DANIELLE & JAMES’ CLASSIC OLIVE GROVE COUNTRY WEDDING

Photographer: Milina Opsenica Photography

James has two pieces of advice
1. Plan and decide as much as you can, as early as you can.
2. Once you have made a decision, move on – don’t keep looking at more options as you are just going to second guess and stress yourself.

For Danielle, it’s about minimising stress – for me, I never wanted to be stressed about this day. I’ve had friends who stress about the entire thing and loose the happy anticipation, they’re just happy it’s over. That’s not what it should be like, it’s a happy celebration of your love! A few points about this:
– So many people look at the wedding as an entire event and overwhelm themselves with the idea of planning everything. Break it down to tasks and focus on them individually. You’ll enjoy the planning more if you don’t feel pulled in a million different directions.
– Divide and conquer with your partner; agree who’s responsible for what task, then discuss the ideas or options you’ve found and move forward. Let each other see their tasks through instead of trying to take on more work for yourself.
– Don’t let your family and friends get overly involved; don’t let them force their ideas or desires on you. This can be a really hard balance in many families, so set expectations early. Keep them in the loop and have them participate as much as you’re comfortable with, but stop pushiness in its tracks.
– Find suppliers who you’re comfortable with and who you can collaborate with – we came up against a couple of suppliers who were highly rated, but who simply were stressful to work with. It doesn’t matter if someone is “the best”, if you find yourself frustrated, cut them loose and move on. We were comfortable with all our suppliers and had great rapport, but there certainly were suppliers whom we decided not to work with early on (for exactly that reason).