Five Practical Ways to Stay Present and Joyful on Your Wedding Day

Ever felt like your wedding day was just a blur of events? You've spent months, if not years, planning for a single day, but when the day comes, you find yourself worrying about the tiny details instead of savouring the moments. Hi, I'm Emily Decloux, and I was in your shoes once. But guess what? I figured out how to stay present on my wedding day and enjoy every bit of it, including dealing with last-minute hitches and managing anxiety. And in this first episode of our series, I'm going to share with you the five practical ways I used to stay present throughout my wedding day.

Here's a sneak peek of what you'll learn. I share how visualizing every part of the day, even the smallest moments, can ground you and help you remain present. I talk about the importance of accepting that things will go wrong, and how to handle those moments without spiralling into panic. With my 10 years of event planning experience, I've got plenty of advice to offer. So join me every Thursday for more tips and tricks to make planning your wedding day the joyous, memorable season it deserves to be!

00:01 - Intro

02:01 - Staying present on my wedding day

04:27 - Practice noticing on a daily basis

05:56 - Talk to everyone at your wedding

07:06 - Take up a physical healthcare routine

08:44 - Hire a day-of event manager

09:58 - Breathe

10:55 - Wrap up

If you found this episode useful I’d be so grateful if you followed and shared this episode with a friend, or your fiance! If you have questions about staying present and I’d be happy to share what I know to help, drop me an email at [e-mail]! I’ll be back next Thursday with another wedding planning episode, so until then keep it joyful!

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Episode Transcript

Emily Decloux (00:04):
You're listening to Joyful Wedding Planning your
spot for de-stressing andrelaxing while you plan your
wedding.
You might be thinking is thateven possible?
Well, heck, yeah, it is.
I'm your host, emily DeCluv,founder of the Joy Factor
Weddings and Events, and I'mhere to help you plan the
wedding of your dreams joyfully.
Whether you're a DIYer or adelegator, this podcast will

(00:26):
help you find the Joy Factor asyou plan your wedding.
If everyone says your weddingday goes by way too fast, is it
actually possible to staypresent and enjoy every moment?
Hey, I'm Emily DeCluv.
I'm the founder of the JoyFactor, a wedding planning

(00:48):
company based in Toronto servingcouples globally.
I release new podcasts everyThursday to bring the Joy Factor
back into your wedding planning.
So make sure to hit the followbutton wherever you get your
podcasts and, hey, leave arating and review.
It certainly helps podcasterslike me to get heard by many
more amazing folks like you.

(01:08):
So this is the first episode ina long series I'm going to be
doing on planning your weddingjoyfully, and I'm really focused
on mindset right now because Ifeel like it helped me get
through my wedding day in themost joyful way possible and I
love the word joy because I feellike we really miss out on that
element when we get stuck inall of the nitty gritty things

(01:31):
and we're like, oh my god, isthis tiny little detail actually
going to be good or is it goingto be terrible if it doesn't
work out?
So I thought why not talk aboutstaying present in the moment
for your whole wedding day, forthe first episode, because I
feel like a lot of people willget a lot out of this and I hope
you are one of them.
So is it really possible tostay present during your wedding

(01:54):
day?
I mean, for the last six to 18months probably, you've been
worrying and thinking aboutevery single tiny detail and
your head's probably spinning,thinking about all of the other
potential issues that could comeup, like whether you ordered
the right meals, or do you havethe frilly lace cravats for your
Austin Powers themed wedding?

(02:14):
Or, if you're like me, maybeyou're like do I have enough
truckloads of food to serve thepeople the only 60 guests at my
wedding?
Mm spoiler, I had plenty offood.
I had a lot left over too.
All that to say, all of thisworrying and anxiety can
definitely make it feel likeit's totally impossible to stay
present during your wedding day.
But I'm here to tell you it'snot impossible.

(02:37):
Today, I'm going to share withyou five ways that I was able to
stay present at my wedding andenjoy every single moment of
magic, no matter how fast itfelt like it was going.
So, on my wedding day, despitethe fact that I had everything
planned down to the minute, Imade a promise to myself that I
really wanted to stay presentduring the entire day, and I
actually spent a lot of timevisualizing what all of those

(02:58):
different things were going tobe not just the ceremony or the
big events, but also my morningwalk to go pick up the bread
that I would serve later thatday, or the shower I was going
to take, or the outfit I wasgoing to wear while I was
putting on my makeup.
And you'd think that would makeme get into my head about all
of these different preparations.
But what it actually does isground you in the moment and

