Tips for Stress Free Wedding Planning

Make lists of what you need to do but don't get carried away with bridal magazine time-frames and their recommendations. In my experience they create panic and are nearly always over detailed.

The advice I've added to this site is based on a list I hand out to future brides & grooms. The feedback has always been excellent, but remember it's only a guideline. Every wedding is different, so make sure the things you write on your own list are personnel to you, and not because you feel you have to.

Never forget it's your wedding day, and things should be as you and your partner want. Not your mothers, brothers or even mother-in-law's way. I can't stress that enough. Don't be pressurized into what everyone else wants or suggests, especially when it comes to who to invite and where to sit. So if you don't want to invite uncle Billy because you don't know him or have hardly spoken to him, then my suggestion is don't invite him. Weddings can work out expensive so only invite who you want as opposed to who you have been told should be there.

Wedding rules and etiquette for some people play a key role in organising their wedding. However please remember there is no right or wrong way to do things, and again - it's up to you. So if you don't want to have a wedding breakfast, just a big buffet then that's fine. If you don't want a wedding cake that's a fruit cake then that's fine too. You don't have to wear white, you don't have to have favours, it's all up to you.

Be confident, be creative. One of my friends could not afford the wedding stationery invites, so we both came up with a cheaper option. We bought plain cream envelopes and paper, some gold spray, and from a top of a step ladder we sprayed the envelopes and paper. It looked really pretty and cost a fraction of the wedding stationary. As for the writing we chose a nice font on the computer and typed out the invites at work. It was so successful that we have been doing it for friends ever since. Last week a bride came in to show me what she had done. She bought tiny little silver stars and stuck them on the envelopes and paper.

What I am trying to say is always think about what you are spending your money on when it comes to your wedding, especially if you have a tight budget. Know where to cut corners and where to go all out.