Battling Wedding Day Anxiety
In the months, weeks, and days leading up to your wedding, you’ll probably experience an inordinate amount of anxiety and stress. But anxiety can cause major wreckage on your body and mental health. Here’s how to control that anxiety so you’ll feel stress-free and giddy on your wedding day.
Symptoms of Anxiety
If your experiencing cold feet, odds are it doesn’t have anything to do with your fiance. It’s just wedding day anxiety. Take the stress you experience every day at work, plus family drama, add in paying large sums of money and planning a fun party for 100+ guests, and you’ll get a substantial amount of stress! If you’re suffering from any of the symptoms below, you’re experiencing anxiety.
- Nausea
- Upset Stomach
- Headache
- Irritability
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Imagining the Worst
- Restlessness
Why Anxiety Sucks
Anxiety is a mental disorder that many people deal with on a day to day basis, but some people experience it in moments of high stress, too. This includes the weeks leading up to your wedding when you have a lot of responsibilities riding on you. You may find it difficult to concentrate, constantly imagine the worst case scenarios, feel like you’ll never be able to get everything done, and feel very emotional overall. If you yell at your fiance or start crying for no reason, this is a good sign that you’re experiencing wedding day anxiety.
Anxiety and stress go hand-in-hand, so when it goes untreated for too long, you’ll start to see physical effects, too. These could include breakouts, puffy or dark eyes, a loss of appetite, and high blood pressure. Plus, it typically affects your sleeping routine, which increases all of these symptoms even more.
Dealing with Anxiety
So now that you’ve determined whether or not you are experiencing anxiety, and just how destructive it can be, let’s fix it. There are a ton of natural ways to manage your anxiety without altering your everyday life. Try out one of these methods when you start to feel panicky!
Eat Healthy & Exercise
If you’re deep in the trenches of wedding planning, you may have missed a few meals or relied on microwaved macaroni as a quick dinner one too many times. If this is the case, try good old fashioned healthy eating and exercise. Get in 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise with a walk, kickboxing, or even dancing. Just get your body moving and your heart pumping! It’s a great way to clear your mind and calm your racing thoughts. A balanced meal with a lot of vegetables, minimal carbs, and plenty of water will fuel your body, making you feel more alert and energized.
Limit Caffeine
Typically, people intake caffeine for more energy. Coffee in the morning wakes you up, and pop in the afternoon keeps you moving. With anxiety, you probably already feel a little bit restless. Your legs may be bouncing, you may fidget a lot, or are constantly adjusting your pen or jewelry. As a stimulant, caffeine will raise your blood pressure and heart rate, causing you to feel even more anxious. Try replacing caffeine with chamomile tea to help calm your nerves, or simply water.
Try out these options to stay energized without caffeine!
Practice Mindfulness
When we say mindfulness, think yoga and meditation. If you’ve never done either of these things before, it may seem out of your comfort zone and a bit scary. But yoga is a great way to quiet your mind through a series of stretches. You’ll be focusing on making sure each move is done properly and maintaining your breath pattern that you won’t be thinking about your responsibilities.
Check out our video for beginner’s meditation guidance. Whether you do it for 5 minutes or a half hour, meditation quiets your thoughts and slows your breathing which in turn calms your heart rate. One great way to practice mindfulness is to count your breaths. Whether you inhale for 4, hold for 6, and exhale for 8, or simply keep track of how many breaths you take, your mind will be focused on something other than your stress.
Journal or Talk out your Feelings
When you’re experiencing an anxiety or panic attack, it’s important to find the trigger. What caused your anxiety to flare up? Sometimes it’s obvious – like a bridesmaid staining her dress – and sometimes it’s more subtle. You could just be hungry or tired. Try journaling or talking with a friend or your fiance to figure out what is causing your stress. Many times, you’ll realize it isn’t as big of a deal as you made it, or your friend will have a suggestion or advice. Even if you don’t find a solution, just talking it out usually helps take the burden off of your shoulders.
Do Something Relaxing
What makes you relax? Is it taking a bubble bath? Going for a walk? Cuddling up with a good book? Getting a pedicure? Take some time for self-care to help ease your tension! Yes, finalizing the seating chart is important, but do you want to get sick on your wedding day, or walk down the aisle with bags under your eyes because you didn’t take care of yourself? Schedule in some time for YOU.
Try these other stress-relieving activities!
Get Fresh Air
Mother (nature) always knows best. No one knows why, but fresh air is the cure to almost anything. Step away from the problem, go outside and take a few deep breaths. It may help to take a walk around the block or find shapes in the clouds. Feeling the sun and wind on your face, smelling the grass and flowers, and remembering how small your problems are in the grand scheme of things always helps. Whether you serve imported wine or boxed, the world keeps spinning.
Seek Medical Guidance
If your anxiety persists for an extended amount of time or is more intense, we recommend seeking out medical advice. A medical professional will be able to diagnose any underlying issues and can prescribe medicine if they believe it is necessary. They’ll also likely have other natural things you can incorporate other than the ones mentioned here! Remember, they are professionals for a reason. They’ve studied these feelings and effects and have experienced patients going through the same thing. Take their medical advice and don’t be afraid to ask questions!
Stress and anxiety wreck your body and your mental health. Though your life may be overwhelming, there are ways to handle it effectively so you can relax and enjoy the wedding planning process.
