When thinking of a topic for this week’s blog, fortunately or unfortunately nothing else is dominating my mind more then engagement party and wedding party planning.

I am RIGHT in the thick of it, and by thick I mean woahhhhh – stressful!!!

Our engagement party is just about one week away and I am thrilled that my family is flying in from Florida and Chicago to be with us!!! I can’t wait!!! We tried to keep it extremely small, or as small as possible by only inviting family and the wedding party yet it kind of feels like we are planning a mini wedding.

And not to mention it – on top of that we really are planning our wedding, and although it is now less than 1 year away, it is a destination wedding so there is a lot of extra work involved, for example regarding notifying people early and travel accommodations.

Me being the overly ambitious person that I am, I decided to hand design and make all of my invitations so far and oversee many details. This for me is the fun part, and honestly no one else could bring my vision to life like I can, being a designer and all – that is kinda like my calling card – however it did add a lot more things to my task list.

Any way I am here to help if you are party planning by taking as much stress out of it as possible by learning from and avoiding some of my own mistakes and from some of the tips and tricks I have picked up from my now married friends who have been through it all.  So here goes….

1) MEDITATE.  Trust me you will need it to help you clear your mind and lower your blood pressure. This is like a chill pill for your body, mind and soul. Take one every day!

2) Schedule “me time”. Taking time to appreciate yourself is super important to help you feel centered and taken care of when you are getting torn in a million directions. Try to work out, this will help you de-stress and feel like you are doing something good for your body!

3) Remember you will NEVER be able to please everyone.  Every single person in your family, your future husband’s family, your distant families and friends will all have an opinion and they probably will not keep it to themselves, good or bad. Sometimes this is helpful – other times it is hurtful but it is what it is and it is YOUR job to sort through it, make a decision with your future husband and commit to it.

4) Set boundaries and be clear about your feelings. This is YOUR wedding after all and EVERY single person who has been married or is recently married told me that at the end of the day, they worried too much about what others thought and didn’t even get to enjoy some parts for themselves that they agonized over. Remember its a PARTY, and its YOUR PARTY!!!!

5) ICKY sh*t will come up: Finances, etiquette, personal history, personal preferences and more. If you think its uncomfortable to talk about, get ready because for some reason wedding planning seems to be the perfect place that this will come up.  Don’t stress. Take this as a good thing because,… well I can’t think of a good reason, but just try to see the bright side!  Now that you talked about this crap, you can now move past it.  Know that everyone has touchy subjects. Some people are offended or bothered by certain things, so now you know and you can navigate wisely, but still taking the last points into consideration.

6) Breathe. 

7) Remember to look at the big picture.  You are planning an amazing party to celebrate your love and future marriage. You are WAY too Blessed to be Stressed. Yes, I know it does happen though. The stress is natural. Even if you were planning a big office event or a fashion show, more tasks = more people to coordinate with = more stress and that’s just the way it goes. Stay cool, know that it will all work out and trust that no one will know if you don’t choose the right paper for your save the dates or if your specific shade of lilac is not the same for all vendors (ahem, our wedding color: oh Lilac why are you so elusive).

And on that note…. Happy planning!!!!!!! Haha!

Check me out as a feature on TheStyleLine.com interviewed by the amazing Rachel Schwartzmann!!!!

Also don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @EmilyBrickel and my new account for all things fashion illustration @EmilyBrickelillustration

Hope that inspires you!
xoxo

Emily