If you’ve ever wondered why couples can get so out of sorts over their wedding, it’s because of the planning process. Wedding planning presents a seemingly endless amount of details that need to be carefully planned, and for someone who is so emotionally invested in the outcome, it can quickly become overwhelming trying to do it on their own. Luckily, you don’t have to do it on your own. Make the planning process a group effort by recruiting your friends and family with these 5 creative ideas!

Make It an Event

People are willing to help more often than not, but nevertheless, it is much easier to recruit peoples help for something fun. Find things that can be done as a group, such as DIY’ing your centerpieces and invite your friends over for a crafting party with food and drinks. Everyone will have a blast and you will end up with days or even weeks’ worth of work finished in a single night.

Address Their Talents

Everyone has their own unique talents, and who doesn’t love being praised for the craft they have worked so hard to hone? Since wedding planning covers such a broad range of topics, this is the perfect chance to enlist your friends’ special talents to contribute to your wedding day. If one of your friends is incredible at decorating, let them know how much you admire their work, and what an incredible job they did at their last event. By addressing their strengths, it shows them how much you appreciate something they may have practiced, or taken the time to learn over the years. From there, they may be more willing to share those talents with you for your special day.

Practice for Their Own Wedding

As is often the case, groups of friends in the same age group tend to get married around the same time, which means many of your friends are probably imagining their own wedding while you plan for yours. Part of the difficulty of planning a wedding is how emotionally involved you are in the outcome. Talk to your friends about their own plans for marriage and offer to help them prepare by offering a chance for them to experience the wedding planning process in a stress-free environment. Ask them what part of their own wedding they are most interested in, and if they want to help you plan it out so that when it comes time for their own wedding they know exactly what to do.

Create a Shared Document & Let People Choose Their Task

Many people are willing or even eager to help, but since they don’t want to step on anyone’s toes or are unsure what to do, they simply wait for you to ask. Let your friends and family know exactly what you need help with by creating a specific list and sharing them in a document. Consider a service like Google Drive where everyone can have access from their smartphone or computer. Invite everyone you are comfortable asking for help from, and politely ask them to volunteer their efforts with whatever task is most interesting to them. People will scramble to get the best tasks, and since no one wants to be the only person who didn’t contribute, you’ll end up with a wave of people volunteering to help!

Don’t Forget To Thank Them

While consumed in something as detailed as a wedding, we often times bounce from one task to the next, with little time in between. This, leaves us forgetting the importance of accomplishing something, checking it off our list and being able to proceed. When you have loved ones contributing to these efforts, big or small, that lack of acknowledgment can hurt feelings, or leave the ones we care about most feeling unappreciated.

To ensure this doesn’t happen, stock up on thank you cards! There are gorgeous designs that you can find on Amazon, Etsy or at a local arts store. By having these on deck, each time someone volunteers their time and/or efforts, a handwritten note can go further than you may think. Then, we can almost guarantee they’ll be willing to help on the next phase of planning, or even on your special day!

A Team Effort

Planning a wedding is a tall task, but don’t make the mistake of thinking you need to do it alone. Use these tips to encourage your friends and family to get involved, and planning your wedding with a group of people you love will become a much more enjoyable process.