Your wedding may be your special day, but there are a lot of people involved who are going to want to inject their own opinion about how it should be. It may be hard to disappoint Grandma, or even your best friend, but at the end of the day you should be pushing for what you see as the dream wedding, not giving in to others expectations.
Surround Yourself With…Yes, People
You know your family and friends, and you know who won’t care if you choose mandarin orange brides maid dresses (please don’t) if that is what makes you happy. Make sure that you arm yourself with at least one of them every time you are in the midst of making decisions with your more opinionated family members. Their encouragement is just what you need to over ride your cousins insistence that a bride has to wear a mermaid dress.
Pick Your Battles
Make a list of what really matters to you, and let your overwhelming bridal party deal with the rest. How important is the font of the wedding invitation really, so long as you get to choose the luxury wedding invitation boxes to have them delivered in? By conceding to those little things that you, or anyone else, will hardly remember you will have an easier time in standing your ground on the wedding elements that mean the mean the most to you.
Learn the Art of “No” With Grace
It is likely to be your parents and future in-laws that are the hardest to battle when it comes to planning the wedding you want. They are the ones footing the bill after all, and you may feel obligated to give in to their whims. This does not have to be the case, and you can avoid uncomfortable confrontations, just by learning how to say no with grace.
Don’t be shy to explain why you are not happy with the way Grandma’s wedding dress makes you look, or how the thought of your grooms 3 year old rambunctious nephew carrying your rings scares the heck out of you. Listen, and then offer alternatives that you can all live with. Maybe take pieces of Grandma’s dress to fashion your veil, or allow the young boy to be accompanied down the aisle by an adult. Be graceful in the way you voice your objections, and try and make comprises when you can to keep the peace.
Don’t Forget Your Groom
Yes, it is the girl’s who dream of a wedding day their whole lives, but that doesn’t mean the groom doesn’t have some ideas and wishes of his own. He is as much a part of the wedding as you are, and is the one person with whom you should give in with at least a few times. If not, the wedding ends up feeling like a performance for him, not something that he was an active part of.
When the dust has settled and the honeymoon is over, all you have left of your wedding day is an album of pictures and a new husband. This is your once in a lifetime chance, so do your best to make sure it is exactly the way you have always envisioned.