De-Stress Hacks for Wedding Planners

Wedding planners know this best of all - members of the wedding party, or even guests, are prone to sudden freak outs. We've all been there, you're checking on the caterer and you see the maid of honor in a stress fueled spiral. So you put on your therapist hat and do your best to calm her down before the reception. It takes some special wedding-planner-ninja skills to calm a stressed out member of the wedding party, here are some great hacks to calm the storm:

Chocolate
A few mini chocolate bars are great to keep on hand in your de-stress kit. Dark chocolate is best because it actually helps to better reduce levels of cortisol (main stress hormone) and will help stabilize blood sugar until the reception begins. No one want to be the person who passed out at the wedding.

If they are allergic to chocolate or just don't like the delicious goodness of the cocoa tree (gasp), there are other ways to bring down stress levels...

Gum
Any gum will do, but maybe have a few different flavors like mint and cinnamon. Numerous scientific studies show a few minutes of chewing gum greatly reduces anxiety and cortisol levels. The fresh-breath side effect isn't so bad either. 

But they might be one of those people who don't participate in the calming art of gum chewing, so what else do you have up your sleeve?

The Worry-Clip
Sometimes people just need something in there hand to distract them from themselves. You have probably heard of a worry stone, but no one wants to carry around rocks in their de-stress kit. The best alternative is a paper-clip. Simple, I know, but this little trick really works. Take a large paper-clip, pull out the center part to make a V. Tell the stressed to hold it in their palm and when they are feeling nervous to just focus on the paper-clip. Their focus will be quickly rerouted away from their nerves.

Deep Breath
An oldie but goodie, this technique is fool proof. Taking in slow deep breaths is proven to reduce anxiety. With every breathe, they will release more stress. You can even have them image a bubble filling up with all their nervousness and have them blow it away. A little childish, maybe, but it seriously works. Add the worry-clip and you will be amazed how calm you can get.

Counting Backwards
 This one is also an oldie but goodie. It has worked for me on many occasions and always chills me out. When worries, nerves, and stress combine they create one heck of an unstable emotional state. If you slowly count backwards from 10, then back up again, all those unwanted emotions will just disappear. It's all about taking focus off the stress and putting it somewhere else. It will be much more difficult to freakout about an upcoming toast, or giving away a precious bride, when you're busy trying to remember what number comes before 7.

These are just a few De-Stress tools that will definitely help you calm and member of the wedding party. Wedding Planners are the multi-tasking masters and the art of de-stress is one of the most important skills to have.