I opened Facebook today and saw two friends engaged, one just married and a third seething because her boyfriend hadn’t yet asked.

I opened Facebook yesterday and I saw three friends engaged, one married and one running through shops to get her perfect wedding outfit.

Same story, different day. It really is that time when all our friends are getting married, one by one. Not a cynical anti-marriage believer, as a wedding photographer, I rarely get to see the pre-wedding chaos and I realised just how crazy it must be to really plan a wedding. So I thought to myself, well, why not help those who need it right now.

This little blog post is just a small bit of help, for brides who need to calm down, lest be called bridezilla. Here’s a few things all brides need to do once they’ve been asked the question so that all they need to do on the day of the wedding is pose for my pictures, candidly of course!

1.Plan only what you need to: Often, the couple to be married gets involved in way more than they should be. So what you need to do is this. Get a sheet of paper out, pen down things that you’ve always wanted happening at your dream wedding and take care of just that. Let La Familia worry about the rest.

2.Spend more time on facebook: Chances are, a lot of your friends are already married and have been through the whole do or die situation and will have better advice to give to you than your third cousin’s grand aunt who was married in the 18th century. Ask your friends to suggest venues, help out with candid wedding photographers in the city, give you tips on prices and get feedback on caterers. Crowd-pulled information is your best friend right now.

3.Pass on the theme generously: Decide on a theme for your wedding and be sure to pass it around to everyone who’s taken it upon themselves to get you married off. If your theme is pastels, hand over a kind memo to your event decorator with pictures off the internet, hand one to your designer and best friends too.

4.Take up a hobby: Getting married is one joyous moment and the excitement and happiness you’ll feel will transcend across everything you do. So, if you take up singing classes that you’ve always wanted to, even if you really suck, you won’t be disheartened and will learn to do it because it makes you happy.

5.Pack up your girlies and go on a trip: I say this with a very serious face, once you get married, you’ll forget all about spending time with your best friends and will instead get into adjusting with your married life. A trip before you get married is the best time to discuss your husband, laugh at all your exes (what were you thinking) and to push aside all your past hassles and who better to do it with than the lovely ladies or guys who helped you through this time and saw you get to your happy place.

Go on dear bride, get married, get yourself your prince Charming and love every moment of you being the queen, it only lasts till your Vidaai!!