Wedding Week Stress and How to Banish It

**HECTIC HEADS**

**How to avoid being *that* couple.**
**Hot tips from Melbourne celebrant Nat Sproal**

Weddings tend to amp up the stress in the week prior.

Let’s chat out some things that make it that way- and some ways to mitigate the wed week stress.

Trigger 1: Guests arriving from interstate/ overseas.

Maybe they’re staying with you. All of a sudden the house feels very busy and very loud. There’s new routines to adapt to and people to ‘care’ for. Ensure there’s food in the fridge, clean towels and bedding, dinner each night, keep them entertained etc.

Maybe you haven’t seen them for a long while and the emotional component of that is also weighing on you.

Maybe, as much as you love them- they drive you kinda nuts after the first day or there are challenging or difficult dynamics at play. That shit is tiring.

Trigger 2: Leaving things that really matter to the last minute.

Two things I see left to the end often are writing vows and choosing music playlists or providing a like list for your DJ. These are big elements that should have been sorted long before the final week.

I nudge all my couples to write their vows a month out. No better feeling than being completely happy with them and sitting pretty knowing that box is well and truly ticked. If you still haven’t started and you’re sending your celebrant a vow SOS email the day before, they’re not going to be happy, trust me.

Trigger 3: Obsessing about the weather or other stuff you can’t control

Stop. Just stop. It won’t change it and the forecast tends to change dramatically day to day anyway. You should have a Plan B that you are happy with in place. What will be will be. Everyone will have fun regardless. They will.

One of my couples this year was so worried about people ‘having a good time’ it was getting in the way of their own good time. I said to them- ‘you’ve put all the right elements in place for a cracking night- if they don’t have a good time, it’s on them’

Free meal, free booze, live music, dancefloor, cocktails, chats and laughs. What more could they want?

How do I go into my wedding week calm and relaxed?

-Ensure you’re as ready as can be

-Take the week off work prior. Prepping for a wedding and hosting guests is a big load. Working as well is likely to send you over the edge.

-Grocery shop online and have it delivered.

-Go out to dinner by all means but you don’t have to take your guests on a city tour.

-Have as much wedding ‘work’ out of the way as possible.

-Allow people to help you. They will ask. Let them.

-Let guests Uber from the airport. Take a load off. You can’t be everything to everyone.

-If you have a house full, take breaks from each other. Go and have a massage or go for a walk by yourself or with your partner. Close the door and have a shower in the dark (trust me!).

-Maybe they stay at a nearby Air BnB instead..

If they’re not staying with you and you haven’t seen them in a long while, arrange something low key to spend time with them prior to your big day. A brunch or lunch out is great. Another meal you don’t cook, someone else cleans up and it isn’t a big drinking occasion.

Otherwise have an open door day at home and allow people to drop in. It means you’re racing around everywhere and not seeing them for the first time on your wedding day and feeling obligated to have the ‘big catch up convo’ when you want to be on the dancefloor.

If it’s just the two of you at home, take it easy. Lay low. Eat at home, watch TV, walk the dog and hang out. Slower pace means better readiness for the day.

Banish the wedding week stress. Cruise into your day happy and relaxed.

It’s a MASSIVE exhausting, emotional, overwhelming day. Be prepared! For tips on nailing your vows see RIGHT HERE.

HEY THERE LEGENDS! I’M NAT SPROAL, MELBOURNE WEDDING CELEBRANT, AND AFICIONADO OF ALL THINGS HITCHING-RELATED.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog! You’ll find loads of no-BS advice and tips on how to create the day of your dreams - without the wedstress and the drama.

I’m your wing woman and captain of your ship when it comes to having a cruisy, loved-up and utterly memorable and joyous day. Enjoy!