Live, Love and be Married: How to Stay Sane Before the Wedding

Before I got engaged, I thought wedding planning would be super fun and not stressful at all. Yep, I was a little naive. Or a lot naive. Don't get me wrong, the wedding planning process was fun, but it was also very stressful. And what I didn't realize was that the rehearsal day was probably the worst part. But, having survived the whole process I thought I would compile a list of my top five tips of how to survive and also have a little fun before the big day.

1. Don't get too caught up in every Pinterest craft you see. There are so many amazing ideas coming out of Pinterest, you just want to be able to do them all. But, you also have to be realistic about the amount of time you have to put into wedding related crafts. Try to pick two or three of your favorites, get those done and then reassess to see how much time and patience you have for the rest of them.

2. Accept help from your fiance. Admit from the beginning that you cannot possibly do everything by yourself. Planning a wedding is a huge undertaking and if you go into it alone, you will get burned out fast and enjoy the process less. So share the responsibilities with your fiance. He will be happy to have a job and happy to see you less stressed out.

3. Take time for date night. Often when you're in the midst of wedding planning, that becomes the only thing you do in your free time. But it is important to remember that you are having a wedding to celebrate your relationship and the commitment you are making to one another. So, make time to cultivate your relationship. Doing the things that you both love and going on dates will help relieve the pre-wedding stress and will remind you why you're going through the stress in the first place.

4. Make a detailed schedule for the day of. I cannot stress this enough. We were on time, if not early, for our entire wedding because of our schedule. Worrying about being late is probably one of the biggest things that makes a wedding day stressful for a bride. If you give everyone in the wedding party a schedule, they know what's going on and you know that they know what's going on.

This was my - very detailed - wedding schedule. I may or may not have gotten made fun of for how type A it seems, but it's definitely worth it.

5. Get a hotel room the night before the wedding. Yes, this is an extra expense, but I would say it is totally worth it. For me, it was necessary because I don't live in the town that we were getting married. But even if you do live in the same town as your wedding venue I suggest getting a hotel room. There are endless chores and things to be done in your own house - and chores are really not what you need to be thinking about the night before your wedding. I shared a room with my sister/maid of honor the night before and was able to totally relax and have an awesome sleep.