As a newly engaged bride it can be really hard to know where to start when planning your wedding. How do you plan a stress-free wedding day so that you can simply relax and enjoy the most special day of your life with your new husband? I’ve reached out to several recent brides along with my own experience and a couple notes from Aaron to share 6 steps for planning a stress-free wedding day.

1. Start with a Well Thought Out Timeline

A tried and proven timeline customized to fit your day will give you a solid place to start. Soon after a bride books her wedding with me, I’ll send her a sample timeline. As the wedding day approaches and she has a clearer idea of the traditional parts of a wedding they’ll be including such as a cocktail hour, dances, speeches, sunset portraits, etc. we’ll get together and completely customize it to fit their day.

2. Hire a Day of Coordinator

Hiring a professional wedding coordinator for the day of your wedding or a detailed friend who is good at running projects will allow you to truly relax and know that everything is taken care of. Personally, I think this is what allowed me to really enjoy my wedding because I didn’t have to worry about anything the day of.

3. Make Sure Each Task is Assigned to a Specific Person

Along with hiring a day of coordinator, making sure each task is assigned to a specific person is really important. If family and friends are doing much of your wedding tasks instead of traditional vendors such as a cater, DJ, event planner, etc. it’s even more important to make sure you have a list of each task and know exactly who’s doing what.

4. Over Communicate and Over Plan

Much of executing a stress-free wedding day comes from lots of detailed pre-planning. When communicating with your vendors and helpers it’s better to write down more details than they might need rather than feel disappointed because of an expectation that wasn’t communicated.

5. Have a Detailed Back Up Plan for an Outdoor Wedding

If you’re having an outdoor wedding, create a detailed backup plan in case of unpredictable bad weather. No one plans for bad weather and but it’s better to be safe than sorry. When choosing an outdoor venue, plan in advance for a second indoor option. Many churches and venues have beautiful lawns and outdoor spaces but also give you the option to move inside in an emergency so consider about that when choosing your venue.

6. Do a First Look

A first look refers to the bride and groom seeing each other before the ceremony. The photographer will pick a private spot with great light and position the groom. Then while he has his eyes closed the bride will walk up behind him and tap him on the shoulder. Doing a first look allows for some really sweet photos and gives you two a little time together before the rest of the day flies by. After you have several minutes together, it’s easy to go directly into bride and groom portraits followed by the rest of the formal portraits with your family and bridal party. If you choose to not see each other before the ceremony, all of the photos have to be taken between the ceremony and reception which takes away from time you could be spending celebrating with your guests.

Bonus Tip – Relax and Enjoy the Little Things

Planning a wedding can be really stressful with the hundreds of details involved. But as every past bride will tell you, (and it’s true) at the end of the day you’re going to be married and that’s really the most important thing. So do your best to plan your day out well but don’t let the little things bother you. No matter how much planning and preparing you do, not everything is going to go exactly the way you planned and the best way to not let it ruin your day is just let it go and remember the real reason you’re having a wedding.