How To Keep Calm And Handle Wedding Stress

From handling finances to having a picture-perfect day, wedding planning can leave couples stressed. Self-care has to be priority

- Tanisha Saxena

Aditi Srivastava, a 29-year-old IT professional based in Delhi, resigned from her job six months ago to focus all her energies on orchestrating her elaborate Indian wedding. While she was prepared to manage the intricate details of planning the wedding, what she wasn't ready for was being affected by overwhelming emotions at every step of the way.

"I was already struggling with an anxiety disorder and the wedding preparations have only aggravated it. There are moments where I feel lost and my hands trembling," she admits. What Srivastava is experiencing are emotional symptoms of wedding stress, which according to many reports is a common problem among prospective couples. A 2018 survey of 500 married couples by wedding American e-commerce platform, Zola, found 96 percent of them claim wedding planning to be a stressful experience. While 40 percent of the couples described it as "extremely stressful", 71 percent thought it was "more nerve-wracking than other major life events like finding a new job".

Wedding planning takes a physical and emotional toll on brides and grooms and the reasons for it are wide-ranging. From family dynamics to managing finances for the grand day - everything becomes a stressor. And in the midst of errands like designing a wedding card, finalising the menu or deciding on return gifts for guests, self-care often takes a backseat.

THE RISING COST OF MATRIMONY