Although planning your dream wedding sounds glorious, many engaged couples lose motivation to make it a picture perfect celebration. There are many factors that make a wedding logistically sound, including; budget, timing, and location to name a few. Can you imagine the stress that couples undergo if any of these factors started to weaken? Insufficient funds and unfulfilled deadlines can send a relationship plummeting. What was once an inspired conversation now turns to arguing and bickering, leaving resentment between two lovers. So the question is, what can I do to keep my significant other engaged in the wedding planning process? Let’s take a look at some helpful tips.
Figure out what you both want.
Communication is an essential part of any healthy relationship. By telling each other what you want, you and your future spouse begin to visualize an ideal celebration. Asking each other questions can help discover both party’s preferences, as well as build motivation. By combining both bride and groom’s ideas early, the planning process becomes clearer and a perfect wedding starts to seem tangible.
As a wedding company we love to understand both our clients and the vision they want for their wedding. Before we begin anything in the planning process we always send out a questionnaire that gets all parties involved in identifying priorities and preliminary ideas for all aspects of the day. These concepts are built upon throughout the planning process.
Divide and conquer.
Don’t do all the work and stress yourself out even more. You and your companion are a team! Make sure your partner has equal responsibilities in the wedding plans, and that you haven’t taken on more than you can handle. Your fiancé may have something different in mind for an ideal wedding, so what better way than to give your spouse a role that he/she wants to be involved with. While you may be interested with floral design and stationery, your partner may be interested in food and music. Divide and conquer is the motto and this method will help relieve your stress.
Give your partner control.
Giving your partner control can be motivating, and provide a new sense of ownership. An easy way to give your partner control is to allow him/her to plan one or two aspects of the event with complete control. Since most men don’t have a particular interested in much of the “standard” planning that comes with weddings, giving your fiance the green light to prepare a surprise is a great way to get them engaged and excited about the details.
At MIRA we encourage couples to plan surprises to take place during the wedding reception. When surprises are incorporated it gives a personal touch of what the groom wants to do and not what he has to do. It sets aside the “sterile” planning and allows him to have fun with a creative idea for his bride-to-be.
Stay in the loop.
We encourage couples to always keep their significant other constantly aware of what is happening. A key factor to mutual agreement is to make sure he/she recognizes all the finer details that are being put into the wedding.
At MIRA we try our best to keep an open line of communication with both the bride and groom to prevent from anyone being left out. Open lines of communication include but are not limited to cake design, transportation, entertainment, etc. We also like to combine all important files (contracts, budget, timelines, etc.) and share it on the cloud so clients can have access whenever they please. This gives each individual the freedom to open up any emails and find any information they need to be included in the wedding.
Bonus Tip: Schedule Wedding Time
If none of the above sound like the right fit for your partner, concede by respecting that they just might not be interested in this whole planning business (that’s ok, you’ve got an amazing wedding planner anyway!) One tip we give all clients is to make wedding planning time a regularly scheduled item. You AND your fiance might find it hard to dutifully select ceremony music or go through the hors d’eouvres list after a long day at work. Scheduling time specifically for wedding planning not only helps both parties prepare for the massive amounts of decisions that need to be made, but also ensures you stay on track throughout your planning process.
Happy planning!