So here I am 6 months into wedding planning and I have this overwhelming feeling that every decision I have made so far has been awful. I set a date too soon without considering where I might be in the midst of graduating and starting a career. I bought a wedding dress way too early and now I'm not sure if it's the right one. I decided to use a friend as a photographer and my engagment photos turned out awful so I pretty much wasted that money. I just feel like I'm losing control and am wondering if anyone has any advice for getting it back?
Re: Wedding anxiety
1. Comfort - in summer this means air conditioning, and a chair for each guest.
2. Food - plenty and tasty.
3. Drinks - no cash bar.
This is what most of your guests will care about. They won't care about your pictures, your dress, how many bridesmaids you have, your wedding colors, your flowers, your decor.
Now relax. It will be fine.
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
If you will be job hunting in the few months prior to your wedding I would maybe suggest being clear about needing some time off at that time during interviews, so they have a heads-up, or else give your employer as much notice as possible about your wedding dates.
Engagement photos, while fun, are not nearly as important as the wedding photos. Sit down with your photographer, show them clear examples of what you do and do not like about the photos they took, and show them photos from pinterest or the knot as examples of what you want the finished product to be. Also it may be a good idea to have them come with you to your hair/makeup trial (if you are having one) so they can get a little more practice before the big day.
I agree with the post above about prioritizing what is most important to your guests, but also make a list, with your fiancé, of the top three things that are most important to you, and focus on those. Be it flowers, music, the menu, the stationery, etc.
Also, make a list together of the two or three things on your mental to-do list that are least important to you and scrap them altogether. Custom-making fancy envelopes? No. Wedding favors? Not necessary. Identical bridesmaid dresses? Pick a color and length and let your girls choose their own. Fancy hand painted signs? Nope. You'll thank yourself later.
My last suggestion would be to take a break from the wedding. A two-week or month long ban on anything and everything wedding related, just to clear your head.
First, stop stressing yourself out, make your decision, be confident in your decision, and stick with it come heck or high water.
Go try on the dress! If you don't get the butterflies wearing it all glitzed up with your tiara/veil/fascinator/etc., set a budget to replace it. Worse comes to worse, you go online to the knockoff sites and purchase it for less than a third that a bridal salon would gouge you for. OR, you go someplace else and shop within that budget for a replacement and leave the emotions out of it to not get (suckered) into a new dress that's the first pretty one you see.
Change photographers, if you hated the photos, change now. OTOH, was it the photos, or the reflection of yourself you didn't like? That can happen too where you think you had a great session with the photographer only to get the pics back and say WTF!?!?!? I had that with the guy who used to take my pro pictures, he just stopped capturing the moment, and that's when we parted ways. Better to do so now than not have pictures you like down the road (it's the one thing you'll have for the long-term from your big day..)..
If this is a normal thing for you in life in general and it's getting to the paralyzing point there are people who you can work with to learn a better skillset (not necessarily a therapist). Or, you could hire a coordinator to do some of the dirty work for you on your wedding planning to take the stress off. It'll all come together!!!