Before Covid, couples were (mostly) working from the office and then heading home afterwards. Wedding planning would take place upon returning home, and there was a clear distinction between these two activities. These days, couples are expected to work from home, while also finding time to eat, sleep, exercise, socialise (safely) and plan their wedding. Even just typing that out was tiring! If you are feeling burnt out, we don’t blame you. So here are some helpful tips on how to balance working from home and planning your wedding…
Have a separate workspace
Wedding planning aside, experts will always recommend having a designated workspace. This doesn’t mean that you and your Other Half should each have a home office, because that is logistically impossible for most of us. A corner of the living room or a spot at the kitchen table is all you need! Once you’ve finished work for the day, you can shut your laptop and physically move away from your workspace. Take a break and then sit somewhere else to do your wedding planning. This will help you to separate these two activities!
Don’t do work and planning at the same time
It’s important that you make time for each activity. Having 25 tabs open on your laptop and flipping between work emails, wedding planning spreadsheets, work calls and Pinterest boards is exhausting and inefficient. You’ve got to focus on one activity at a time. If you try and do it all at once, you’ll start to feel burnt out very quickly.
Have a schedule
Our advice is to block out time in your calendar for work and for wedding planning. This may be working from 9 – 5, taking a break and then planning your wedding in the evenings. Or, perhaps now that you aren’t commuting, you’ll use that time to plan your wedding before and after work. During your wedding planning sessions, set a timer and once you hear the beep, stop planning. Decide ahead of time how much time you’ll dedicate to wedding planning and then stick to it. It may be once per day for an hour, or one evening per week. Whatever works for you and fits into your schedule.
We should probably note that when we refer to ‘wedding planning’, we are not talking about mindless scrolling through wedding-related content on Instagram. There’s a time for that, but in this instance, we are referring to dedicated wedding planning time that you can schedule in.
Be organised
You’ll get a lot more done if you have deadlines, a wedding planning checklist, and a plan! Use your dedicated wedding planning time wisely.
Some helpful resources:
Find Your Dream Wedding Suppliers
Covid-Specific Wedding Planning Tips
End your workday well
We’ve already agreed to having your workday and your wedding planning time as two separate activities. If you are working from home, it’s great to have a buffer activity to end off your workday. This could be having a drink with your Other Half, exercising or getting outside for a walk around the block. Then you can begin wedding planning as a fresh, new activity for the day!
Share the load
One of the secrets to staying sane while planning your wedding is to share the load. Sit down with your Other Half, make a list of what needs to be done and then divide and conquer. Involve your family and bridal party, and ask if they would be happy to help with some of the tasks too. And then, most importantly, trust them to get it done. This means no nagging!
Take breaks
This goes without saying, but we’d kick ourselves if we didn’t say it: take breaks. If you are starting to feel overwhelmed, pause wedding planning for a few days, take a day off work if you’re able to, or hire a wedding planner to help you. During your wedding planning sessions, take a 20-30 minute break to go for a walk and clear your head. Whatever a break looks like for you, make sure you schedule them in!
