Dealing with Family Stressors | Ask the Planner
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Family. It comes in many forms and can be both a blessing and curse when planning a wedding. As wedding planners, we serve as intermediaries between our couples and their families. Part of our job is to be a coach, confidante, and sounding board for our couples, even serving as a scapegoat to provide additional support to our couples when they need to justify their decisions to their families. So it should come as no surprise that we’re often asked this question:
Q: “What advice do you have for couples who are dealing with family stressors while planning their weddings?”
A: Wedding planning stress is a genuine problem, and it can be multiplied by the very people we hope will support us through the planning process. Often these family stressors are unintentional and can be easily resolved. Others, though, can be significant enough to cause long-lasting rifts between family members, something we never want to see! Having witnessed our fair share of wedding drama between our couples and their families, here are some of our key pieces of wedding planning advice to keep this stress to a minimum:
- Be clear in your decisions. Nothing opens up the door more quickly to unwanted family opinions than a couple who isn’t clear when they communicate their wedding planning decisions. Unless you truly want a family member’s opinion, do your best to make up your own mind on each decision before discussing it with your family. If you have a wedding planner, talk to him or her if you want to bounce ideas around instead. We’re ALWAYS on your side!
- Ask about conditions. If anyone is contributing money to your wedding budget, ask them if there are any conditions you need to know before accepting their money. If you accept their gift, suggest putting the money into a special account and using a wedding debit card to access those funds so you don’t have to request permission for every purchase. If you don’t agree with any of those conditions, thank them for the thought but decline their contribution, explaining that you would prefer to go in another direction for your wedding.
- Have an outside support system. Odds are that you have friends and/or coworkers who are close enough to you that you can talk to them about your wedding planning. To avoid family stressors, lean on that outside support system when you need it. We mentioned it before, but it bears saying again: your wedding planner will be the best outside support you can have. We will never get tired of wedding talk, and we’re happy to offer you any advice you want!
If you’re dealing with family stressors while planning your wedding and would like more advice on how to handle that, download our helpful tips by clicking the below image:
Also be sure to check out our helpful video on the Just Marry! YouTube Channel with even MORE planning tips. Please be sure to like the video, share any comments, and subscribe to future posts!
If you’d like more personalized help with your wedding planning or would like to speak with one of our planners about how we can help you deal with family stressors, e-mail us at info@justmarry.com and we’ll get back to you right away! You can also view some of our most popular wedding planning services on our website. Be sure to reach out to us so we can customize a planning option that will allow you to enjoy every moment of your planning and your wedding day!
Dealing with Family Stressors | Ask the Planner
