The stereotypical image of a bride-to-be in the media is a humorless frantic woman obsessed with color swatches, agonizing over fondant, and bossing all of her loved ones around in preparation for "her special day." This does not have to be you! Zen wedding planning begins with a mindset - an attitude towards the WPP that is low-key and upbeat. This first step was difficult to describe, but I think I hit all the important parts below!
Perspective
The heart and soul of a wedding, the core, the very reason for it is because you are in love! How wonderful and joyful is that?! I think it's good to remind yourself of this as often as possible. A wedding is not to impress people, or to make your single friends jealous, or to throw the party of a lifetime, or for any other reason than to celebrate your love and commit to your partner for life. That should be the cornerstone of your WPP.
Humor & flexibility
Like many things in life, it is dangerous to take the WPP too seriously. Doing so leads stress (both on you and your relationships with other people involved in the process), which in turn leads to unhappiness and frustration. You will inevitably run into problems involving cost or availability of wedding related items and vendors. And since weddings tend to be such emotional subjects, disagreements with your future spouse, friends, and family will almost certainly occur. Try to keep a sense of humor about these things, and be open to compromise.
Prepare for Imperfection...
...and even learn to love it! One word I would never use to describe myself is a perfectionist. Don't get me wrong, I take great pride in my work. But to me the time/perfection trade off is almost never worth it and I truly believe there is great value in knowing when things are good enough. Knowing when things are good enough can really save you a ton of time agonizing over small details just because you are caught up in the idea of things having to be perfect. Plus, it is really liberating to be free of the expectation of perfection. This is not to say you should do things half-assed, or not care about quality. And for the things that are really important to you, striving for perfection can pay off. But not every aspect of your wedding will be perfect. And you know what? I think it's better that way!
Ok, I think that's it! The next steps will be less abstract and more tangible things that will help you with the WPP, so stay tuned!
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