How to Prevent a Bridezilla Moment

By now we’ve all heard of bridezilla weddings. But, what are they and, most importantly, how do we avoid them?

At first glance, bridezillas are entertaining freakout moments that we enjoy watching on Netflix. However, it’s a little more serious than that. In real life, there are a few mild consequences to consider. When vendors recognize a bridezilla wedding, they minimize their customer service, fulfill their contractual obligations, and move on as quickly as possible. Many vendors sincerely enjoy working with their clients and add to the overall experience. It would be regretful to miss out on that.

More seriously, the wedding planning stress of bridezilla behavior has led to lost friendships, broken families, lawsuits with vendors, and the complete destruction of budgets in pursuit of ‘perfection’.

You really don’t want to be a bridezilla.

This post is dedicated to helping you enjoy the entire bridal process and making it a happy occasion for everyone involved. Follow along and we will teach you what defines a bridezilla, the warning signs, how to not be a bridezilla, and how to manage the symptoms if you happen to fall victim to this pesky bridezilla syndrome.

What is a bridezilla?

Quite simply, being a bridezilla is sweating the small stuff to the point of emotional outbursts. It’s allowing frustration to accumulate so much that you wind up screaming at your mother in law because she sat the wrong cousins together on the seating chart. It’s crying over your groom not being able to tell the difference between rose taupe and deep maroon. It’s throwing water in the face of the vendor who is responsible for the white florals not perfectly matching your white table runners.

What is a bridezilla? It’s collecting a bunch of stress and placing the blame on those who are most willing and able to help you.

Signs of bridezilla

Becoming a bridezilla isn’t a switch that’s flipped. Rather, it’s a transition from your normally cool and calm self into a bundle of nerves. You can identify the early signs of the process by becoming quick to anger, becoming frustrated during normal circumstances, and shouting at the people who are trying to help you.

When you get closer to full bridezilla form, you will begin to notice that your friends and family are less willing to help you plan your wedding, and those that are still willing to help have reduced their involvement to simply doing exactly what is asked instead of offering enthusiastic input.

Knowing about these signs in advance empowers you to keep an eye out and deal with things sooner than later.

How to deal with a bridezilla

The best way to deal with a bridezilla is prevention. Give your planning group a heads up that bridezilla status is a possibility. Invite them to call you out on it if they notice a change in your behavior.

You should also try to reduce the stress as much as possible.

Try your best not to multitask. Give yourself a reasonable amount of time to address a task, finish it, and move on to the next. Juggling multiple things is a fast way to clutter the mind and cloud your judgment.

Perform research to educate your decisions, but don’t overdo it. Trying on a dress to make sure that it represents your dreams and making sure that it fits your budget is always wise. Conversely, trying on 300 hundred wedding dresses will make it nearly impossible to come to a decision you are happy with. It will also eat up an irrational amount of time, resulting in more stress dealing with the remaining tasks. Keep it simple by creating a list of priorities, create a shortlist of options based on initial research, then compare the finalists to see which checks off the most boxes.

Finally, create a plan based on smaller periods of time. Once you have your wedding timeline plan, delegate as much as possible. Recruit your groom, family, and friends to lighten the load.

Communicate what is expected of everyone and make it clear when your desires are instructions or when they are open to interpretation.

How to handle a bridezilla moment

The most important advice is to give yourself permission to be human. You are taking on a massive amount of responsibility on top of your regular routine. You are likely sleeping less and have changed your diet and exercise routine. New sources of stress combined with a weakened ability to deal with stress can be a recipe for disaster.

When you find yourself in the midst of a bridezilla moment, take a step back and recognize that the tiny detail won’t matter nearly as much in a few moments. Just breathe.

Lastly, don’t forget to relax. Plan some leisure time that doesn’t involve your wedding at all throughout the months leading up to the big day. During the wedding, step into a quiet room in between events to collect your thoughts.

In short, go easy on yourself, reduce the stress, and lean into the pure joy of one of the happiest days of your life.