Anyone who’s ever planned a full-sized wedding will always tell you one thing: it’s absolutely stressful. There are so many big and small things that require all your focus. From the venue selection to the catering, lighting, dress, florals and more, there’s a ton of stuff that requires your attention.

So, what’s the solution? How can you make your Big Day feel as awesome as possible without succumbing to all the stress and nerves that go with the whole thing? We’ve got some pretty amazing hacks to help you out right here:

1. Go vintage with the dress

Photo by Vitor Pinto on Unsplash

Out of all wedding expenses, it’s the dress that costs the most. Logically, every bride knows that you’re only going to wear it once – but! You’ll only wear it once, so why not make it the best dress of your life, right?

However, you can always do splendidly in this regard without actually spending a ton of money. In fact, you can easily get a classic vintage wedding dress and get it altered to your liking by a reputable wedding gown tailor. The classics never fail and if you find one at an affordable price, it can save you a lot of hassle, expenses, and a ton of headache to simply get it professionally outfitted at a wedding gown alterations shop instead of going to an upscale boutique.

2. Outsource vendors

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Wedding planning is all about finding the best vendors at reasonable prices, but many couples don’t know where to start. The answer is simple: ask your venue. This is the easy part, because the venue owners usually have preferred vendors and you might not get the best prices. 

But talking to them will give you a baseline on the expenditure, so when you find and meet new ones, you’ll have an idea on the benchmark prices of most services and how they are provided. You’ll also get some great recommendations. Some might even overlap, so you can always prioritize those at the end of the day.

3. Keeping on top of your expenditure

Wedding preparations can turn into a black hole where you can throw an inordinate amount of money until you end up with nothing. Money management can become really, really hard once you start prepping for the big day. There are vendors asking for money here and there, and no matter how many recipets you try to save, you always end up losing track of where those bucks actually went away.

The best way to manage this problem is to rely on technology. In fact, there’s an app called Honeyfi that lets you manage your savings in the best possible way. It allows you to manage your money in a responsible way while helping you keep track of your spending.

4. Get smart with communications

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The biggest hassle you’ll encounter before your Big Day will come in the form of communications. Once you’ve decided on all your vendors, venue, and more, you’ll have to keep in contact with all of them. Most days, your email is going to get spammed with a massive amount of queries and coordination messages. This is why it’s always smart to create a separate email ID for your wedding plans. This way, you’ll always have all your wedding-related correspondence, quotes, and important messages in one place.

Secondly, you can also invest on a wedding website, which is an excellent way to coordinate and communicate with all of your guests. These websites are a great way to feature all the important details that your guests need to know about – i.e. gift registries, venue directions, dress code, etc. – all at the same time. No one can fall prey to bad communication this way.

5. Rely on backup plans

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Outdoor weddings and unreliable vendors are a dime a dozen in this market, so you always need to have a backup plan. If you’re getting married during the rainy season, then you need to make sure that your venue is covered. Even if you’re hosting outdoors, make sure that your marquee is water-proof and able to withstand the elements.

You also need to have a second DJ option, and if you’re able to hold some backup in catering, then you need to get that as well. This way, you’ll be truly stress free on your big day, in case any of your original plans fall through.

6. Do everything in advance

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The one thing that always hits like a curveball from the left field when it comes to wedding is this: unpredictability. You just never know when you might hit an unexpected speedbump, which is why it’s always best to be prepared in advance.

Now, you might be wondering how you can do that, and it basically entails taking care of all the major stuff beforehand. Summers are busy wedding seasons, so you need to order all your things in advance. As far as dresses are concerned, find a good custom tailoring service and get them altered a few months ahead so there aren’t any mishaps and you’re able to shop for shoes and jewelry accordingly. 

The only thing that needs to be last minute is catering and floral arrangement. Anything that can be done in advance should be done that way.

So these are some wedding planning hacks that you can use to save a ton of time, money, and stress. They’ll definitely help you out in the long run and keep your groove going as the Big Day comes closer and closer!

Tony Kantzavelos is the owner of LoveYourDress and Love Your Tailor Toronto. Specializing in dress cleaning, clothing alterations and tailoring since 1986. Tony loves sharing tips and trade secrets for customizing and taking care of almost any kind of dress, and especially helping women look their best no matter the occasion.