. They want to look real, look happy. They don’t want to have fake smiles. They want beautiful backgrounds. That’s a lot of stuff!
Here are some quick tips for looking good in your wedding photos. As far as your body position goes, it’s never good to stand straight up. Shift your weight onto one foot versus the other, usually toward the back foot. Make sure your arms are never pinched against your side because it will make them look bigger. Don’t squish your chin down.
There are a few ways to get real smiles and look real. Interact with each other. Hug and kiss and snuggle and do all the things you love to do. Tell jokes or start out with a fake laugh. Eventually, you will start really laughing. Be in the moment. Think about what’s happening and that’s going to make you smile.
For locations, find shade. That usually helps. If you aren’t in the shade, put the sun behind you. That way, you won’t be squinting.
Does this still sound like a lot? The easy route for all of this is to hire a professional photographer that can do all these things for you so you don’t have to worry about it. Trust me, it will make things easier and you will look great!
Final Thoughts on Dealing with Wedding Concerns
Overall, preparing is big. So much of your success comes from what you do before the wedding day. Do as much as you can on the front end. Most of these wedding concerns can be removed by simply hiring good vendors so you know you’ll be take care of. They do this all the time, so the big things for you are little to them.
Make sure you give your self enough time to plan all this. Don’t try and plan a whole wedding in 2 weeks. 8-16 months is a good amount of time to knock it all out.
Weddings are stressful but enjoy the process. Enjoy going and picking out things and doing it with your family and friends. Try to have a positive mindset about it all.
In the end, focus on what matters and that is you guys getting married. As long as that happens, then everything will be okay.
Still have some concerns? Here are even more common wedding concerns and how to deal with them.
