I was overwhelmed. I constantly had a pit in my stomach. I cried often, and I almost called off my wedding.

Before meeting with Allison, I felt terrified, isolated, and confused.

Here's how one bride worked through her feelings of engagement anxiety I can tell you how effective bridal counseling can be at dealing with cases of cold feet, engagement depression and engagement anxiety. But it's far more effective to hear it straight from a bride. ​This blog was written by Ashley, author also of Dear Newly Engaged Me: Here's a Laundry List of Things I Wish I'd Known From the Start.  Read below about her journey from panicked to peaceful.

How one bride overcame her engagement anxiety

"Eight months before my wedding, I completely freaked out."

Before getting engaged, I loved my relationship.

Now, I was no longer attracted to my fiance. I was questioning the whole relationship.

This bride worked with me for 6 months. ​She wrote this blog 3 months after her wedding. Dear Newly Engaged Me: First, slow down.  Enjoy getting engaged. Let it really sink in.  Float on Cloud 9 for a while.  Do not listen to everyone who says you must run out and pick a venue a year in advance. It’s simply not true.  Enjoy ring shopping It’s the best part of the wedding-planning process, because you’re the only one involved.  ​Your opinion is the only one you’re hearing.  It won't always be like that. Everyone will have an opinion -- simply. everyone. Your boss, co-workers, cashiers at the grocery store, every sales person in the wedding industry.  Everyone seems to have opinions about everything.

Educate yourself about what's normal -- but not talked about

Is your ring perfect?   ​Lucky you! Consider yourself blessed. Because I often hear from brides (and again, just last week, from a bride in my cottage): "It's beautiful, but Just Not Me." "I wish he'd asked me what I wanted." "It's lovely, but it's not quite right, and that makes me feel terrible."

When the ring isn't quite right, some brides are sent down a rabbit hole of anxiety:

After I work with clients, I like to get feedback about our time together. It not only helps me improve my craft, but I like to think it also helps to remind them of how far they have come. Below are thoughts from a groom I recently worked with -- Nick, an engineer from Sacramento, California.   ​Yes, you read that correctly -- I work with grooms too!  I know guys don't always LOVE asking for help, but there's something to be said for a man that is willing to admit he can't do everything alone ... That's our kind of guy:  cue the applause!

Before I contacted Allison, I felt overwhelmed.

In the past year, I've counseled two clients -- a man and a woman -- who were both engaged to people who were "perfect on paper." The 2 future spouses had only admirable qualities:  They were kind. They were good looking They came from good families. They were well educated. They were driven, ambitious, successful. They'd be good parents. They''d be good life partners. The futures looked bright Both clients believed that they SHOULD want these perfect-on-paper people.   They should want these marriages.   That they'd be crazy to let go of someone who, for all intents and purposes, was perfect for them.

For months, they tried to talk themselves into these marriages

By bride-to-be L.  I’ve been engaged for 6 months, and I have more than a year before the wedding.  I must say: engagement didn’t come easy for me. When my boyfriend asked me to marry him 3 months before we actually became engaged, I said what I felt in my heart and in my head at the time: “I don’t know.”

Did I love him enough to be married to him forever?