Wedding planning overwhelm: The pressure to do it all!
- Hizkia Larranaga
- Aug 27, 2025
- 4 min read
Disclaimer: For the purposes of this blog (and my business), we’re going to call the Bride Lauren.
She’s the bride with a Pinterest board that could qualify as a part-time job. She’s saved the dress trends, the first-dance songs, the flat-lay inspo, because if it exists on the internet, Lauren has seen it. And while she loves dreaming about her day, she also lies awake at night wondering if she’s doing enough… or if she’s already doing too much.
Lauren’s heart is in the right place, she wants her wedding to feel meaningful, beautiful, and true to her. But the endless scroll of “musts” and “shoulds” leaves her second-guessing her gut and planning for the feed instead of the feeling.
P.S. If you’re Lauren (or love one), this post is for you.
When “enough” never feels enough.
There’s so much advice out there, and most of it is good. But still, it’s too much. Scroll long enough and you’ll find a dozen ways to fold napkins, twenty photo trends you “must” try, and more checklists than one lifetime could hold.
And somewhere between the pins and the reels, that quiet question creeps in: Am I doing enough? Followed quickly by I’m already doing so much.
For Lauren, this is where the weight of it all starts to settle in. Not because the wedding itself is overwhelming, but because the noise around it makes her believe she’s falling behind, even when she’s already giving everything she has.
What gets lost in the noise.
When you’re carrying too many voices, you start to lose your own.
Decisions stop feeling like yours.
Boundaries blur under the weight of opinions and expectations.
In chasing the “perfect” day, you risk missing the pieces that would have made it yours.
That’s what I call bridal burnout. A mix of anxiety, exhaustion, and disconnection. You’ve done everything “right,” but somehow it still doesn’t feel like you.
When it all feels like too much!
Wedding planning overwhelm can sneak in when you least expect it, on a Tuesday night scrolling Pinterest or the morning you’re about to walk down the aisle.
Here are a few ways to bring yourself back:
A quick ritual:
Step away – Put down your phone or close the laptop. Take three deep breaths.
Ground yourself – Feel your feet on the floor, notice your body in the present moment.
Write it out – Jot down the top three things that matter to you today—not to Instagram, not to the guest list.
Release one “should” – Cross off something that doesn’t serve your vision.
Return with intention – Whisper this reminder: I don’t have to do it all. I only have to do what feels like me.
A calmer planning set-up:
Sometimes stress comes not from the wedding itself, but from the way we set up to plan it. Try this:
Choose one notebook or digital tool and keep everything in one place.
Set aside specific “planning hours” each week so it doesn’t spill into every moment of your life.
Light a candle, make tea, or put on calming music—turn planning into a ritual instead of a rush.
End each session by writing one thing you’re grateful for. Gratitude is the quickest way to shift from pressure to presence.
Mantras to save:
I don’t have to do it all. I just have to do what feels like me.
Presence over perfection.
This day is about love, not logistics.
I am allowed to let go of what doesn’t matter.
I am already enough.
Why I started Maid For You
What strikes me most is how pressure has the power to ruin what should be beautiful. I’ve seen it, people so consumed with doing everything “right” that they miss the very moment they were waiting for.
The smile looks forced.
The memory feels blurred.
What should have been joy ends up feeling like performance.
That’s why I created Maid For You. To give brides permission to step out of the noise, to breathe again, and to reclaim the pieces of their day that matter most. Not the ones for the camera.
And when we work together, that care shows up in tangible ways: stress management woven into your morning, guided moments of calm before the aisle, even simple grounding practices like meditation or mindful breathing. Little rituals designed to bring you back to yourself. So you arrive not just looking beautiful, but feeling at peace.
Because you don’t need more rules or more pressure. You need space to be present.
A reminder worth holding onto!
The most meaningful moments don’t always make the feed. They live in the in-betweens: the deep breath before you walk down the aisle, the quiet squeeze of your mom’s hand, the glance between you and your maid of honor that says, we did it.
You can’t pin those moments. You can only live them.
So if you’re feeling the pressure to do it all, let this be your permission slip: you don’t have to. You only have to do what feels like you.
