Three real brides open up about wedding anxiety and how they dealt with it

“Oh lord, I constantly experienced pre-wedding jitters! Unfortunately, social media and Bollywood have skewed people’s expectations for weddings. Today, the focus has shifted to outdoing each other, with too much emphasis on making the celebration unique and unforgettable. My fiancée and I agreed that once our budget was set in stone, we wouldn't make changes. We had been planning for almost two years, so you can imagine the countless trends and ideas we had to resist.

Once I picked my vendors, I unfollowed all major Instagram accounts. And, honestly, it was so liberating not knowing what’s happening in someone else’s world. This helped me keep a tab on my pre-wedding anxiety. If friends or family would lovingly suggest an idea, I’d thank them, but say that if they wanted to see it incorporated in the wedding, they were welcome to pay for it. Plus, my best friend suggested that I have a weekly date night with my fiancée, where we don’t discuss the wedding at all. These two tricks worked wonders for me—a reminder that we need to invest in our companionship and our marriage, to make it worthwhile, because eventually, people will forget the intricacies of the wedding.”

“Pre-wedding anxiety? I’ve been there. For the most part, I just kept myself busy with work and avoided staying at home to escape the overthinking. The time leading up to your wedding leaves you with a strange feeling, a concoction of emotions...sometimes you’re laughing and loving all the attention, and the next minute you’re thinking about all that won’t be the same anymore. The new house, new people, leaving your family, and in my case, moving across the globe, which certainly didn’t help with the separation anxiety! So, I decided to bury myself in work until 14 days before the big day. After work, I’d go home, then hit the gym, and then back home. My loved ones suggested that I take one day at a time, and so I did. I set daily goals, scribbled them down, and ticked them off the list once accomplished. It felt good to get things done, scratching them off the checklist, one-by-one. Plus, I regulated my diet, cut down my alcohol intake, and exercised regularly. These minor lifestyle tweaks helped me manage my wedding stress better.”

“The (not so) few challenges that I dealt with before my wedding included narrowing down on the bridal lehenga, booking the venue, running multiple errands, and also getting in shape before D-day. But I avoided thinking too much. I stayed calm, and tried not to make any impulsive decisions, especially during trousseau shopping. To be honest, I felt most tense on the wedding day. I got stuck in a spiral of overthinking regarding the final arrangements, and whatnot. “What if the guests don’t like the food?” and “What if my make-up artist doesn’t arrive on time?” were some of the fears clouding my mind. My loved ones advised me to be positive, and made me believe that everything would be under control. So, I decided to go with the flow—there’s not much else one can do, right?”

Lead image: Alia Bhatt/Instagram