Among the more inflammatory social-media stories this week involves a rather unreasonable demand on the part of one bride: that everyone who receives an invitation to a wedding should be buying a gift, regardless of whether or not they actually attend the reception.

While this is an extreme example of the infamous Bridezilla phenomenon: the closer to the big day we get, the more stressed out and demanding the bride becomes. Now, we’re not going to delve into the root causes of this kind of thing: what we will do is point out that some brides suffer from it more than others, and that there are things that can be done to deal with the problem, and keep stress levels to a minimum.

Bring in a Wedding Planner

If you’re having to chase up the entertainment, and you have to deal with last-minute cancellations from unreliable caterers, then the chances are strong that you’ll end up more stressed than you otherwise might be. To put it mildly! There’s a solution here in the form of a professional wedding planner, who’ll consult with you, get a good idea of your wishes, and do all of the organisation on your behalf. They charge a fee for their services, naturally, but this can often pay for itself.

Take the Time to Destress

If you let it, then a wedding can take over your life, dominating every waking moment until you can think about nothing else. If this is a big problem, you can try something formal like mindfulness meditation to stay in control of things. But even taking out a few hours of the week to do something where mention of weddings is forbidden can be enough to take the edge off those Bridezilla emotions. You might also want to avoid cramming too many events into the build-up to your wedding: a hen party is pretty much all you need.

Don’t Compare Yourself to Other People

Nowadays, brides are encouraged to spend large portions of their day leafing through other people’s weddings on Instagram and Pinterest, to say nothing of the celebrity weddings you see in glossy magazines. That’s a recipe for feelings of inadequacy: you’ll be trying to meet a standard that only vast budgets (and clever photo-editing) can achieve. It’s nice to push the boat out, but if you push it out too far, you’ll turn into Bridezilla.

Enjoy Yourself

Your wedding is supposed to be the happiest day of your life – but if you spend most of it worrying about whether the cake is going to be sufficiently impressive, then you’re probably not going to enjoy it quite so much. That’s why it’s crucial that you take the time to remember why you’re having a wedding celebration in the first place!