There is an old Greek proverb that states, “Happy is the bride that the sun shines on.” In resent times this has been changed to, “Happy is the bride that gets the best presents”. In reality happy is the bride who finds the right husband (or wife) and has a wonderful, organised, wedding day.
The essential key to being a happy bride is finding the right person for you to marry. A bride should be living in a fairy tale for that one day of her life, the fairy tale where you get to marry Prince (or Princess) Charming not the fairy tale where the beautiful girl is forced to marry the evil robber baron.
Happy is the bride who gets the wedding day she wants. This is rather more complicated than it sounds; first you have to decide what wedding day you want, then you have to reconcile that to the wedding day you can realistically have. Do not despair, sunset beaches in Spain might not be practical for you but you can still have a brilliant day.
A good start to getting the wedding day you need to be a happy bride is avoiding ending up with someone else’s perfect day instead of your own. Mothers seems to have a special talent for rearranging things to their own liking even if their taste is not yours, you can include them in your decisions but remember it is your day and you do not have to take their advice. Be tough, you do not have to invite your second cousins vegan diet coach if you do not want to and just because Uncle Bill got a guitar and learnt to play ‘You Are My Sunshine’ does not mean he should be allowed to do it at your wedding.
Happy is the bride who has good support. Pick your brides maids carefully and rely on them for help leading up to the wedding day as well as on it. Delegate tasks to your bridesmaids and trusted friends so you are not trying to do everything your self, trust your vendors, they are professionals and remember you are not in this alone (remember your partner?) and it’s meant to be fun.
Happy is the bride who is calm and controlled on her Wedding day. It is ok to be nervous because of the commitment you are about to make but it is not ok to be consumed with rage because the flowers are cream instead of white. If you spend the whole day worrying about what is not right and you will miss what is. If Aunt Matilda gets drunk and decides to belly dance try to see it as funny not horrific, your guests don’t expect perfection but they do expect a good time. You will ruin it for your guests, your husband (or wife) and yourself if you get mad, storm off and cry in the broom cupboard. Most importantly don’t take any irritations out on your new husband (or wife).
It is easy to be a happy bride; get the right partner, get the wedding day you want (within reason), relax and enjoy your day of being a Princess.