Maggie’s Mental Wellness Tips for Wedding Preparation

Welcome to our list of Maggie’s favorite mental wellness tips! We get it, brides! Wedding prep can be totally stressful! As a Maggie bride though, you have no reason to worry. We’ve got your back! If you’d like to know about how to keep your stress down and relationships stellar during this ever-changing time of life, keep reading to see our recommendations for each stage of wedding planning! While you’re at it, check out our Instagram for more content like this!

What Does Wellness Mean?

Wellness is considered to be the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes! That means practicing mindfulness and making yourself a priority every day so that instead of just surviving, you’re thriving! Wellness is often linked to just whether we look healthy, but it is so much more than that. It’s also about having good mental wellness, or feeling like your best self!

We believe a bride should know three things on her wedding day. That they’re loved, beautiful, and happy with this decision! Believe it or not though, sometimes that can be hard to do when there’s so much pressure on today’s brides! We’re so over that, so we have a step-by-step guide to prioritizing your physical and mental wellness every step of the way through wedding planning! Because we’re determined to make sure that a Maggie bride is a happy bride!

What Are The 5 Components Of Wellness?

There are five key components of wellness! They are generally considered to be: 

• Physical health
• Emotional health
• Social health
• Financial health
• Intellectual health

In this blog, we’re here to talk about prioritizing all five components of wellness and what you can do throughout your mental wellness journey to stay balanced and happy while planning your best day ever!

Is Wedding Planning Stressful For Couples?

PC: The Crawfords | Luke Dicola

Wedding planning can totally be stressful! Between pressure from family members, disagreements with your partner on wedding plans, a hundred details to keep track of, unrealistic expectations from social media, and everything else a wedding entails, it’s natural to feel a little anxious and overwhelmed! Trust us, as wedding experts, we completely understand where you’re coming from! But don’t worry, we have your back. There are so many things you can do to help stay on track for your wedding while still prioritizing your mental wellness!

Sounds like a dream come true? Keep reading to see our 12-month breakdown of our favorite ways to keep yourself accountable to both your wedding aspirations and yourself. You deserve to feel happy, healthy, and excited about your wedding! Let’s get into it!

11-12 Months Before: Begin Your Body And Mental Wellness Plan And Shop For Your Wedding Dress

With one year to go before your wedding date, this is the time to set intentions, create mindful habits, step up your hydration, and just work on prioritizing your overall mental wellness! The keys to feeling like your “best self” a year from now are patience and planning. We totally get that it doesn’t happen overnight! Giving yourself grace is the most important part! Trust us. With this mindset, you’ll be ready to make this wedding the best day ever!

First up, it’s the most exciting time of your wedding planning! (In our opinion, anyway!) It’s time to find your dream wedding dress! To get started, make sure to take our Style Quiz to find your ideal wedding dress based on price, aesthetic, and body type, and then gather your besties and find an Authorized Retailer near you to try on your fav styles IRL!

PC: Franklin & Brianne Photography

Wellness Tips For Physical Health

With time on your side, if working out is part of your wedding readiness plan, we recommend placing the most focus on how you feel and less on drastically changing your appearance! Exercise, especially if you can get outside, can be a major mood-booster! Spend time doing workouts that you enjoy, give your body grace, and remember that it’s okay to prioritize yourself! Worried it will take time away from your partner? Get them involved! Spend time going on walks together or take a couples yoga class! Who knows? It could be a total blast and a great way to connect during what can be a stressful time for a relationship!

Next, focus on consistent water intake and intentional meal planning. Getting enough water can sound intimidating, but there’s really no need to go overboard on hydration. Just add three cups a day to your current intake! This will vastly improve your mood, sleep, and energy levels! Trust us, the little things really add up when it comes to taking care of your body and mind!

Wellness Tips For Mental Health

Starting your journey towards mental wellness and mental health improvement is also an important step to take at this time! Wedding planning is a stressful business, so consider looking into some temporary (or long-term!) mental health resources. Building daily affirmations is also an easy yet effective thing to start with! At the end of the day, a happy bride is a beautiful bride, and having a fab support system might just be the first step!

