How to keep your mental sanity while organizing your wedding?
In their reviews my couples often say the whole organization process was so effortless, they felt they should be doing more. I am always glad when it happens because it means my mission was fulfilled. I see couples who organize their weddings by themselves stress out a lot because there are so many unpredictable details to figure out, it can become truly overwhelming.
As I said before, organizing a wedding is not like organizing a birthday party, let alone a destination wedding in a country with a different language and traditions.
How to keep your mental sanity while organizing
your destination wedding in Italy?
Do you know what will help in this process? Trust and certainty. Knowing that you can feel safe with the vendors, for instance. Are they detail-oriented perfectionists or will they let the job halfway done once you will pay the whole amount? Until you don’t know, you won’t be able to keep calm.
Do you know what else helps? The feeling of having everything under control. When you are sure you didn’t forget anything and you can enjoy your wedding day, without having to recreate the timeline in your head every ten minutes.
Here are some important details to consider:
The location
It seems easy. You find it online, contact the owners, and book it. Except there are some important details you can’t sometimes see in the photos. The place where the reception will take place does look Italian? In 10 years, when you will see your wedding photos, you’ll want them to seep Italy out! It’s not easy to decide whether a location you haven’t seen does the job or whether it is a good fit for you.
Having someone give you an insight into which location is best for you is priceless. It is like choosing a fragrance, after a few you see, they all look the same if you don’t know what details you need to focus on.
Unexpected taxes
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, right? Except you might be unaware of some details that are important in Italy. This beautiful country is famous for strange taxes, like the one for owning a TV, or SIAE – a tax for playing music for a group of people.
Paying is not the most difficult part – finding the right office and talking to them in Italian is. Italy is not a digital-friendly country, in some regions, they still try to make you physically come to their office to pay the tax.
The amount depends on the number of guests, location, and the kind of music. A live band will cost less than a DJ. All these things are quite counterintuitive and difficult to organize from outside.
If you don’t pay the SIAE tax, you can get a huge fine. Locations and musicians are aware of this and don’t want to bother with bureaucracy, so the wedding organizers have to deal with it.
Another detail you might not know is that if you want to use sparklers for the cutting of the cake, your guests will probably leave them on the tablecloths nearby, burning them and making you pay an extra fee for it. Unless someone won’t be there to prevent it from happening.
Also, you can’t make a lantern “send-off”, because it is illegal in Italy due to the fires they may cause, especially in summer.
The wedding organization process is made of these small unexpected details like these and the constant presence of a coordinator is a must if you want to keep your mental sanity.
Coordination and wedding day timeline
On the wedding day, when the vendors arrive, someone needs to be there to tell them what to do, and it can’t be you because, well, you’re getting married! So your friend or a relative will have to do the stressful part of coordination instead of enjoying your wedding.
If you want to do it by yourself, make a precise timeline, and contact every vendor to make sure they respect it. There are lots of small details in this process. The flowers need to be in the fridge cells before they become your beautiful decorations, the buffet catering must be ready before the first guest arrives.
If the vendors are professionals or if they have worked together or at that specific location before, the process will probably go smoothly, but you can’t risk it.
If you don’t want to hire a wedding planner or coordinator, think in advance who could step in to do it. This person has to be at the location 4-5 hours before the wedding when the vendors start to arrive and will spend a huge part of the day running around to ensure the timeline is respected and everyone is happy.
How to keep your mental sanity for sure while
organizing your wedding
You can download some mindfulness apps to do some meditation, you can enroll in a yoga class. It will help you carry less stress. But there is a long-term very efficient way to keep your mental sanity while organizing your wedding.
I know I’m taking sides but I can’t stress enough the importance of a wedding planner for a destination wedding. You can be like my previous brides who had an effortless yet perfect wedding.
I use personalized software where we trace every detail, we have many online meetings where I get to know you and make sure your wedding does represent your taste and dreams.
And, last but not least, I will be there for you in every moment of your special day, solving last-minute issues and going above and beyond to make sure you and all your guests will truly enjoy your wedding in Italy.
You don’t only pay for years or decades of expertise, trusted vendors, a location that will meet your needs, you are paying for your mental sanity. Isn’t it worth it?