Brides with Anxiety- Advice/experience?

HIRE A DAY OF COORDINATOR. Seriously. I also have really bad anxiety at times and was feeling super stressed. Also, me and FH moved 7 hours away and started new jobs 3 weeks before the wedding so I was a little bit of a mess. But my DoC kept me calm leading up to the wedding and the day of I was cool as a cucumber. Good luck!

Ask your doctor about Propranolol. It is a pretty safe and widely used medication for performance anxiety that controls the physical symptoms. Actors and musicians ect use it.

I have the same! Definitely agree on DOC so the week before I will mentally remind myself each day that she is handling it and to let the day be what it is and let go of control for every little thing. Breathing techniques and centering myself will be top priority. It will be hard but I want to enjoy the day and feel prepping myself to remain calm will help me! As well as having my anti anxiety meds just in case!

I fear this too. I get panic attacks weekly and when it’s bad it starts to feel like I’m dreaming and out of my body, which is terrifying, plus I don’t want to feel like that on my wedding day. My best advice would be to just take things one minute at a time and remember to breathe. Thinking about what’s happening at that moment instead of anticipating the whole day ahead of you. I know it’s much easier said than done, especially on your wedding day 😬. But trying to stop a panic attack before it starts is the best way to go since I’m sure you know once it actually starts it’ll be hard to get rid of. Stay in your happy place with positive thoughts, it’ll be a wonderful day!

I have anxiety and PTSD what helps is taking 1 day at a time

I have GAD and it has been extremely well controlled without meds for nearly a year. All of a sudden it has reared its ugly head with the wedding being 102 days away.
We hired a DOC for all these reasons and I am so so glad we did. She will keep things under control. It’s amazing how much this has helped with my anxiety.
i am terrified about having it on wedding day, have t figured out how I will ya doe that yet. I don’t want to take any medication at all if I can help it, I’ve worked hard to get and stay off mood stabilizers. That’s obviously not for everyone Nd I do NOT knock meds!
talk to your dr and consider guided meditation exercises. Yoga/exercise for stress, guided meditation for day of so you are practiced and have a routine to follow day of if it gets out of hand.

I was recently diagnosed with general anxiety, and am still working on a treatment plan. Following for ideas.

I have xanax for these reasons.. Take only a little if this is the route you go because you don't want to out of it on your big day..

I suffer from GAD, too, but stopped taking daily meds for it several years ago because I hated how they made me feel. For the most part I'm able to control my anxiety through breathing but the wedding itself has me a little on edge. We hired coordinators to help with planning and day of, which has definitely helped a LOT, but I'm not sure what's going to help me down the aisle. I'm not nervous about marrying my fiance, heck I'd do it at the courthouse tomorrow if he wanted to, I'm just nervous about everyone looking at me lol. I hate being the center of attention and I hate knowing I have people looking at me. My symptoms manifest in the form of that nasty light headed feeling where you think you're about to pass out and it kind of sounds like you're in a tunnel. That's what I'm worried about most. I do NOT want to feel that on my wedding day while I'm standing at the altar. I'm considering going to my doc and seeing if maybe some xanax will take the edge off, but I'm just not sure what else to do. We're lucky in that we're having a "destination" wedding (about 4 hours from where we live) so we'll most likely have a small crowd, under 75 people... but still, more than one person looking at me gives me the creeps! lol.

I also have GAD but have not been taking medication for personal reasons. I planned part of my bridal party around this though. One of my MOH works with children in the mental health field and one of my bridesmaids also works in the mental health field with adults. I know that when something happens on my wedding day related to my anxiety, that they will both come through and they know how to help.

Otherwise, know your coping mechanisms. Use them throughout the day as needed. You can always sneak away for a bit too and just use the excuse of needing to go to the bathroom and it'll take a little time with your dress

View Quoted Comment Highly recommend Propranolol as well; got a prescription for this after being diagnosed with GAD about a year ago and it’s made a world of a difference for me in high-anxiety, triggering situations! Also Glad there’s a network to talk about this, I had been wondering about anticipatory anxiety and other brides; thanks for sharing this!

I have anxiety and have bouts of depressions (no medication - I know it isn’t for me)
We settled on a tiny ceremony and a big party afterwards with none of the formality of a typical reception so I feel more comfortable about it (especially people looking at me).
I work in events so actually planning it has helped me stay in control and feel less anxious about it. If I did a different job we would have seriously considered a coordinator and/or planner. Being able to treat it the way I do work with lists and planners has helped massively. Also telling my family that they will have jobs to do helps (but I have the sort of family that will just pitch in with whatever).
I've been very firm with what I want and not letting others pull us in different directions which is helped. I’m very aware that guests have certain expectations and I refuse to try and please them all at the detriment to my mental health

As pp mentioned, ask your doc about propranolol. It’s a beta blocker that is perfect for reducing physical symptoms of anxiety, especially performance & social anxiety, which a wedding kind of simulates. It has no side effects of anxiety meds & no drowsiness.

Hiring DOC is also a great idea if it’s in the budget. If not, find a trusty family member/friend who can take on some of the day of stress.
If you can, setting up the ceremony where you & FH are standing further away from the guests, will help with any “all eyes on me” issues.

Coping mechanisms: 4-7-8 breathing is great, exercise (especially vigorous aerobic) is a known anxiety reducer, meditation also works great for some (it requires up to few months of practice), making sure you eat healthy food (no added sugar & caffeine) & staying hydrated.

Lastly, worrying about anxiety happening, actually promotes more anxiety. So instead of worrying about it ahead of time, try to embrace it & think of it as a wave that you need to ride on until it passes, instead of something to fight against. Lots of people, even those without anxiety, get super emotional during their ceremony, tears, shaky voices & all. Nobody will think this is you having a panic attack (even if you know you’re feeling very anxious in the moment), so don’t worry about this.
Good luck!