Wedding Chat: How to plan a stress free wedding

It is now less than 5 weeks until our wedding but to look at me you'd never believe it. I'm a stress free bride who is so relaxed about my big day I'm practically lying down. Having seen friends and family go through months of stress planning their wedding days I decided right from the start that I wasn't going to let that happen to me.

You only get married once and I've been determined to enjoy every moment.

Having managed to pull off a very calm lead up to my wedding I thought it might be nice to share my tips on how to play a stress free wedding.

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

Booking a Honeymoon

This might not seem terribly high priority when you're planning your big day but knowing that you have a happy honeymoon destination to enjoy after the wedding plays a huge part in keeping your stress levels down. We have a minimoon booked straight after the wedding and I'm already looking forward to spending time away with my new husband.

A venue that cares

We LOVE our wedding venue because they genuinely care about giving us the best day and working with us rather than against us. You soon realise when you look at wedding venues that so many have hidden extra costs and less than ideal facilities. Is that rural barn really worth it if you have to hire in your own tables and lighting? Hunting round for a venue that gives you everything that you need is key to keeping you stress free. You'll be relying on your venue for a lot, make sure they are willing to look after you!

Use your Support Team

Picking your bridesmaids is about so much more than hanging out with your best friends drinking Prosecco and you'll learn this very quickly. These friends will become your rock when things get hard. The role of the bridesmaid is an important one, make sure your maids are fully aware of your wedding plans and how they can help and when they offer to do things to ease the burden on you make sure you say yes!

Leave the Crafts alone

When it comes to putting together your wedding don't take on unnecessary tasks that will take up too much of your time. It might seem like a lovely idea to create your own centrepieces, craft your own invites and bake favours for all your guests, but believe me future you will be cursing you the day before the wedding! No one needs the extra stress of cutting and sticking the night before.

Don't spend money you don't have

It can be so easy to get carried away when planning a wedding and after a few hours exploring Pinterest you can find yourself suddenly "needing" things to make your wedding picture perfect. The best tip I can give you is to keep your feet firmly on the ground, extra decorations aren't going to make your day any better and you don't want to be spending the first 6 months of married life desperately paying for a wedding that you couldn't afford.

Keep a great filing system

As soon as I started planning my wedding I set up a very simple filing system to store all of my e-mails and invoices from suppliers. Whether you prefer to make notes in a book or carefully file your e-mails keeping a good record of what you've booked and planned is essential. Don't forget to make notes of when final invoices are due to be paid!

Use the down time 

If you have over a year to plan your wedding you'll book all of your important suppliers early on and then will inevitably left with a few months of "down time" when you can't really move things along. I was very careful to utilise my down time to prevent stress later on. I bought the presents for the bridal party, booked in my pre-wedding beauty treatments and started thinking about a playlist for the DJ.

Make sure someone else plans your Hen!

Why on earth would you plan your own Hen? I'm one of life's greatest planners but I managed to hand the reigns over to my sister who planned me a hen weekend that I loved. She had the hassle of booking accommodation, chasing friends for money and organising the logistics - leaving me free to carry on planning the wedding day. Believe me, even Super Woman can't organise the perfect hen weekend and a wedding without help.

Choose your suppliers wisely

My suppliers have played a huge part in keeping me stress free in the run up to the wedding and I am so glad that I took the time to choose them wisely. Having picked a great venue and photographer I've really trusted their judgement and booked a lot of suppliers that they have recommended. It's also a great idea to talk to friends and read local wedding blogs. Picking great suppliers who understand your vision and wont let you down are essential to a stress free wedding.

Grit your teeth and smile

I hate to say it but people will annoy you in the run up to the wedding. There'll probably be family dramas, uncooperative members of the wedding party and nightmares with the table plan. If things start to feel like too much take a step back, smile and find a bridesmaid to vent to.

I'd love to know if you have any tips yourself on how to keep wedding prep stress free.

This post is in collaboration with Cheapflights