3 Truths for Type-A Brides | Hang up your Cape, You Can’t be the Hero on Wedding Day
I have seen most type-A brides start their planning with furious energy BUT THEN burn out and still have the painfully stressful finish lines to cross before the wedding.
Three hard truths every Type-A Bride needs to hear!
TIME OFF / PTO — for Wedding Planning
If you are a Type-A Bride and will do most of the heavy lifting on wedding planning, you should anticipate taking at least two days of vacation time/days off work. Why?
Number one, because it simply takes hundreds of hours to plan the wedding that a Type-A bride wants!
When things are detailed, the timeline is firm for a reason, and you have a vision, you will need those 300-400 hours to research, plan, and design.
On average, wedding planners spend 300-400 hours planning a wedding. An intricate event design and timeline with more vendors than usual? That number can quickly go up to 700 hours of planning.
Number two, Type-A Brides have trust issues (I say this lovingly from a place of solidarity).
If your friends describe you as Type-A, you will find yourself wanting to meet with vendors in person, have your dress altered more than once, and generally verify things in the flesh. Other brides usually have higher trust factors with vendors and family and let them confirm details and take meetings/calls if needed. Not you!
Vendors work on the weekends. Requests like... “do you have time to talk this out with me on Saturday?” are rarely possible. Many vendors only take meetings and consultations Tuesday-Thursday so they can focus on their couples Friday-Sunday and Monday take some rest.
2. WEDDING PLANNING BURN-OUT IS REAL
I’ve seen it time and again, a bride books and within hours has sent me a two-page email with questions and requests. I say “Give me a day, and then I send over tons of resources!” And once they have all the amazing tools I’ve built for them, they go all-in and go fast on their wedding planning at SCR.
These Type-A Planner-Brides are my favorite (birds of a father, right!). But my flock is vulnerable to burn-out. How to avoid burnout? Prioritize!
You have to build your wedding day from the ground up with a plan of action. You can’t do everything at once. Each decision should be a building block for the next step.
Here is the order I recommend: By the time you’ve booked a venue, you have a very good handle on your Guest Count + Budget.
Now, the venue is booked, the guest count is pretty solid, and the budget is set.
Next, book your Caterer and Bar. Now the foundation is done, and the most expensive components are taken care of. You can now reevaluate your budget to see what you can splurge on for the next layer of building: Photo/Video and DJ. The rest will follow as your budget and guest count continue to update after each decision and time goes on.
Go step by step, and don’t try to do it all at once — or the burnout will come for you and steal all your joy.
Also, it has to be said that SCR’s In-House Coordination kicks in 3 months out when your burnout is going to be real, and you will be ready to have help and hand it off! So, IHC is a significant emotional and time-saving tool!
3. YOU CAN’T BE THE HERO (on your wedding day)
You are usually the one in charge, making sure things are done right and on time. Well, on the wedding day you should not be that person. None of our time should be worried about a timeline or last-minute issues. If you have a full-planner or in-house coordination, then this is unlikely to fall on your shoulders. Not all of us are so lucky to have professional planning support on our wedding day.
If that is your case and you won’t have a coordinator or planner, here’s the best thing you can do to give yourself peace of mind: Hire your venue’s Recommended Vendors.
Why? They know how to be the HERO! I’ve seen countless unforeseen circumstances when no one could save the day except the random vendor who happened to be in that spot on the wedding day. It could be the florist, photographer, caterer, bar, or even security. I’ve seen every vendor come to the rescue on something entirely outside of their “role.” Recommended Vendors are your greatest defense against your own stress and need to “jump in to save the day” on your wedding day!
Amd Booking Recommended vendors from your venue list is the easiest way to save yourself COUNTLESS HOURS of back and forth with vendors. Recommended Vendors know the venue, rules, and best practices, and don’t have to bombard you with useless questions.
Put your cape up for the day, Wonder Woman. Those Recommended Vendors are there for you.