Deposits are paid, invitations are sent, and the final alterations on your dress are finished. The number of email exchanges to and from your wedding planners has reached triple digits. All the vendors that you haven’t heard from in months are reaching out to finalize everything. You’re getting married. Cue the rollercoaster of emotions you did (and didn’t) see coming.

Depending on how long you’ve been engaged, this day has probably been looming (in a light and airy way, not in a dark and stormy way) on the calendar for over a year.

Whether your wedding is small and intimate or the guest count includes your mother’s second cousin’s tennis partner, the pre-wedding jitters are bound to show up this week. These are a few emotions that I felt leading up to the wedding. I hope this brings comfort to you as a bride-to-be. Know that it is totally normal to be nervous, anxious, excited and everything in between. Embrace the emotions that come with this once in a lifetime experience.

A little knot of nerves/excitement when someone says the word “wedding”

I didn’t expect this, but as the wedding started getting closer and closer, whenever anyone said the word “wedding” I would get a little knot of nerves in my stomach, similar to the top of the rollercoaster kind of feeling. I didn’t know what I was nervous about, but it was more just this anxious anticipation as the date drew near. A girlfriend of mine put it perfectly “it’s like that excited, nervous anticipation before a big night out or trip”, only amplified.

Stress showing up as sickness

I am generally a pretty laid back person, so when the wedding stress started to creep in, I mistook it for flu and cold-like symptoms. The Wednesday before the wedding I had a tight pain in my chest, headaches, and I threw up. I just felt off.

I was also getting my period (yes, my period came the Friday before the wedding!! good times) so I think some of these symptoms were PMS related. I was essentially laid out in bed Wednesday and Thursday trying to rest and drink lots of fluids. All the anxiety I didn’t know I had caught up to me.

I had a destination wedding, and if you are having one too, I highly recommend planning to just relax and chill as much as possible leading up to the wedding. I also recommend getting an IV for boosted immunity a few days before the wedding. Stress is one of the worst things for your immune system. Do everything you can to get your body healthy before you leave.

“We should have just eloped”

It is perfectly normal a week before your wedding to be feeling the pressure. You realize all these guests are coming to celebrate you. It’s a lot to take in and as much as your day is meant to be about you, you will naturally want to make sure everyone is having a good time and comfortable.

A few times, the stress got to me. I found myself thinking how much easier and less stressful it would have been to just elope. Now that the wedding is over, I am sooo happy we didn’t elope! It was the perfect weekend celebrating with all the people we love, and something we will cherish and remember forever. You will be so happy you chose to celebrate with those you hold dear.

Stress will subside

I anticipated the stress to ramp up the day before and the day of the wedding. Turns out, the opposite was true. I think at this point you just come to terms with the fact that you’ve prepared as much as you possibly could. Time to leave it in the capable hands of your planners. The stress is replaced with the overwhelming gratitude of having your loved ones there to celebrate you. Of course, the cocktails help.

Nerves for the ceremony

A lot of people stress about the ceremony, most of which stems from the fact that they have to stand up in front of all their friends and family and not only public speak, but be extremely vulnerable doing it. I was a little nervous about this, mostly because I just hoped I’d get through the vows without balling my eyes out. But once you are up there, and you’re staring at your husband-to-be, as cliche as it seems, it really is just you two up there. No one else. You are in this gorgeous bubble of love and happiness and all your worries melt away.

And then you dance, drink and celebrate.

I’ll leave you with 7 quick tips for the week before your wedding:

1. Don’t leave any skin treatments until the last minute. Aim for your last facial to be at least 10 days before the wedding. I highly recommend getting a dermaplanning facial. It removes all your peach fuzz so your wedding day makeup sits so beautifully on the skin.
2. No more Pinterest. Chances are, you’ve been on Pinterest more this year than you ever have in your life. A week out, it’s time to close the site and be happy with the choices you’ve made!
3. As mentioned, boost your immunity with either an IV or immune-boosting supplements a month or so out so you’re feeling your best.
4. Make sure you try on your dress with the right underwear and bra or nipple covers and the shoes you will be wearing. I had a sheer dress at the top and waited until the wedding day to make sure the nipple covers worked. It was an added stress we just didn’t need.
5. Make sure you plan your lunch for the wedding day so you eat something before the ceremony and drink lots of water (just stop at least 30 minutes before the ceremony)
6. Try to send out as much information as possible to the entire wedding attendees at least a few weeks before. Otherwise, you will be getting a million text messages asking the same thing. You’ll get these anyways, but an informative email helps minimize this.
7. Delegate! Ask certain friends and family members to be in charge of things like getting lunch organized, mimosas, or steaming your dress so you don’t have to worry about a thing the day of.

Wishing you the wedding day of your dreams!

xx,

Kaylee