For better or worse, a wedding brings people from all parts of your life together. You’ll have different personalities, different relationships and histories, and societal, familial, or cultural expectations of what and how the whole event is supposed to happen all swirling together for one day.

Sometimes, people get caught up in themselves and their feelings that have or sometimes have nothing to do with the couple. Emotions can rise to the surface that are brought on by memories — something you probably had no idea existed until they surfaced. This was just supposed to be a celebration, right?

So with all of these potential problems, it’s amazing to think that most weddings go off without a hitch.

So what’s the secret to sanity during the planning and day of celebration? Managing expectations, yours and — to the best of your ability — everyone else.

Know that you will encounter problem/s you cannot control — not logistical problems, but someone will have a difficult time emotionally and it will come out directly or sideways, like caring too much about one tiny aspect of the wedding.

Know that everyone has different expectations — This is the cause of most problems in weddings. Managing expectations requires knowing what you want as a couple and how to work with your family-to-be, too.

Communication, communication, communication — The more you talk, the more you know. The more you know, the more you can help avoid any foreseeable problems.

Laugh it off and just have fun — At the end of the day, it’s about the couple getting married. You chose to have a cultural event with a celebration instead of a simple and short legal ceremony. We have parties to celebrate. So have fun. Something will go wrong or someone will not be happy about something, so practice a good sense of humor and do the best you can.