You’re a professional woman.  Your plate is already full with your career accelerating, your personal life teeming and non-stop day-to-day activities.  Add wedding planning to the mix? That’s when life can go from satisfyingly ‘full’ to ‘uber-chaotic’…

Balance.  It’s an essential element for personal effectiveness and an irreplaceable skill to learn- now- while you are planning your wedding! Mastering a healthy balance in your life before things get busier (yes, it’s possible!) and you add your husband’s schedule and eventually mommy duties to your already brimming daily grind, is an absolute necessity.

The challenge with working and wedding planning is to balance the tasks that must be done with the tasks that we enjoy and want to do. This is not an easily achieved feat, but we’ve got you covered!  We’re here to help with 7 easy-to-implement tips based on our collective experience and knowledge that will help you find and maintain a sense of peace and balance through one of the most stressful times of your life.  Read on and take steps to keep your sanity while still planning the most stylish of weddings!

Get organized & ready to plan.

Find a pretty planner to keep at your fingertips, or, if you are a tech girl, utilize your Google Calendar or iCal to keep your myriad fittings, events, activities and responsibilities in check!  Be sure to check out our post on handy apps for the time-conscious bride, if you have determined to do your planning digitally.

If you go the planner route, these usually include practical checklists and file storage for you to keep pictures from bridal magazines, color swatches and proposals and contracts from your vendors all together in one handy location. Mindy Weiss has a wedding planning guide to assist along the way.

Use technology to your advantage.

Keep your sanity intact by setting up an email that is solely for your wedding planning tasks and anything that relates to your big day!  You will have all pertinent information at one account, easily accessible and already sorted out from the rest of your email!

Use Pinterest to store wedding inspiration and ideas- you can even make your boards private, or share them only with your vendors or bridesmaids, as necessary.  This is a great resource that you can pull up quickly and efficiently when trying to describe your wedding day vision to vendors, or when trying to make stylistic selections.

Talk online with other brides. You can chat over twitter, forums or on your favorite wedding site. You’ll glean invaluable information, and also realize you aren’t alone in your mission to pull off a gorgeous event while balancing the busy-ness of daily life!

Sort and store your favorite wedding blogs on a reader, so they are easy to access when you need them the most.

Know what your priorities are.

Try not to become overwhelmed by juggling too many big projects at work and projects pertaining to your wedding all at once!  Take time at the beginning of each week to assess what needs to be done. Pick the three items from your wedding to-do list that you want to be sure to accomplish. Breaking big events and tasks into small, incremental steps towards change makes things a lot easier to digest, and your goals more easily achieved.

Take care of and nurture yourself.

The key to a healthy and well-balanced life?  Taking time to destress, breathe and just give yourself a little bit of space from your to-do list. Take a “day off” from wedding stuff and focus on yourself!  You may find that setting aside time each day for an activity that you enjoy, such as reading, walking your dog or watching a favorite show, makes all the difference.  Allow yourself time to unwind after a hectic day by doing yoga, going to the spa, meditating or taking a steamy bubble bath.

You cannot accomplish anything if you are unhealthy. It is imperative that you get plenty of rest, exercise and eat properly.  Drink lots of water to keep yourself hydrated and fresh!  Remember to spend time with your fiancé as a couple—without discussing wedding plans, budget or any other wedding stuff!  You need this alone time just as much as he does, and you’ll be amazed at how much more easily decisions are and how quickly things will come together after this much-needed time together and away from all the planning!

Expect the unexpected.

Things will never be perfect.  Something will always go wrong, either on your wedding day or at work!  Prepare yourself to accept whatever bumps and setbacks may come your way.  Remember that this is just part of the journey, and part of what makes life sweet.  You are a creative individual with all of the resourcefulness and ability to go with the flow and make adjustments where necessary.  Always remember that you can’t control everything, but you can control how you react. Realizing this now will make you a lot happier and will make your interaction with the people around you much more pleasant.  It is also helpful in realizing that other peoples’ decisions and actions do not reflect on you nearly so much as your own!

Maintain a positive mental attitude.

Begin each day with a healthy routine.  Almost everyone has something that helps them keep calm and maintain emotional and spiritual balance in their lives. Whatever that routine might be, don’t give it up while planning your wedding!  If you start your day with a run, yoga or prayer and a devotional study, then keep on doing those things while you are engaged.

Hire a wedding planner.

This could be the single most vital key to maintaining your sanity and keeping stress levels low!  A wedding planner will carry the vision for your wedding, but will also suggest new and innovative ideas to make your wedding day more special than you can imagine.  Your planner is going to help you make the most of the limited time you have to allocate to interviews with vendors, and the planner will make recommendations and have resources beyond what is available to you. She will even help you set up appointments, so you can actually focus on your career!  Once she grasps your vision, you should be able to trust her with making many decisions on the spot, so that you are not continuously interrupted with messages and calls while you are trying to take care of business. We have a wealth of the worlds best planners. We love Tara Guerard, who recently planned Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds nuptials.

Planning a wedding can be overwhelming and stressful, but with these wise tips, we know that you can master the art of balancing work, life and your wedding day preparations beautifully.  If you hit a snag, just remember these basic steps, keep things in perspective, and before you know it, you’ll be sweeping down the aisle with only one thing on your mind– your dr