You’re in the home stretch of your wedding planning, but there’s one more thing on your mind. You’ve heard that soon-to-be-newlyweds may have trouble sleeping before their big day, and you’re worried you might have the same problem. Lucky for you, there’s some good news. By planning ahead and making a few small changes to the day before, you can put yourself in the best place to get a good night’s sleep before you start the next phase of your life!
If you can manage some me-time during the day, it’s recommended to try to do a little bit of exercise. It helps your body to feel physically exhausted, as well as the mental exhaustion you are no doubt feeling from your wedding planning. If you have time earlier in the day, try doing some moderate to heavy exercise so that the adrenaline has time to stop racing through your body by the time you go to bed. If you’re wanting to exercise right before bed, it might be worth trying a few yoga poses to stretch your muscles and focus your mind before bed. You can even do it from bed if you have a firm enough mattress. There are affordable mattress options online if you need a new one.
The human body thrives on routine, especially when it comes to bedtime. You might think that keeping a bedtime routine is only for kids, but it’s really helpful for people of all ages, especially when you’re out of your normal environment. Whatever you do before bed, whether it’s a hot bath, a face mask, half an hour of reading, or meditating, make sure you can do as much of it from wherever you’re staying the night before your wedding.
It may be tempting to have a glass of wine or three at your rehearsal dinner to deal with the stress of the evening, but you should avoid alcohol for about four hours before you want to go to sleep. While alcohol might help you get to sleep, it will definitely cause you to wake up more often in the middle of the night once your body starts trying to process the alcohol, according to the Huffington Post. It can also cause you to become dehydrated, because you’ll have to use the bathroom more often. If you are going to be drinking alcohol, use the two for one rule - two glasses of water for each alcoholic drink. This can help you from becoming dehydrated later, and make it easier for your body to flush out the alcohol.
When it comes to the rehearsal dinner, you will want to eat enough to feel full, but not enough to put yourself into a food coma. If you’re hungry when you go to bed, you won’t sleep well. If you’re too full, you’ll feel sluggish, but are more likely to have trouble getting to sleep. You’ll also want to avoid caffeine, tobacco and foods with high amounts of sugar or saturated fats, because they can cause sleep problems, according to. The effects of caffeine and tobacco can stay in your bloodstream for up to six hours, so if you’re having coffee, make sure it’s in the morning.