7 Wedding Planning Habits That Bridezillas Do Not Use (Part I)

Habit #1: Having a System. There are so many components to planning a great wedding, it can get a little crazy sometimes, but you don't have to go crazy.

I don't know about you, but nothing drives me more crazy than being unorganized and not having a system for things; being unorganized cause stress, confusion, and frustration. It is also a time waster. Brides that have a system are those that are happy planning brides. Do you have a notebook or folder, comparison spreadsheets, phone call log, and tablet dedicated to you're planning to keep notes and or do you have papers here and there and every time you need to refer to something, you have to shuffle through several sheets of paper?

Do you have a calendar and reminders set up for yourself so that vendor payments are on time or are your vendors calling to remind you that your payment is late?

Make sure that you have some way to help you stay organized. It will make your life so much happier and keep you away from any Bridezilla tendencies!

Habit #2: Setting Priorities. There are several components to a wedding, and where you have to spread your dollars. A wedding of course as we know is a very personal event. What may be wonderful and fabulous to you may be awful to another bride. Because there are so many components to a wedding, it can be difficult to not want to have EVERYTHING and have the BEST of everything. Best does not always mean most expensive, but often times it does.

You need to decide one or two things that are very important to you and then stick with those one or two things. For example, photographs, which will be with you from now until your 50th wedding anniversary and beyond. So you choose to go with the award-winning photographer that will eat up 30% of your budget so you choose to spend the morning with your wedding guests and have an early morning reception. Or your priority may be that your guests have a really good time, that the reception be one BIG fabulous party so you choose to splurge on liquor and you have a dessert reception. Know that you will have to make some choices and stick to those choices. Unless you have an unlimited budget, you are not going to be able to have the David Tutera dress, the award-winning Photographer, and splurge on liquor for your reception.

Habit #3: Not Inviting the Neighborhood. The guest list is sometimes a tug-of-war between the bride and groom and both sets of parents. Everyone wants to make sure that their friends are invited and that family is not forgotten because you do not want anyone to have hurt feelings or feel as if you do not want them to be a part of your special day.

Yes, you would like to invite everyone you know to watch you marry the one you have chosen to spend your life with, but unless you have an unlimited budget, this is not feasible. Start with four guest lists. Yes. I said four. That was not a misprint. The bride, groom, parents of the bride, and parents of the groom should all have their own lists. The bride and groom should sit down together to compare their lists. Many times you all have mutual friends so your lists will have a lot of duplicates. Once you have combined your lists, you should sit down with each set of parents to remove any duplicates as well. You need to be able to categorize your guest list:

Category #1: Immediate family (brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, and first cousins), Category #2: Not so immediate family, Category #3: close family friends, Category #4: co-workers.

Is this a difficult task? Yes, but it is essential if you want to make sure that you stay within your budget. Once you can place everyone into a category, it will make things easier. Think about who you really and truly want to share your day with, who is important that they be there? It is important to say to yourself: "If (fill in the blank)was not there, I would really miss them." Everyone on your list does not need an invitation. Ask yourself, "Is this person being sent an invitation just because I want them to know that I am getting married?" If the answer to this question is "yes," then send an announcement, which would be sent after you have gotten married. So take a look at your guest list; and think, look over, think and look over again. How important is it that you invite a childhood friend that you have not seen since 6th grade and talk to twice a year?