lazing around in a park reading on where to go next

It was a wonderful 2 weeks’ break that my wife and I had. It was a trip to Japan and our itinerary covered popular tourist hotspots like Tokyo, Nagano (Matsumoto), Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Hakone and back to Tokyo again.

It was an amazing 2 weeks’ long break and it was in fact the longest vacation we had ever since we got married exactly 2 years ago.

Now, I am totally recharged!!!

I have been asking around from my close group of female friends and most are too busy with their work to commit themselves to take such a long break. Perhaps a 3 to 5 days’ holiday to a nearby country such as Taiwan or Malaysia is more realistic and practical.

The “what if my company needs me” mentality plagued their lives.
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photo from KDC43

Inevitably, wedding stress will come to you no matter how well-prepared you are.

There will be little amount of stress initially. With a bit of stress is healthy, in a way you can be on your toes, making sure everything is well prepared. It only means that the wedding meant alot to you and you are committed to see it work, no matter what.

As your wedding day draw nears, more and more things come to mind and you may end up tired and stressed out. There will be at times you feel pulled in four corners.

You soon realised that you can’t breathe.

So, knowing the wedding stress is there, how can you reduce and manage your wedding stress.

If you are the bride:
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photo from ddotdesign

Before your wedding ceremony, do you do warm up for your cheeks?

You won’t want to over-stress them and have numbed cheeks at the end of your wedding day.

During my big day, I just can’t stop smiling. I have to. There are cameras ponting towards me all the time.

I feel tired after noon time. But I have no choice.

“So, Jhong Ren, keep on smiling!”

So, I have found some creative ways to keep smiling, even if my cheeks were numbed or when I didn’t feel like to.

So, here you can learn the secrets on how to keep smiling and enjoy your wedding day (beside looking at happy items such as “the happiest blog“.)
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1. It is only a day
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Men are from Mars and women are from Venus. How true this statement is?

from istockphoto.com

Men and women worry about different wedding related things. Their wedding related stress is different most of the times even though some matters may overlap.

I remembered when I was planning my wedding, I was worried about money. My parent was nice enough to lend me some to tide over bad times.

My advice is if you don’t have money, don’t get married yet. Bills just come pouring in and being the guy, I would need to fork out most of the money.

Even though we are living in a different era when men and women are supposed to be equal, my practice is that men should pay more of the wedding expenses, if not all.

What else does a guy worry about?

A guy may worry about if the wedding plans go as planned. However, it seemed to me that most of my lady friends were planning their weddings while their husbands-to-be sat back and relaxed.

I remembered a very real story from my friend that her boyfriend specifically told her he won’t be with her during gown-fitting because it was draggy and a complete waste of his time.

At this point in time, I believe her worry was if she was marrying the right man!

Ladies’ other worries may be if there can be harmony between her and her parent-in-laws.

Alot of time we never really know until we lived together under the same roof top. A lady friend of mine couldn’t even stand a week staying with her in-laws after her wedding and decided to move out after that. Reason was unknown.

Sometimes, the main source of stress can come from the brides’ parents. One excellent example is her mother wants to play her role in planning the wedding for her daughter.
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Wedding-planning, despite being the most joyous event of the lifetime, could be very stressful.

In addition to this stress, there could be work stress, family stress and many more.

from riverbendmassage.com

I remembered I was totally stressed out during my wedding planning period last year that I almost broke down. I’m not sure if I’m entering depression stage but this was real to me.

I know some wedding couples could be stressed out too and they are not aware of it. To add more impact, they give each other more stress, hoping that each other can understand them.

A fair amount of stress is important to ensure your wedding plan is according to what you have planned. Too much pressure may cause you to end up as an unhappy bride or groom or even to the extent of calling the wedding off.

One of my readers emailed me pleading for help. She felt alone because the groom was in overseas and not supportive. She felt that she was the one planning the wedding. Moreover, the in-laws were setting many unrealistic expectations such as “forcing” her to carry out in the exact manner they wanted.

There was no say in the bride at all and she felt like calling off the wedding.

This was not the only one such email I received. There were a few more like this. Some brides managed to cope better after that. Others cancelled their weddings.

So how did I cope with my stress while planning my wedding?
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