(03:18):
make you stop and think like, ohokay, I'm reaching for my green
dress.
That means guests are here andit's time to welcome them.
Or I'm grabbing the champagneglasses.
That means this is toast time.
I'm going to have, like aheartfelt, emotional, warm toast
with my brand new husband.
But even though you could haveabsolutely everything planned
down to the minute, that doesn'tmean things don't go wrong and
as an event planner with over 10years of experience, I know

(03:42):
things go wrong, they just do.
So it's good to know, to justaccept that things will go wrong
instead of letting those events, letting those little moments,
make you spiral into all of theother.
What ifs?
Like, oh my God, like if Ididn't pick up the coffee for my
whole family?
Well, what are we going to donow?
Everybody's going to be tired.
Everyone's going to fall asleepin the middle of the wedding

(04:03):
ceremony.
Okay, see, like it's reallyeasy to get super far ahead of
yourself and like, think theabsolute worst.
But instead of that, if youjust know that stuff is going to
go wrong, you're going toforget little things here and
there, and that's okay.
You can calm yourself down alot quicker and you can come up
with a solution.
So my solution for having nocoffee at our home when my whole

(04:25):
family came over for lunch wasto ask my brother to go to
Starbucks.
I just placed an order on theapp.
He dropped everything and heran out and ran back and in no
time we had coffee.
Everyone in hindsight, like twopeople drank the coffee.
I could have just made somecoffee for people in my espresso
machine, but eh, hindsight's20-20, is it not?

(04:46):
And anyway, instead of havinglike a moment or 20 minutes of
panic about like, oh my god,there's no coffee, what are
people gonna think, instead Igot to share this really nice
moment of gratitude with mybrother because he's like such a
wonderful human being and hejust instantly ran out and
grabbed the coffee for me like ahero.
Okay, now I'm gonna share withyou the actual, tangible ways

(05:07):
you can prepare yourself to staypresent on your wedding day.
Start practicing noticing on adaily basis.
Just like notice the smallthings.
If you've ever been to therapy,I myself am a massive fan of
therapy because it just likechanged my entire life.
If you've gone to therapy foranxiety or depression, your
therapist may have given you thetip to just notice like five,

(05:31):
like sensory things around you.
So I feel that is very hot inmy studio.
That's a feeling, that's asensory feeling.
I smell the essential oil thatI put on my wrists earlier today
.
I see the bright light in myeyeballs.
Find five different things thatyou can start noticing to ground

(05:52):
you in the moment, and the morethat you practice this, the
easier it's gonna get.
You could do this on your dailywalks.
I love this practice as well.
I can hear dogs barking.
I can see squirrels racingaround getting ready for fall.
They are so fat and cute and Ilove them.
I can smell the crisp fall air.
There's so many different waysfor you to notice these little
things that all help you staygrounded in the present moment.

(06:15):
And this is gonna be reallyhelpful for you on your wedding
day because, if you've practicedthis, if something goes awry or
if you're super worried about,like, how something's gonna play
out maybe a family member islike a bit of a wild card and
you're not sure how they'regoing to act you can use this
strategy to get through thosemoments and to re-center instead
of like letting your brainspiral out into a million

(06:37):
different places of what if?
Land?
Number two make a point to talkto absolutely everybody at your
wedding not just your family,but the bartender, the event
coordinator on site, likeliterally everybody.
Find a moment to just talk tothem and have a conversation.
I know that feels like whoa,that's a lot, but I'm not.

(06:57):
You don't have to do this allin a row.
As you encounter people, justtake a moment to have like a
brief little conversation withthem, like hey, I love your
glasses, or thank you so muchfor being here, thank you for
traveling this whole entire way,and then, as you're having this
conversation, kind of take adeep breath and let them tell
you all the things they want totell you.

(07:18):
Like, if you are the person onthe wedding day that's getting
married, they want to come talkto you.
Right, and that's inevitable.
Everybody's going to want tocome talk to the bride in the
groom, because that's just howweddings work.
So let them come talk to youand let that be a moment that
you could really savor.
Like how often do you get tosee your uncle Mark?
Or how often do you get tospend time with your siblings

(07:40):
that you haven't seen in likewhat feels like a decade?
Take all of these moments inand just let them kind of wash
over you.
That's another really great wayto stay present at your wedding
.
Number three take up a physicalhealth care routine while in
advance of your wedding so thatyou can take care of yourself on
the actual day.
On the day, make sure you'reeating enough.
Get a proper breakfast, lunchand dinner.

