🤝 Set clear boundaries: Open and honest communication is key! It's important to let your family and friends know that while you appreciate their enthusiasm and support, you and your partner also need space to make decisions that reflect your own vision for the big day. Boundaries may include specifying which aspects are open for discussion and which are non-negotiable or off-limits.

💖 Embrace their enthusiasm: Remember, your loved ones are genuinely excited for you! Instead of feeling overwhelmed, try to channel that energy in a positive way. Create a list of tasks where their involvement would be most helpful, such as researching vendors, DIY projects, or even organizing smaller pre-wedding events. This way, they feel included without encroaching on your final decisions.

💬 Share updates selectively: If constant inquiries become too much, providing periodic updates can help manage expectations without feeling overwhelmed. Share updates on specific aspects of your wedding planning process, such as the venue, theme, or menu, to keep everyone involved and excited, but maintain control over the final details.

💌 Remember it's your day: At times, people may impose their own preferences onto your wedding plans unknowingly. Politely remind them that it is you and your partner's special day and that you value their opinions, but ultimately, the final decisions rest with the two of you. This gentle reminder reinforces that you appreciate their input while ensuring that you maintain control over the overall vision.

🤗 Seek support from the pros: Consider hiring a wedding planner or coordinator who can help mediate tensions and provide professional advice. They are experienced in managing expectations and can help strike a balance between incorporating loved ones' wishes while maintaining the couple's desired outcome.

💕 Remember the love: Lastly, during times of stress or overwhelming expectations, never lose sight of the love and joy that surrounds your special day. It’s all about celebrating your unique journey as a couple. Focus on what truly matters: marrying the love of your life and creating beautiful memories together!

It's a wonderful thing to have a close friend or family member to offer to perform your ceremony. Many couples appreciate the intimacy this option offers them on one of the most special days of their lives. While I am not personally against this for any particular reason, you should consider the benefits of hiring a professional wedding Officiant to solemnize your wedding ceremony.

A professional wedding Officiant or Ordained Minister has done this before. That means they are familiar with how a ceremony goes, from coordinating your procession and crafting a beautiful and meaningful ceremony to the legalities of solemnizing your marriage.

A wedding Officiant is adept at public speaking. They are comfortable addressing large groups, projecting their voice, incorporating children/step-children and lost loved ones into your ceremony and they know how to guide you and your wedding party, as well as family and friends, through the ceremony and direct them to the next event.

A pro Officiant has written many, many ceremonies before and will have a lot of creative and wonderful ways to draft the perfect script for you and your partner. In most cases, like myself, they can also incorporate your Love Story and are skilled at performing Unity Ceremonies like Handfastings and Unity Candle or Sand ceremonies.

Click here to request a wedding Officiant quote.​

A #weddinghashtag is a great way of finding and collecting photos that your friends and family take of your wedding. Couple's usually use their names to come up with clever a catchy hashtags that they then have printed on their wedding invitations, programs, reception signs, and even on photo booth prints!

Some names are easy to use like, like my married name, for example.

​Lee can really be added onto the end of just about anything to create a punny hashtag.

#FinalLeeWed, #PerfectLeeLoved, and of course #HappiLeeEverAfter!

If you or your fiancé's last names are a bit more complicated, or you're not feeling those creative juices kicking in, you might try a free online hashtag generator like the one Shutterfly offers.

Simply enter you and your fiancé's first and last names, any nicknames you two might use, the married name that the two of you will use, the date of your wedding and boom! You've got First Name, Last Name, Nickname, AND Married Name hashtag ideas!!

Try it out Shutterfly's Hashtag Generator free!

Looking for something a little punnier? Hire a writer!

Wedding Hashers has written millions of wedding hashtags and for just $25 for 3 hashtags, $35 for 5 hashtags, or $80 for 12 hashtags, you can be sure to get a hashtag that is sure to entertain!

I'm ready to create my perfect wedding hashtag!

Not sure you're ready to commit? Check out some of #WeddingHashers's recent clients and see for yourself ;)

Most couples feel generally unprepared when meeting with me for the first time because they aren't sure what questions they should be asking.

If you're like me, you want to know you're making the best decision, especially for an event as special as your wedding day.

Here is a great list of questions you can have on-hand so you can feel prepared when you're interviewing for your wedding officiant and confident when you make your decision.

Your parents are a big part of who you are and can be eager to want to help you get ready for arguably one of the biggest days of your life. To help you figure out what you can ask your parents to do, here are 6 of our favorite mother and father of the bride duties from WeddingWire's Wedding Trends Expert, Anne Chertoff. 

Every year, The Knot Real Weddings Study reveals the average wedding cost and more official data per state. About 7,600 couples across the country, who originally set a wedding date  between January 1 and December 31, 2020, participated in the study. In 2020, COVID impacted just about everything across the wedding industry, including the average wedding cost and more prewedding related event costs. 

Ideas by Maddy Sims
Article sourced from The Knot - Updated Jan 12, 2021