By Chris Easter of TheManRegistry.com

Worried because you’re feeling nervous as the big day approaches? Don’t freak out. Getting some sort of cold feet before the wedding is completely normal. You after, after all, getting ready to take the biggest step in your life

The most common type of pre-wedding jitters generally occurs one week before the wedding day. This is very common, and there can be several causes, ranging from last-minute fear of commitment, as well as realizing the seriousness that goes along with this step in life. Once you’re married, you can’t just get in a fight one night and decide to call it quits. (Actually, you can, but it’s very expensive and can be very embarrassing for you and your spouse).

By this point, you should know your fiance well and have gone through some type of marriage prep classes. If you’ve made it this far, the real fears probably either stem from standing up in front of all of your friends and family during the wedding ceremony or worrying about how your bride will react if things don’t go exactly as planned. So how can you get past these feelings? It’s a good idea to take some time for yourself the week of your wedding. Whether you like to golf, smoke cigars or go to the ball game, make a point to do something fun with your groomsmen or best man to get your mind off of the big day. So much time is put into this day, but most likely, everything probably won’t work out exactly the way it was planned. And that’s OK. If your nerves are still bothering you, talk to your best man, a friend or a close family member to help you through it.

On the other hand, if you get cold feet a month or two before the wedding, you should really ask yourself why you’re stressing. Don’t worry; it may just be natural groom stress from the planning, but it could also be a sign that things may not be quite as great as you first thought. All couples go through ups and downs when planning their wedding. You just need to learn to roll with the punches, but at the same time, you need to realize that this is the person you’ll spend the rest of your life with. If you think it’s more than just nerves, there are several things that could help. First, if you haven’t already done so, go to some marriage preparation classes. These aren’t nearly as fun as watching any sporting event (including underwater basket-weaving), but they can prove to be very beneficial, and in some cases, bring some very important conversations to light between you and your bride. If you’re still unsure about things, try going to a therapist or seeing a clergy member. You can either do this together or alone. This is the time to expose any problems you may have, and discussing these issues with a professional can be very helpful. But most likely, if you’ve gotten this far, you know your fiancée well and are just going through normal feelings.

The main to remember is that virtually every groom (and bride, for that matter) will get some type of cold feet before the wedding. Just make sure you’re both prepared for this step, and most importantly, take some time to relax during the week of the wedding. If there’s still any doubt, talk to each other or seek the help of friends, family or a professional.

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Chris Easter is co-founder of TheManRegistry.com – the leading source on the web for groom gifts. The site also offers a wealth of content aimed at helping men survive the wedding planning process. Chris is also the co-host of the ‘That Wedding Show‘ podcast which is a joint venture between The Man Registry and Aisledash.com