Nashville Wedding Planner Pro Shares 6 Steps to Avoid Wedding Planning Decision Fatigue
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Today's Guest Expert: Sarah Willard, owner and lead planner of Music City Events, an award-winning Nashville wedding planning company
"It turns out that making decisions is actually very stressful. As we make hundreds of decisions each day on matters big and small, the cumulative stress adds up. It’s called decision fatigue, and it can often lead us to shut down and do nothing.*"
The average wedding takes 400 hours to plan, 17 companies are involved and over FIVE HUNDRED man hours are needed on the wedding day itself. That’s 22.5 work weeks to prepare and execute one day.
Source: One Wed
Is it any wonder that they are easily overwhelming and stressful? Below are some common decision (and stress-inducing) factors in planning a wedding:
Too many available options
The wedding world is overwhelmingly loaded with any kind of information a bride or groom could wish to find. Colors. Flowers. Food. DIY projects. Flowers. Bands. Lights. Flowers. DJs. Did I mention flowers?! Do this. Do this too. Don’t forget about this! And we can’t forget about that either. SO. MUCH. INFORMATION.
Music City Events Inspiration Board
Too many options over complicate the decision when it is supposed to be quite simple: What do you love to eat? What is your favorite color? Decisions like this should be fun and easy, not stressful and overwhelming…
...Which leads to feeling compelled to pick the right “perfect” decision, thereby delaying making a decision until further research is done
In a world in which brides or grooms are constantly reminded that they need new, better, more trendy, more fashionable, less like everything else it is easy to drown in research, feel overwhelmed in the amount of information given and then decide not to decide.
Music City Events Pinterest Page
Feeling of despair and stress – so many decisions to make and so much information and the inability to choose for fear of making a “wrong” decision
The fear of making the “wrong” choice (there are no wrong decisions, by the way, when it comes to a wedding. Be nice to your guests and wedding party. Have a great time. That’s pretty much the only thing you must do!) delays actual decisions, which leads to more decisions still to be made...which leads to fatigue.
The last thing you want, is to look back on your engagement and think “gee that was awful. Glad it’s over!”. You will never be engaged again, and you’ll never throw an amazing celebration event like your wedding again. Follow these simple guidelines and enjoy a decision and fatigue-free engagement!
Gregory Byerline Photography
Step 1: Core values
Define your core values, with your fiancé. I always recommend that my clients come up with their top 3 core values. Keep this list on hand and refer to it whenever you are discussing wedding plans and making decisions.
Step 2: Hire a planner
Seriously. Working with a trained, experienced professional will provide so much stress relief and guidance. They also make decisions easier by providing vetted, personal options for all parts of wedding planning.
Music City Events
Step 3: Make a list
This is a lesson the world has learned from pilots (and I discovered as a precocious OCD-esque 10 year old). Having a checklist allows you to spend less mental energy on trying to remember everything all the time. We provide extensive lists with tasks broken into small steps for all of our clients. Their digital planning management file keeps mental burden at bay. Plus, they have our guidance and experience on hand at all times!
Music City Events’ client
Step 4: Trust your gut feelings
Differentiate between big and small. Will this decision really impact you a year from your wedding? What’s the worst that can happen? Go with that first instinct. Studies have shown that our brains are connected to those “gut instincts” and that we really should listen to them more often.
Step 5: Delegate
Let your planner help you by making some decisions for you. Your planner knows which caterers, photographers, florists, rentals, venues, etc. are within your style and target budget. Trust them. If you hired them, you should have felt instantly at ease and it should be no big deal to trust that they are working with your best interest at heart.
Music City Events
When your friends or parents offer to help, let them. Whether it is making wine selections, or choosing the napkins, let them help. Especially if their project will have no bearing on your core values!
Step 6: Take time out to recharge.
Working memory burns out as you process information. Take a break. Go on a date and talk about things like politics, or your sister or brother’s new baby/dog, or how much you’ve decided you hate coffee. Whatever! Just give yourself a break and enjoy time reconnecting.
Savannah Attic
(*Intro quote sourced from The Psychology of Irrationality by Roy Baumeister and The Psychology of Economic Decisions: Rationality and well-being by Isabelle Brocas and Juan Carrillo)
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Posted on September 24, 2015 |
Filed under: Advice & Planning, Wedding Planners & Coordinators,
