Three Tips to Keeping Your Thoughts Positive While Planning Your Wedding

Thoughts have a sneaky way of creeping up on you and sometimes winning a mental power struggle. If you find yourself second guessing, doubting, or worrying about your wedding day or the planning process, try to put yourself in the driver seat with these negative thought busting tricks:

1) Visualization: Creating mental images of how you hope to celebrate your wedding day is a powerful tool. The more vivid the imagery, the better you can hold that picture in your mind. Take it to another level by creating a physical wedding day vision board. Include pictures, positive words, or inspiring quotes. Look at your vision board every day when you wake up and before you go to sleep so you have those positive images at the forefront of your mind. If you start getting bogged down with all the details of planning your wedding, pull out your vision board. It's a good reminder of what all the hard work is truly about.

2) Affirmations: Use positive statements to combat self-doubt or worry that creeps into your mind. If you're worried that your family won't get along during the celebration, remind yourself that while you love your family, you cannot control their behaviors. You might write an affirmation for yourself like, "I love my family but can only control my thoughts and actions." Or you may prefer, "I choose to focus on the positive qualities of my family and the happiness at my wedding." The key is to select positive words that speak to you. Let these words become your mantra whenever your thoughts try to lead you astray.

3) The Good Ol' Rubber Band Technique: If you've ever been in therapy, had counseling or read anything by some well known motivational speakers or mental health professionals, you may be familiar with this trick. Wear a rubber band around your wrist. Anytime you start to think something negative about yourself or your wedding planning, give the rubber band a little snap. It's supposed to act as a reminder that there's no place for negative thinking. You might find yourself snapping that rubber band quite a bit initially, but eventually it slows down, as you train yourself to keep your thoughts positive.