9-10 Months Before: Focus On Physical And Mental Health And Stick To Your Wellness Tips!

PC: Samantha Dunford

Congratulations on making it past the last couple of months! The essential step in all of this is to keep going with your mental health improvements. If you’re starting to feel the pressure building, try starting a gratitude journal and practicing positivity! This is an easy way to keep stock of all the good things in your life and keep you accountable to yourself as your wedding day approaches.

Starting some nutritional and physical health practices is also a good way to not only make you feel better physically but have better mental wellness as well! Beginning your journey to healthy eating has never been more important than now. Multiple studies are showing that eating healthy can help relieve stress (because who doesn’t want to be a stress-free queen on their wedding day?!)

Healthy Nutrition Wellness Tips:

• Avoid or limit caffeine to reduce headaches, increase concentration, and make stressful situations less intense.
• If you drink alcohol, do so moderately.
• Make mealtimes a calm and relaxing part of your day. Meal skipping can make stress-related symptoms worse, and can cause headaches and indigestion. Use mealtimes to reflect and relax from your day!
• Don’t binge eat to relieve stress as this can actually cause MORE stress and indigestion.

Now that some of the stress has settled in, this is also a great time to start treating yourself to some self-care! Getting frequent facials and taking care of your hair and nails will not only make you feel better but will also help your wedding prep be that much easier! Get excited for all the fun parts of your wedding day like getting glammed up by trying different looks throughout your engagement! It’ll help you remember to slow down and enjoy this special period of your life! If you need a break from wedding planning though, bring a friend with you and catch up on what’s been going on in their life to bring a sense of normalcy and connection back into your day!

7-8 Months Before: Keep Focusing On Metal Wellness And Create Bookings

All right brides, this is officially your reminder to take a deep breath and take a good hard look at your mental health. If you’re starting to feel a little overwhelmed give yourself a break! Take the time to check in on yourself throughout the day rather than on your wedding, and reconnect with your family and friends. For more stress-free wedding tips, read our blog on all the mental wellness info!

Once you’ve prioritized your family, friends, fiance, and self, start looking into potential makeup artists for your big day! Aestheticians can be in high demand for engagement and wedding season, so don’t let procrastination get the better of your bookings! Check on your venue, and caterers, and get everything else in motion (with the help of your fiance, of course!) for your wedding day. Keep things fun and don’t be scared to reach out for help from the people around you!

5-6 Months Before: Confirm The Glam Squad, Prepare With Your Partner, And Secure The Wedding Bands

PC: Hannah Morgan | Julie Schandolph Photo

Whoa, you’re halfway to your wedding! Seriously, don’t panic. This might be a high-stress moment but trust that you’ve already built some healthy habits and mental wellness practices to get you through it!

Keep going with your wedding workout plan, nutrition, and mental health check-ins.

This is also the perfect time to get your partner involved (if they haven’t already). Not only is this a great time to pick out each other’s wedding bands but investing in some premarital couples counseling will allow you to have a strong marriage before it even begins! This can be such a fun time for the two of you as you start planning your life together and falling more in love than ever! Plus, you might just be surprised at how fab your partner’s taste is if you get them involved in all the wedding planning!

Fair warning, however: your next 6 months will fly by way faster than your previous 6 months! In the best way… and also potentially a whirlwind kind of way. But don’t worry, we’re here to help you stay cool, calm, and collected!

Wellness Tips: Beauty Timeline

PC: Brittany Martorella Photo | Kyla Jeanette Photo

We would also suggest keeping track of items on your beauty timeline. You will want to book the following appointments:

Makeup and hair specialists! If you haven’t gotten your beauty squad yet, now is the time to do your research and make a few consultations to get them booked for the big day.

If you’re planning on coloring your hair before the wedding, make sure to book a consultation NOW. Especially if you don’t already have a trusted artist. Read our blog for some wedding hair inspo for more ideas!

