It is absolutely normal to feel sad when your wedding is over. Wedding planning can sort of take over your life. You’ve likely spent months planning your wedding with a lot of build up, excitement, and amazing life changes. Even on the days when things felt like they were falling apart, you still had the wedding day to look forward to.
But now your wedding day has come and passed. You’re entering a new chapter: marriage. So why is it that many newlyweds start to feel down when the whirlwind is over? Here’s everything you need to know about the post wedding blues and how to cure them.
What Are The Post Wedding Blues?
In order to prevent and manage the post-wedding blues, let’s first define exactly what the post-wedding blues are. Newlyweds often describe the post-wedding blues as overwhelming sadness, feelings of “what’s next,” emotional withdrawal, and directionless energy.
These feelings are normal as the excitement of wedding planning comes to an end and reality sets back in as you begin a new phase of life. Regardless of how spectacular your wedding day was, sometimes the blues just find a way to temporarily creep into your life after your big day and that’s okay!
Post Wedding Blues Are Common
If you have the post-wedding blues, you’re certainly not alone. Many brides and grooms alike both experience the post wedding blues. If you don’t experience the post-wedding blues yourself, it’s likely you know someone who has.
The good news is that the post-wedding blues don’t last forever. According to PsychCentral, the post-wedding blues generally last less than 2 weeks long. The symptoms of the post-wedding blues get better as time progresses. You won’t be stuck with feelings of sadness for long after your wedding is over.
Focus On Your Marriage
Clear and honest communication is so important for creating a lifetime of happiness with your partner. If you’re feeling the post-wedding blues, share those feelings with your partner. They could be experiencing the same thoughts and feelings too. Opening this line of communication can make a world of a difference in your relationship and allow you two the ability to problem solve together and not dwell on the sadness you may be feeling for too long. You have each other to lean on for support, and don’t have to experience your feelings alone.
Some practical ways to focus on your marriage are to:
- Make time for each other
- Intentionally communicate on a daily basis
- Have date nights
- Evaluate your needs and desires together
- Set future goals
Make New Plans
Making new plans and having things to look forward to can help manage the post-wedding blues. Couples typically spend several months, sometimes even years, planning their wedding day. This can create a lot of excitement with the plans for their upcoming wedding, but once the wedding day is over, it can feel like you don’t have exciting plans to look forward to anymore. Making new plans with your friends, family, or spouse is a good first step. Even better, planning an event such as a vacation, party, or a celebration with WaldoEvents is another great way to make some plans you can look forward to and add excitement to your everyday life.
Bonus: When you use WaldoEvents, all your photos can be easily and efficiently shared amongst your friends in an album for you to cherish forever.
Creating a bucket list with your new spouse is another way to both manage the post-wedding blues, while strengthening your connection at the same time. It’s a win-win situation. If you’re looking for some inspiration for your newlywed bucket list, we have created a blog with 52 bucket list activities for your first year of marriage. This bucket list is a great resource to help you gain inspiration for your next activity as newlyweds.
Shifting your attention and focus from wedding planning to reality can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to weigh you down. It’s probable you spent a lot of time and energy planning your wedding. Think about how strong, fun, and exciting your marriage can be if you put forth half as much effort. The sky’s the limit! Make new plans, form new habits, and create wonderful memories together.
When To Seek Help
While the post-wedding blues themselves generally pass within 2 weeks, it’s important to know when to seek professional help. If your symptoms last longer than 2 weeks, or become more severe, it may be time to consider professional help designed to meet your needs. It’s perfectly okay (and even advised) to seek professional help if you’re experiencing depression and it’s affecting your everyday life. We have provided helpful resources for professional help below based on your geographic location.
Professional Help in The U.S.
If you’re in need of immediate help, crisistextline.org has several resources and a 24/7 hotline to easily connect with.
If you would like to see a therapist in your area, Psychology Today is a great place to start.
Professional Help in Canada
The Canadian Psychological Association is a helpful tool to assist your search for a psychologist in your area.
Professional Help Globally
CheckPoint is a great resource to help you find professional help in your country.
