Organizing the details ...

This post is inspired by a dear friend whose getting married on 7/11 ... she's begun working on the final details of the wedding and I mentioned that she needs to remain stress free. She then mentioned that she's a bride and that its hard to be calm!

I advocate a stress free environment. It's not always do-able, but it should be the end goal. Planning a wedding can and will be challenging at times, but the closer the wedding day gets, the more its vital for you to relax and take things in stride. Firstly, being stressed out affects your health and your skin ... you want to be healthy and glowing on the inside AND outside on the big day. Secondly, being stressed brings a negative energy to the wedding, which is probably not the vibe you're going for.

Using A's wedding date of 7/11, she's just about 2.5 months out ... what should she be working on now? Details and nothing else. (The rest of this paragraph isn't applicable to you if you've had less than 4+ months to plan the wedding ... I'll post later this week on managing the shorter time frame). Your vendors should be booked and up to date on what they will be providing, your invitations should be out and hopefully RSVP's are trickling in! Your dress and all the other attire for the bridal party should be almost perfectly tailored. The biggest time consumers now should be your favors (if you're having), out of town gift bags (if you're having),music selection for your ceremony and if you're writing your own vows, getting some pen to paper. All the planning should be to rest, you should be working on details. If you've hired a planner, they should be working on creating the day's timeline with you and making sure that you are getting ready to get hitched. Let your planner deal with the last minute craziness that may flair up (suddenly an extra guest or two pops up, your cellist doesn't have the ceremony address, the florist got in a bad shipment of flowers etc) - whatever nonsense arrives, let the planner handle it. That's why you hired one, right?

Most importantly, as the bride, you should be stress free and indulgent. Go to the spa, read lots of romance novels, whatever you do to unwind. Just take the focus off of the wedding, so that when you start to walk down the aisle, you'll fully be in the moment.

Take a page out of my Maxwell's book and enjoy the warm weather!