There’s no better accessory than a smile! You have to get your teeth cleaned every six months anyway, so make sure to get them cleaned now and talk to your dentist about whitening treatments if that’s something you’re into.

A nail appointment, of course! This can be such a fun one to book with your mom, sisters, bridesmaids, or besties right before the wedding as a cute bachelorette-esque idea! Spending time laughing with your girlfriends while you get wedding-ready is such a good way to keep stress low! Plus, we’re sure your mani-pedi is going to be to die for!

3-4 Months Before: Alterations And Pampering As Wedding Preparation

PC: Dania Zaragoza Photo | Sharyn Louise Photo

Here comes the luxurious part of your wedding health plan: treating yourself to skincare, beauty inspo, and another trip to your bridal boutique! (Ahhh, so fun!)

At this point, you should have already booked your hair and makeup artists. Now it is time to set up a couple of appointments to test out your potential beauty looks!

Additionally, with the wedding day so close make sure to treat yourself a bit! Book a facial, make a massage, and get a mani-pedi to help ease any stress that you might have. Practicing mental wellness means taking care of your outside as well as your inside!

By the way, if you haven’t already, book a session with a dermatologist or facialist for skincare to discuss any major skin concerns. If you’re worried about persistent hormonal acne or a rosacea flare-up for your big day, now is the time to ease into a preventative treatment and adjust for any side effects!

This is also the time to dial in your bridal gown alterations. Once your wedding dress is delivered and confirmed, talk to your boutique specialists about your projected fitting schedule! Alterations will depend on a variety of factors, including what gown size you originally ordered, your current measurements, your gown’s silhouette, accessories, and any customizations for sleeves, neckline, and train.

1-2 Months Before: Reconnect, Maintain, And Dial In On Mental Wellness

Congratulations—you’ve arrived at the 2-month countdown to your wedding! This checkpoint is all about maintaining your established health and wellness routines while ticking off some fun new cosmetic items. First up, treat yourself to a professional facial session and a pack of brightening sheet masks, and get some leave-in conditioner or a hair masque to make sure your hair is extra healthy looking before the big day!

Secondly, (and possibly one of our best mental wellness tips) make sure to reconnect with your partner over the next couple of months. Plan some nights where you can celebrate your love for each other whether it’s a staycation or a real affair!

1-2 Weeks Before: The Final Touches

PC: The Crawfords

It’s real! It’s happening! You’re about to get married, and you feel like magic! (We’re SO excited for you!) You’ve got just a few items left on your wedding mental wellness plan, including:

• A final hair trim to ensure it looks natural before the wedding.
• Regular exfoliation and moisturizer.
• Your pre-wedding wax session (Eep!).
• A glow-inducing spray, self, or natural tan.
• An eyebrow shape and wax session.
• A mani-pedi with your wedding party.
• Have a mental health check-in with yourself to make sure that you’re feeling good and positive before you walk down the aisle!

Most importantly, keep drinking plenty of water and plan for a good night’s sleep before your wedding day. If we have one piece of advice for how to get healthy before your wedding, it’s to give yourself plenty of time for rest and hydration!

Bottom line when it comes to our wellness tips? Wherever you are in your wedding health plan, don’t lose sight of your intentions toward mental wellness! There’s already so much potential for extremes in wedding planning: big highs and stressful lows, impulse buys and overspending, and new conflicts between your partner, wedding party, and families. The very last thing you need to pile on is a crash diet and an impossible workout regimen.

Instead, focus on shifting your habits toward positivity and productivity (take care of your insides and out!). Trust us, if you’re kind to your mind, body, and soul before the big day, you’ll be seeing far better beauty results than any “30-day mega-cleanse wedding diet plan” pretends to offer. Looking for more wedding inspo? Check out our Pinterest!

More Blogs Like This:

Maintaining A Positive Body Image At Your Bridal Appointment

How To Keep Your Wedding Day Stress-Free

Maggie’s Guide to Planning a Destination Wedding