Wedding Planning Advice for the Groom

Ever heard the expression happy wife happy life? Well the term applies equally before as well as after the nuptials take place. While this article is designed to partly educate people on the uniquely stressful position of a groom during wedding planning, the reality is that no one is more stressed or under more pressure than the bride.

Many grooms selfishly proclaim to be leaving the details for the bride because it’s “more of her thing than mine” or “she cares about this stuff”. While it’s true she may have more opinions than you do about many things, much of the pressure she feels is about making it a special day for both you and your families. Also, this attitude is often, understandably, misinterpreted as you not caring about the wedding – which if that is the case then maybe you should be reassessing your pending nuptials.

So find a couple of things you can help with, admittedly this is sometimes easier said than done, and give the stressed bride some respite.

For many men it’s in our nature to be the knight in shining armor. Nothing makes us angrier than to see our partner upset or mistreated. Well get used to it. Typically the wedding planning is even more of an emotional roller coaster than the wedding day itself. As your bride-to-be tries to navigate the pitfalls of pleasing everybody she will unwittingly fall foul of some people. Expect to be the shoulder to cry on, but take a deep breath before rushing in to defend her honor. Whether it be telling her or your parents to back off or the meddling maid of honor to mind her own business, it is unlikely that getting involved will help anyone. The best advice would be to consider letting things blow over – relationships are always strained during the wedding planning but things are usually patched up or forgotten well before the big day.

Just a little practical advice – give yourself some time to recover after the bachelor party by making sure it’s not a few days before the wedding. You are probably not as young as you used to be, so remember that the priority is looking fresh and sharp on your wedding day. The wedding pictures and memories will last a lot longer than those of your stag night.

Also, all of your old friends and drinking buddies getting back together again does have a habit of making the groom regress back into his more party filled days. Try to resist the peer pressure and urge of partying too hard. It might be fine, but you are more likely to regret burning the candle at both ends than missing out on a couple of beers with your mates.