The other day I checked my wedding planner app and almost screamed when I realized we were past the 100 day mark. In fact, the wedding is now T-minus 45 days! Can you believe it? When you’ve been planning something for so long, it’s so exciting and nerve wracking to finally be in the last stages of planning and see your event slowly come to life.
The downside is that as our big day inches closer and closer my stress levels rise accordingly. I know myself and know if I don’t take steps now to combat it, I’m going to be a big ball of stress for the foreseeable future. So for all you busy brides-to-be and as a reminder to myself, I’m sharing my 5 tips I’m taking now to help make my life easier and stress-free before the big day.
- Get a massage… or three! In the past, I’ve always shied away from getting massages despite suffering through sore muscles, aches and pains. I thought the money was too much and that it’d go away with time. Ironically though, the more stressed you get the more achey you get. Since I hold all my tension in my neck and shoulders, I’m constantly suffering from migraines and achey muscles. One of the only things that helps is getting a massage. So if you’ve got benefits, find an RMT and then the majority of the cost will be covered! That’s one thing done that you can tick off your to-do list.
- Sign up for wedding insurance. This is something I definitely didn’t think of or budget for when we first started to plan but it’s super important you get it. Many venues don’t want to be responsible for situations that could happen at your wedding that may potentially cause damage to their venue or worse, injure your guests. That’s where wedding insurance comes into play. Not only does it protect you from what potentially could happen on your big day, it also protects you against the possibility that one or more of your vendors is a no show. Last but certainly not least, the insurance covers you and helps you recoup as much money as possible in case your wedding is cancelled or postponed. I know it’s hard to think about any of those possibilities, but at the end of the day you’re investing a lot of money and you need to protect yourself and your investment. The good news is that wedding insurance is super easy to apply for thanks to the help of Canada’s largest insurance company, Front Row Insurance. They have locations in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, but if you don’t want to go in person, you can easily apply online! BONUS: Head to my Instagram page for a special contest with Front Row Insurance.
- Don’t forget to get your sweat on. Work out and get your endorphins going. Not only will it help you manage the stress of wedding planning, but it will also help you feel good for your big day! Switch it up with a variety of exercises – cardio, toning, strengthening and stretching. My all time favourite class in Vancouver is Kondi Fitness. You can do everything I just listed above in one class and I promise, you’ll be dripping in sweat even in their “easiest” class. They offer callanetics, cardio but TRX is my favourite; it’s challenging both mentally and physically (no surprise, seeing as a former Navy SEAL invented it!) and after going every other day for the past 2 months I’ve noticed my wobbly bits have gotten firmer and I’m generally a lot stronger than I was before.
- Delegate tasks. I almost snorted as I wrote this because the type A in me is screaming. But she’ll just have to get over this because unless I magically sprout an extra 2 or 3 clones, there’s no way I can feasibly do everything alone. Delegating is something I’m learning how to do slowly but surely, but already I’ve seen a difference. It’s incredibly comforting knowing that my mom or Reid is taking care of something, and that I can trust them to do it without my oversight. My advice to you is start small and delegate to people you trust. For example, my dad took on building my wedding pergola and my friend helped me make our fans. They both did such a great job that afterwards I became more confident to delegate even more.
- Sign up for a meal delivery service. Give yourself a break and sign up for a meal delivery service. Trust me, buying groceries and cooking meals will be the last thing you’ll want to do especially leading up to the last month of planning. Luckily there are so many meal delivery services out there! My favourite though is Fresh Prep. Each week there are new options to pick from, all of which are incredibly tasty and healthy. The meals are also customizable. Don’t eat red meat? Swap it out for tofu! Looking for leftovers the next day? Increase the volume from 2 people to 4! My favourite part is that all the ingredients are pre-cut and individually portioned out so your overall cooking time is quite short. Don’t worry about all that extra packaging though. Their cooler bags are reusable, and all the other packaging is recyclable and/or compostable. All you have to do is rinse it and pop it back in the bag for pick up and Fresh Prep will get rid of it in the most environmentally responsible method! So what are you waiting for? Do yourself a favour and sign up today!
