We all know that wedding planning can be daunting and very time consuming.  However, there are several common mistakes that you should learn from that can save you tons of stress – read on and learn from other brides’ mistakes…

1. Putting Together Your Guest List

The first step in planning your wedding is the guest list, it should always come first. Being newly engaged your excited and thinking about everything, the venue, your dress, etc. Don’t get too carried away in all the excitement, first you have to agree on who will be attending your wedding. You don’t want to book a venue and have too many guests that everyone will be uncomfortable. You also both need to decide together who you would like to attend. We all know going through countless amounts of names isn’t exactly the best part of planning your wedding, but it’s also very important. After completing the guest list you can move on to the type of wedding you’d like to have. If your thinking of a more intimate wedding that could help you decide on cutting back on your guest list or not.

2. Overwhelming Your Groom

Every groom is going to want to have some say in their wedding, but it’s also not what they think about every second of the day. Planning your wedding is an exciting thing, however don’t forget about your husband-to-be. You’re about to get married and he wants to know that the woman he loves is still there – not some crazed bride. To avoid any fights or arguments before the wedding, make sure you set aside time to be with just him, no wedding stuff. Go out to dinner or just watch a movie at home but stay away from all wedding priorities a couple times a wekk. If you don’t overwhelm him with too much he can possibly be the one to help you out the most with your wedding plans.

3. Changing Details Before the Wedding

When planning your wedding you have many months to make decisions and sometimes the decisions you make in the beginning might not be what you want in the end. Coming closer to your wedding date you might want to change a few things such as your wedding colors. You should always feel free to be able to rethink what you want for your wedding even if it’s only two months away. Don’t be afraid to make any changes. If it comes down to you not being happy with the color of your linens you can always have a overlay to spice them up. Also with your dresses, if your not feeling to keen on the color of your bridesmaids dresses that have already been ordered, dress them up with accessories.

4. Dropping A Few Sizes For The Final Fit

Every bride on their wedding day wants to look perfect in their dress. Trying to squeeze into a dress that’s two sizes too small for you isn’t easy. Some brides order their dresses to be smaller to give themselves a goal, which isn’t always the best way to go. Making a commitment and setting a healthy diet is what’s key. Crash dieting is not going to help you fit into that dress. Be sure to make a goal that is reasonable for you and your body. You have enough stress and things to worry about for the wedding and you don’t need to be set on dropping a few sizes. The best thing to do is find that perfect dress you love and order it in your size. Don’t forget your husband is the one who is marrying you, he already loves you for how you are. Sticking with a healthy routine and staying in shape in time for your wedding is better than completely changing your whole body style.

5. Doing It Yourself

It’s always nice to do things yourself and add special additions to your wedding but there’s a difference between doing it yourself and over doing yourself. Doing it yourself is always a plus because it’s creative and no one usually has the same ideas as what you come up with. When doing things yourself for the wedding don’t take on too many projects because most likely you won’t be able to finish all of them or you will be overwhelmed by everything. Take a few things that you really are in love with doing and set yourself to that.

6. Overloading The Big Day’s To Do List

On the wedding day your not going to be able to do everything by yourself. Usually there’s a good friend in charge or even your mom to help on all the certain details. Don’t forget the person that is helping you with everything is also attending your wedding and not everyone wants to be running around making sure everything’s perfect, they want to be able to enjoy the wedding and party as well. To make things a tad easier have more than one person help you out. You can have both your mom and your maid of honor or even a close cousin who is willing to help. With more than one person helping things can get done faster without having to rush. It’s also a great way to add them to your celebration.  Another suggestion is that you can hire a professional wedding planner for the day of the wedding to help put everything together so then none of your guests are being bothered.

7. Crying Over Small Mistakes

Every wedding no matter how well planned out it is, is usually meant to hit a few small bumps. Details can be hard to deal with when you find a flaw among them. The best thing to do when you come across a certain detail that is not right is to take a deep breathe and think of how important it truly is. Also if there is anything that you can do to fix it. If it’s a minor stress then just move on from it. You can’t freak out and stress about everything that goes wrong you have to decide on what is important and what is not.

8. Blowing Your Budget

In the beginning you might have a number set in your head that you think will be perfect for everything you need. Once your start actually planning you might realize that the budget you decided on just won’t be enough. If you find that you underestimated your expenses, sit down with your fiance and both think of a constructive solution to your budget. You may also think of cutting down on certain items or cutting out something completly. Think of the things your going to need and see if maybe going over your budget won’t cause too much damage to the both of you.

9. Paying Your Vendors on The Wedding Day

You’re a smart bride, so don’t do this. If you insist on not delivering the final payment until the wedding day, assign someone you trust, like your wedding coordinator or maid of honor, to handle all the final payments. The last thing that you, your dad, or your new hubby want is the photographer tapping you on the shoulder while you’re doing the YMCA asking for his remainder payment.

10. Saving Your Place Cards For The Morning Of

Place cards seem to be an easy task of just having everyone’s names written down and ready to go. The best thing is to make them ahead of time when you know you won’t be rushing to have them all finished. Taking the time to put all of them together and just keep them in the closet to the morning of the wedding can save a lot of stress and time. All the effort you put in ahead of time will definatley be worth it the week or the last month before the wedding. You want to be able to enjoy yourself before your wedding not stressing about everything detail and things that you have unfinished. Take the time and it will be worth it in the end.

Image 1 via The Bridal Blog

Image 2 via Wedding Bee

Image 3 via Bride’s Placecards