(08:02):
Assign somebody to bring youfood.
If you need to do that, basedon the previous point,
everybody's going to want totalk to you, so you're going to
have to have someone likehelping you out with this
element.
More often than not, if we'renot eating, our heads get all
spinny and a little bit wild,and especially if we're drinking
champagne and enjoyingourselves and celebrating,
that's just going to multiplyeven more.

(08:23):
And on that point, make sureyou're staying actually hydrated
from water, because wateractually combat some of the
brain fog that we feelthroughout the day.
If you've ever noticed likemidday slump, you're probably a
little bit dehydrated.
So make sure you just getenough water on the day.
The physical component ofgetting yourself ready for your

(08:43):
wedding, I think, is reallyunderrepresented because we're
like oh my god, I have all ofthese other things to do.
I have to, like make thecenterpieces.
I have to make sure that all mybridesmaids aren't fighting
each other Like, maybe you don'thave all of these different
issues, but I'm sure you havedifferent things that are
pulling your attention away fromyour health.
So self-care is where it's at.
Give yourself enough time tosleep at night.

(09:06):
Stop working on whatever yourwedding tasks are well in
advance of 10 pm so that you canhave time to like rest and
relax a little bit Again.
Proper nutrition, stayinghydrated, and on the day, have
the champagne, but just don'thave so much that like you'll
lose yourself because then youwon't remember and that'll be
sad.

(09:27):
Point number four hire a day ofevent manager to make sure that
everything goes smoothly and youdon't have to worry about the
tiny details.
You've already spent so muchtime thinking about these tiny
details like why do you need toactually do that now?
Okay, granted, I planned mywhole wedding and I was my own
event manager on the day, butthat's like truly because I love

(09:49):
it, because I just really enjoyplanning and executing events,
and I wouldn't have had it anyother way.
Maybe you're just like me,maybe you really enjoy that
element.
So if that is you, then you'regonna have to rely on all of the
other points.
But if that's not, you thinkabout having somebody on the day
.
Maybe you hire somebody, ormaybe you assign a friend to do

(10:10):
this for you, where they'regoing through your run sheet,
which is like a really detaileditinerary for the whole entire
day and they're making sureeverything is on track so you
don't have to think about it.
They're making sure you haveyour fancy gold pen over by your
signing table.
They're making sure that youhave your champagne glasses for
the toast.
They're making sure thateverything is organized and well

(10:33):
taken care of so that you canjust enjoy the day and then
you're gonna fall back on all ofthe other points that I've
already shared with you.
Finally, tip number five justbreathe, literally just breathe.
If you find yourself spiralingand you're like, oh my god, the
what-ifs and the anxiety that'scoming at you, oh my god, just

(10:56):
take a moment to breathe, justslow in, slow out.
You could do a box breath.
So you breathe in for fourcounts, you hold it for four
counts.
You breathe out for four counts, you hold it for four counts.
I know a lot of the worry aboutthe day can kind of center
around the ceremony and thenafter that it's like, oh, it's a
free for all.
So this tip might come more inhandy for you right before the

(11:20):
ceremony I know it definitelydid for me Just having a moment
to breathe and be calm and inyour itinerary plan just a few
minutes by yourself or with yourfuture spouse and just like,
let nothing happen for a fewminutes, enjoy the nothingness,
just breathe into the moment.

(11:41):
All that to say, if youpractice mindfulness and
physical well-being on the daysleading up to your wedding,
months leading up to yourwedding, you will most likely
have a much more enjoyable time.
You will find it a lot easierto stay present in the moment
and you will find it way waymore joyful.
If you found this episode useful, I'd be so grateful if you

(12:02):
followed and shared this episodewith a friend or your fiance.
If you have questions aboutstaying present, I'd be happy to
share what I know to help.
Drop me an email atemilyatjoyfactorweddingscom.
I'll be back next Thursday withanother wedding planning
episode, so until then, keep itjoyful.
Thanks for listening to JoyfulWedding Planning.

(12:24):
I hope you got something out ofthis episode and hey, if you
did leave me a review.
Wherever you listen to yourpodcasts, it helps me to find
more listeners just like you, sothat we can take all the stress
out of wedding planning and gofrom panic to joy-filled moments
.
Need help to plan your weddingBook?
A call with me atjoyfactorweddingscom.
I can't wait to help you planthe wedding of your dreams.
This podcast was produced bythe Ultimate Creative.

(12:58):
Learn more about producing yourown podcast at
theultimatecreativecom.