Remember to Breathe: Stress Relief for the Bride

We hear you – wedding planning can be stressful. It shouldn’t be, but somewhere between attending numerous vendor meetings, navigating family dynamics and making dozens of decisions, you realize you need a break. Now! Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to combat stress during what should be a wonderfully joyful time in your life.

Probably one of the most overlooked – and the most difficult, if you’re looking at your to-do list – is to get plenty of rest. Lack of sleep can be a stress magnifier and often, people getting too little sleep are more prone to irritability and less likely to be able to handle things as they don’t go according to plan. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. That’s a tall order, to be sure, but even making an effort to go to bed an hour earlier each night will contribute to you feeling more rested overall and help you stave off a little stress.

Eating more healthfully is another way to keep stress at bay. When you don’t eat healthy meals regularly, your blood sugar can be all over the place and that can lead to crankiness. Without the proper fuel, your mind doesn’t function at its peak performance, and you can be easily distracted. An obvious bonus side effect of eating healthy is that you’ll look even more fantastic on your wedding day!

Exercise is another excellent way to kick stress to the curb! There are so many options out there: running, yoga, Crossfit®, cycling, Pilates, Zumba®, swimming or barre, just to name a few! No matter which form of movement you enjoy, just getting a moderate amount of exercise a few times a week can really help relieve your stress.

Three ways it does this is to increase endorphins (your body’s own feel-good chemicals), distract you from what seemed so stressful in the first place and boost your mood! Again, the added bonus is that you’ll look awesome in your bridal gown!

And we cannot forget massage, a surefire way to loosen those knots in your neck, back and shoulders. Massage can be a great stress reliever by helping you unwind and loosen tight muscles. Consider a day at the spa to help rejuvenate you. Or even better, schedule a couple’s massage for you and your fiancé – and declare that date a wedding-discussion-free zone. Taking a little breather from wedding planning every now and then can be just the ticket to refreshing you.

Finally, if going solo while planning your wedding is proving to be too much, get help! Just like you would not consider tackling serious legal or financial tasks without an attorney or a financial planner, you might not want to take on wedding planning without an expert by your side. At StarDust, we know weddings. One of our mantras is that we are “all weddings, all the time” and we have planned hundreds of weddings, which make us uniquely equipped to help you plan your wedding day! Ready to enlist some backup? Learn more by scheduling a free consultation with one of our certified wedding planners today! Call us at 972.781.1619 to schedule an appointment or fill out this form on our website.

sources: for more info on stress relief and sleep, visit the Mayo Clinic’s and the National Sleep Foundation’s websites.