Planning a wedding when everything else in your life feels unstable?

Title says it all: how are we navigating planning one of the best days of our lives when so many things feel uncertain right now? I’m just feeling really heavy and needed to put this somewhere.

I’m the oldest daughter on both sides of my family, and my fiancé is the first person in his family to get married. There are a lot of unspoken (and sometimes very loudly spoken) expectations. We’ve tried to keep decision-making between just the two of us to protect our peace, but that hasn’t stopped the commentary, the pressure, or the stress. Any time someone reaches out to me about planning I want to throw up. I've had a constant pit in my stomach.

On top of that, I work part-time in the wedding industry. So while I’m trying to navigate my own planning burnout, I also have to show up to other people’s weddings with a smile on my face and be “on” for 9-14 hours at a time. It’s getting exhausting.

My full time job is also at risk due to a major restructure (higher education), and I’ve been barely hanging on emotionally with everything going on in the world. I have to force myself to shower, to eat, to function. I’m trying so hard to be grateful, to focus on love, to remember that this day is about my partner and me, but it just feels like too much.

I think I just needed to say this out loud (or write it out, at least). Has anyone else felt like this during wedding planning? Like the weight of everyone’s expectations, plus your real-life stressors, is just… crushing?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through this or is going through something similar.