"Planning a wedding can be stressful AF regardless of how large or small your big day may be. From multiple dress fittings to coordinating with vendors to organizing every detail down to napkin colors, you may feel like you barely have a moment to breathe. On top of that, you want to look and feel your best for your wedding day. I’m six months out, and I’ve begun to dial in on managing my stress, anxiety, and physical health so I can feel my best in six months, but also so I can actually enjoy the process now. Keep reading for what I’m doing to feel my best at my wedding and health tips you can try today.
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Start a daily meditation practice
All eyes are on you on your wedding day, which can be nerve-wracking to say the least. Aside from my tried-and-true self-care activities like yoga, journaling, and spending time in nature, I’m turning to meditation most often to help ease my anxiety. Prioritizing a daily meditation practice now will help manage the stress of wedding planning, but building up your practice will help you feel centered before all the big moments, from engagement parties to the wedding day, and everything in between. I prefer guided meditations that help me envision how the day will go. Consider it a manifestation meditation, if you will. I also find it helpful to repeat affirmations such as, “I choose calm” or “Peace begins with me” whenever I am feeling high anxiety. You can actually manifest your wedding day turning out exactly how you envisioned it.
Delegate tasks (no, but actually!)
I’d like to think that I’m a cool-and-collected bride (not the stereotypical “bridezilla”), so when I realized that making the most of the major decisions and checking off all the to-dos were starting to feel a little too overwhelming, I looked for ways to delegate tasks to my friends and family. It may seem obvious, but when it comes to planning your big day it can feel challenging to hand over responsibilities to other people–even your loved ones (Will they do it “right?” What if they mess up? Will it just create more work for me?).
So how do you decide what tasks to outsource and what ones to keep for yourself? My unsolicited advice is to make a list of the tasks that are the most important to you to complete on your own, and be realistic when determining how much time you’d actually have to spend on them and the skills and resources you have available. For example, I really wanted to design and print my own invites, but I don’t own a printer (and wasn’t going to buy one), nor did I feel like I really had the time to spend hours designing. So I decided that was a task I could outsource to my friend who works in graphic design, and I still felt like the invitations came out personal, despite not being hand designed by me. Delegating tasks has made the biggest difference in my stress levels and having more time.
Consistently remind yourself of what’s important
Whether you’ve had a Pinterest wedding board for years or you obsessively started scouring the internet for inspiration after your engagement, social media makes it very easy to fall into the comparison trap. When I find myself spiraling into thoughts of, “I have to do this” or “Everything needs to be perfect,” I take a step back and remind myself of what’s actually important and realistic for my wedding. At the end of the day, your wedding is about celebrating your relationship with your partner, not throwing an Insta-worthy party. Keeping what’s special between the two of you at the forefront of your decision making will ensure you have a day that you’ll cherish forever.
Make an exercise plan
I’m a big believer that you shouldn’t have to change your appearance for your wedding day (your partner already loves you for who you are). But I also believe that there is nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel your best on your big day, especially since you’ll be reliving it through photos for a lifetime. Consistency has always been an issue for me when it comes to working out, and having a big event (read: my wedding) to look forward to was just what I needed to make a plan and stick to it.
My goal with exercise has always been to take care of my body and feel stronger and more confident. I prefer low-impact movement such as walking, biking, Pilates, and yoga. To hold myself accountable to a workout routine, I sit down each Sunday and look at my schedule for the week ahead. Much like making a to-do list, I write down what workouts I plan to do each day and what time of day I will do them (what can I say, I’m Virgo rising). I find that physically writing my workouts down and seeing them every day holds me more accountable than inputting them in Google calendar. The key for me is not holding myself to rigid standards, but rather embracing that life happens and knowing that some movement in my day is better than no movement at all. By scheduling workouts I enjoy, I know that I’m not only going to feel my best on my big day ,but also keep up my workout routine well beyond the wedding.
Upgrade your skincare regimen for optimal glow
I have struggled with breakouts since I was a teenager, so skincare is a huge part of caring for myself and feeling my best. I’m working with my dermatologist and have found a treatment plan that works great for me: to keep my skin looking clear and bright leading up to the wedding, I’m making sure to incorporate skin-enhancing foods, such as healthy fats (found in avocados, nuts, and fish), vitamin C, and antioxidants. And while I love a glass of red wine, I find that drinking alcohol can make my skin look dull and dry the next day. So for now, I’m sticking to enjoying an occasional drink on the weekends, rather than having a drink with dinner on the weekdays. Instead, I reach for some of my other favorites such as kombucha and try to keep up with my daily hydration goals.
As for what I am using on my skin, I swear by this mask from Origins. I use it 1-2 times per week at night, and it always makes my skin look bright and firm the next day. I’m very prone to sunburn due to my fair complexion and a prescription retinoid I currently use, so I always wear SPF (this one is my go-to under makeup) because the last thing you want to worry about on your wedding day is a sun burn or hyperpigmentation.