5 Ways To Curb Your Bridezilla Impulses

We all have an image in our heads of a bride who becomes a control freak while planning her wedding, making it a miserable experience for everyone. Some of us have personal experience with this type of person, while others have had the good fortune to only hear of her from television or the internet. If you are worried that you're going to become a Bridezilla yourself, then follow these tips to reign in your worst tendencies.

The first thing you need to do, and something that you need to repeat throughout the whole process is to keep the proper perspective on the event. A lot of girls grow up planning their special day down to the last little detail, and this creates a lot of pressure over the year. This pressure just multiplies when you start to actually plan and direct your wedding, and you realize that nothing is going to be as precise and as perfect as you dreamed it would be. You need to continuously remind yourself that your special day, while very special, is only one day in your life. And like any day of your life, nothing is going to go exactly as you planned.

If you're a really high strung person and know you're going to need some help to keep from taking over, then it might be a good idea to practice some relaxation techniques. Practice taking long slow breathes whenever you feel yourself slipping, and repeat to yourself the above paragraph. It's a good idea to start incorporating some more relaxing activities into your life during this time as well, like taking long walks or practicing yoga every day. Whatever you need to do to stay relaxed- do it.

Next, you're going to want to delegate as much as possible. If you know you want to have your hands on everything, and that doing so will stress you out and make you a control freak, then don't get your hands on too many aspects of the big day. Find highly talented and committed people to work on your event instead. Hire a great planner to figure out the big picture and to suggest the right people to take on the smaller roles. Talk at length with the people you hire, but only a couple of times, then let them go to do their work. Touch base a couple times before the wedding, but overall let people go to do their part.

Most of all you need to remember that you only have one real part to play in the wedding, and that's the part of the bride. It's not up to you to put the whole thing together, it's just up to you to show up, put on the dress and say "I do." Do those few things, and you've fulfilled all of your personal obligations.

Of course, you might want to have some fun with your type A-approach to the wedding as well. Let everyone know that you're going to be a little OCD about the affair without giving yourself free reign to act out. Wear a tiara when planning, and whenever you start to get out of control look in the mirror and remind yourself how ridiculous you're acting. Have some silly fairy tale wedding favors the day of. Having a fun theme to the favors, like a Cinderella wedding favor, is a great way to let all of your guests know that you are in on the joke.