Forget the budget, the hardest part of planning a wedding is managing emotions. Often the bride is left to play referee to her aunts who insist on certain traditions and her 21 sorority housemates who pull out their drama queen trophies when they are not named a bridesmaid. Throw in the aspect of merging two (and sometimes more) families and it is enough to make any bride down the nearest bottle of champagne and crawl under a pile of tulle to hide.

All of this often leaves the bride little time or energy to pay attention to her own emotional well-being. Marriage is a big deal and involves several life changes. Even couples who lived together before tying the knot admit to some psychological hurdles: will changing my name cause me to lose part of my identity, my ethnicity? How will hyphenating affect my future kids? And so on and so forth.

Yes, managing emotions is a monstrous task and not one that comes with quick and easy solutions. There are some tips however that can help you navigate these waters a little better:

1.) Hire a wedding consultant. No brainer that I put this one first, and yes, I am biased. ;) Beyond coordination and design, a good planner will be able to give an unbiased opinion on all of your wedding details as well as play the evil role of nixing certain ideas (like Aunt Millie's bundt cake) for you, so that your family reunions can remain untarnished from wedding drama memories for years to come.

2.) Get pre-marital counseling. This should be a line item on every couple's budget. Marriage comes with its own set of ups and downs - make sure you are starting off on the right foot and on the same page.

3.) Check out The Conscious Bride. Sheryl Paul is a professional bridal counselor and the wisdom she offers throughout this book is invaluable. Getting married in three months and all you can think about are your ex-boyfriends? Don't worry - you're completely normal, and Sheryl tells you why.

Do what you can to make sure that this season of transition is as seamless as possible. Life is just too short to miss out on enjoying your engagement!