A Bride’s Secret Superpower

When Derrick & I were getting married almost 7 (GULP) years ago, Pinterest was just coming to light as a powerful planning tool. It was literally just getting off the ground and I remember using it in the last weeks leading up to our wedding.

One of the ideas I saw, was a recipe to bake extra-large chocolate chip cookies, and put them in the old paper CD sleeves, with a sticker that said “THANK YOU!” on it. They were so cute! And I thought: what an awesome little way I can extend my gratitude to my bridal party & our families for all of their help! I told my Mom about the idea & told her I was going to make these cookies for the rehearsal dinner. I had grand plans of baking them on Friday, packaging them up, putting them in a lovely basket, and then walking around at dinner, handing them out and thanking everyone for all of their help.

It was a really great idea – until wedding week arrived that is. Suddenly, I had more to do than I realized. Family was coming in, the programs needed printed, someone had to drive down to Pittsburgh to pick up all of our loose flowers (Derrick’s Mom & my Matron of Honor, Naomi assembled all of our bouquets), the seating arrangements needed finalized – and about a billion other little tasks suddenly popped up that needed done. Needless to say: my splendid cookie idea did not work out. I remember the exact moment, standing in my Mom’s kitchen, looking at the clock, and coming to terms with the fact that it simply was not going to happen.

As the bride: I had too much on my plate already.

Sure, the cookies were a fabulous idea, but it truly was not a practical idea – for me to carry out anyway.

In the days leading up to a wedding, there is so much on a bride’s plate. Especially if she doesn’t have a formal wedding planner, she is the one who is coordinating everything. So, guess what, everyone comes to her for help, direction, and advice. She is the one who knows all of the intimate details from vendors to timelines to decorations to music selections. But, as busy as every bride is, she has a superpower that she doesn’t even realize – want to know what it is?

Delegation.

Being able to delegate tasks is a mark of a good leader, but no matter what kind of personality you have, when you are a bride, the power of delegation is yours. Do yourself the favor of using it!

Sometimes, on wedding days, there is so much going on that brides have to be reminded to even eat and drink water! That might sound silly, but trust me: you will need your Mom & your bridesmaids to help you remember things on your wedding day (that’s why you picked a good “Girl Squad”, right?) How wonderful would it be if you handed off all of those things you needed to remember to other people, so you could just relax & enjoy your day? Instead of having to worry about your vows making it to the ceremony, your programs being given to the ushers, your centerpieces being assembled correctly, your guest book making it to the reception, and your honeymoon luggage being placed in the correct car – delegate everything off to your bridesmaids and close friends.

For example: when Derrick & I got married, I had a whole packet of information for my photographer. I had maps & directions from each location to the next. I had our timeline of events in there, as well as the information for her to stay in a hotel that night (she had driven up from Maryland, so I owed her a hotel room) I assumed I would have enough of a head on my shoulders to hand it to her when she arrived. You can imagine then, how mortified I was when I realized (weeks afterward) that the folder never made it to her.

I should have delegated that task out.

Another example: when Ellen & Jonathan got married just a few weeks ago, she had written thank you cards for several of her vendors. She had them with her and was planning on handing them out as each vendor arrived for the day, but did she remember? You guessed it: no. She did remember right before the wedding was over and sent several of us scrambling to figure out if they had gotten brought to the reception & to find them!

She should have delegated that task out.

Have I convinced you yet? In every aspect of wedding planning – delegate as much as you can! And if you can’t delegate the entire task (like designing your programs), delegate part of it (have someone else print/cut/assemble them & get them to the ushers).

Some easy things to delegate are:

Vendor tips
Thank You cards
Delivery of gifts (to parents or bridal party members)
Delivery of special gifts & love notes (to your soon-to-be-spouse)
Printing out directions (for bridal party members not familiar with the area)
Print out your timeline (give a copy to everyone)
All reception decor (including: guest books, cake cutting sets, & champagne glasses)
Making sure your extra shoes make it to the reception
Making sure your honeymoon luggage get’s put in the right car (just be sure to delegate this one to someone you trust with your life!)
And the list goes on and on..

You can’t do everything on your wedding day, but everything you want to happen can still happen to make your day perfect!

It’s only possible thru the power of delegation.

What do you think? When you were getting married, did you employ this superpower? What did you delegate out or wish that you had?