Ireland's leading wedding blogger has revealed her top tips for couples on how to ward off anxiety about their big day.
Sara Kennedy, from Irishweddingblog.ie, said “wedxiety” has become a real issue as we emerge from lockdown.
The Dubliner told the Irish Mirror: “With the country emerging from the pandemic, it feels like the lights have been switched back on for a lot of couples.
“But I’ll coin the phrase wedxiety – it’s a real thing since the pandemic took its grip.
“Now that couples are starting to relax into it and are coming up for air, their shoulders are still locked tight. It will take time for the stress to lift.”
And she gave her advice on how to have the best wedding day.
Sara said: “First of all, mind yourself. This isn’t about getting your nails done, it’s about taking the time out, eating well and sleeping well.
“Taking your mind off the wedding can be a really good thing because it’s on your mind all the time. It can be so draining.
“Start doing more of those special wedding-related things to give you the pick up so you feel you’re part of the process.
“I think half the battle for people is they feel they don’t know where they stand with things, so if it means getting out to your venue and having one more look around, this will take the nervousness away and settle your mind.
“You’ve got the opportunity now to take a break, go out and see the country and go easy on yourself.
“Mainly a bride takes on this consumption of everything having to be perfect and right but stop putting yourself under so much pressure to have this wedding planning nailed. Things will happen.
“Everything will be fine and you’re still going to get married even if the ultimate perfection isn’t reached – you’re setting that standard, nobody else is.
“Accept that no matter what you do you’ll have a fantastic day and take each day as it comes. All of a sudden we went in thinking the max we could have for a wedding for the summer was 25 people and now we’ve gotten to 50 in July, which allows us to dream bigger.
“For the rest of the year things will go on the rise again.
“Couples are excited, they’re more confident and brides are getting into the bridal boutiques. There’s a lot of happiness, a lot of excitement, all of those things that were not runners for the last few months are now happening.
“Seeing the slump and cloud of depression that a lot of couples were in, they’re coming out of it now.
“But they’re still cautious. We’re waiting patiently for all the things that make a good Irish wedding come back.”
