Help - Stress & Can't Sleep At Night

I hit a point around the one year mark where I was feeling anxious quite a bit. Lavender helped me to relax, and I also used a diffuser while sleeping. Make sure you are getting exercise and try to take some days off from thinking about the wedding.

I do a combination of the following:
- eat dinner before 7PM so I have time to digest
- exercise before dinner
- drink hot lemon and honey
- set an alarm clock and start getting ready for bed at that time. It becomes a Pavlovian response over time and also doubles as my BC reminder
- take melatonin at least 8 hours before you have to wake up if I'm really wired *DO NOT TRY THIS WITH ALCOHOL AT FIRST AND MAKE SURE YOURE NOT HOME ALONE* If you and FS live together ask them to let you know if you do anything strange, since some people do not react well to sleep aids.
- read in bed with dimmed lights, not fluorescents. A kindle or fire or similar ereader is a good option in this case because you can dim it yourself.

View Quoted Comment Melatonin is great, but research on brands if you go this route. Some are better than others and the smaller doses are usually best!
It's easy to become dependant on melatonin after a while.

Everyone has given you great ideas already but I'd add using the app Calm. It leads you through breathing exercises to help you relax and that would be great to do right before bed!

I have trouble sleeping right now because I keep seeing dresses in my head, or I'm thinking about where on the venue property I want to do this or that, and on and on it goes. It's hard to shut the brain off. I take melatonin (time-released) or if I've really had problems sleeping for a few days, advil PM (wouldn't recommend that on the regular). I try to read before sleep too instead of browsing Pinterest or looking at other wedding-related things on the internet before bed. It re-focuses my brain a little.

But mostly I use the age-old method of counting. Not sheep really, just counting in my head. Slow and steady. Once I start to forget what number I'm on I know it's working.

Same! The past month or so I've been having crazy wedding dreams/nightmares that wake me up in a straight panic! They are awful, and I'm hoping they don't get more frequent over the remaining six months. I have a diffuser with lavender or cedarwood going by my bed every night. I'm also going to try to do some exercises and stretching before bed, maybe that could help?

I take melatonin or Midnite to sleep. I sometimes ruminate at night and it really helps to pass out.

Nothing g works for me other than Unisom sleep aid. Best of luck, hope you start catching some well deserved sleep soon!!

Turn off and put away all devices an hour before bedtime. The light (even dimmed) interferes with good sleep habits. Leave the phone in another room.

One tip I learned years ago, was to keep a pad of paper and a pen on the bedside table. It's hard to turn your brain off at night, and this way if you think of something or get a good idea, you can write it down and go back to sleep instead of fretting and worrying that you won't remember it in the morning..

About an hour before bed put away the electronics and wedding planning. Have some reading material (none wedding related) or take this time to spend time with your so, take a relaxing bath or foot soak, or another light activity you enjoy.

I’m exactly 6 months out today and I’m having the same issue! I keep waking up in panics almost every night and it’s happening around the same time too! I typically wake up throughout the night because we have two young daughters so any little noise wakes me right up; but since I’ve started wedding planning, it’s different. It’s like complete panic, and most of the time I’m not even sure what I’m panicked about. Of course as soon as I wake up though, I lay there with my moms raving about wedding stuff and I start questioning all kinds of stuff. Fiancé has suggested I maybe try to get a prescription for a low dose of anxiety meds because he has noticed that I seem totally stressed and truly for no reason.

I take Melatonin each night which seems to help me fall asleep and stay asleep. I ran out and haven't gotten any more and it takes me much longer to get to sleep.

While I have not experienced this in relation to weddings yet, I am oh too familiar with insomnia (had it really bad through high school and university and on and off for a few years after due to anxiety). There are a lot of good suggestions here. Sleep-aids never worked on me, but, if your head is running a million miles and won't shut off, try breathing or mediation techniques. Journaling can help too. It can act like a purging ground for your mind in a way - writing the focal point and the reason why you keep looping to it I find can help from replaying it constantly.

Bedtime routine will help greatly too. Come up with 5-7 things you will do every night in the same order before bed...brushing teeth, journal, reading, whatever...and keep doing it every night. It trains and conditions the mind for a cue that sleep time is coming and to get with the program...lol.

Hope these suggestions help and you get more sleep soon! :-)

I am going thru same thing right now. I was dealing just fine,and the last week or so my mind will not slow down at bedtime. I don't know if its because I do some planning and going over things at night but yes horrible!! I found taking a hot bath with a glass of wine to de stress has somewhat worked the last 2 nights.

I also have the same problem. My wedding is in August, and we haven't even started planning it yet. I'm so stressed, I either can't sleep, or I see nightmares

What works for some will not work for others.


Lavender is a calming smell but many hate it.
There are many varieties of sleepy tea at the grocery store
Asmr on youtube is great to calm/distract your mind

I agree that not all advice works 100% For instance, people recommend drinking some red wine, chamomile, or peppermint tea. Those methods never work for me. Also, there are a lot of recommendations to avoid watching TV or browse the internet before bedtime. While I usually fall asleep with my phone in my hands. The only advice that worked for me is to change bedding more frequently. I try to do it at least 2 times per week. I’ve inspiration from some posts on Instagram. So, I purchased some new bedding sets, cushions, and throws. I also really wanted to find a chunky knit blanket, but it was complicated. I ordered one on https://sommio.co.uk/KnittedWeightedBlanket and I'm really excited about it.

Everyone has his/her own experience of getting relax or get out of stress no doubt sleep is a necessary element that helps you out to get out of stress. and for that you should get a complete deep sleep to relax your mind.

When i go through such stress I try to sleep till 9 or 10 pm as early as possible. Keep my mobile at a side cause the rays that emit from our mobile screen release hormones in body and make it feel like morning time and than you cant sleep you will keep scrolling your mobile screen and so on.

You can get deep sleep by taking a weighted blanket or cuddling a pillow or another option you can take a burrito blanket too if you dont feel uncomfortable you can go with any method you want.