When my boyfriend proposed in April, I knew I wanted to get the whole wedding thing over with fast.  The state of being a “fiancée” struck me as cringingly Victorian, and I felt awkward being questioned about the upcoming nuptials by every well-meaning busybody.  My sister-in-law, who had just given birth to her second child in France, was due to visit in June with the family, so we decided to plan the wedding to coincide with her trip. Hell, if Will & Kate could orchestrate a wedding watched by two billion people in five months, we could surely plan one for 150 guests in three months.  Lest you think this is a cautionary tale that ends in torn taffeta and tears, our wedding was awesome: exactly what I wanted it to be – fun, personal and low-stress.

Should you also wish to rip your wedding off like a band-aid, quick and painless, here are some tips:

Forget bridal stores:  Wedding dress stores are the worst for making you feel guilty about planning a fast wedding.  Having seen how they treated my sister when she got married – “What, the wedding is in only five months? You’ll have to pay double for a rush order!” – I avoided them altogether. Raid the family heirlooms, shop vintage or off-the-rack at a non-wedding store.  I wore my mother-in-law’s wedding sari for the ceremony, and bought three dresses (from Want, Anthropologie and the Cat’s Meow for less than the price of a single wedding dress for the rehearsal dinner, reception and brunch.

Delegate responsibility: I really could have cared less about having flowers or a sit-down, three course meal.  But my mom and mother-in-law were very firm about wanting these things.  It sounds crass, but my theory is if the moms want it, they can plan it and pay for it.  Everyone was happy being responsible for the parts of the wedding that they actually cared about.

Book a Thursday night: There were four wedding venues that we seriously considered, The Berkeley Field House. The Brickworks,The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse and The Argonaut Rowing Club. Pretty much every summer Saturday was taken and most of the Fridays. Eventually, we opted for the Thursday night before Canada Day at the Argonaut Rowing Club.  Because we avoided a Saturday summer wedding date, none of our guests were double-booked. Plus, we got discounts from the venue and our DJ, because we were booked on a Thursday.

Don’t have bridesmaids: Avoid becoming fodder for a Hollywood comedy.  Finding a dress that works for more than three people is an exercise in frustration.  Plus ranking your friends into a hierarchy of maids and non-maids can result in bruised egos.  We didn’t have any bridesmaids or groomsmen, and I’d like to think that this preserved my friendships.

E-mail invitations: I love stationary, stamps and CanadaPost – and by all means, invest in these for the thank you notes.  But an e-invitation works really well because RSVPs come back immediately.  Write a personal e-mail inviting a guest, and put a link in it to a wedding website with all the details for the event.

Sure, these tips may result in a wedding that is unlikely to be cooed over on a blog (awwww the invite matches the table setting, which matches the ring boy’s bowtie, which matches the minister’s robe).  But if your priority is a fun wedding with minimal stress, enjoy!