Just say it. "It's not a competition." When you have a friend or a cousin or a bridesmaid who's getting ultra-annoying about comparing every detail of your wedding to her past or upcoming Big Day, sometimes stating this fact is all you need to do to shut them up.

I hear about so many good-natured brides who get sucked into the drama, wanting their friend or cousin or bridesmaid to feel better about themselves, that they'll stay in the conversation, assuring that person that her flowers were so gorgeous, or that there's no way their cake will be better than her cake was - just trying to be nice. I'm all for being nice, but I'm not all for volunteering to puff up someone else's ego at the expense of your peace.

It's all in the delivery. Just smile and say, "It's not a competition. Your wedding is going to be fabulous. Now, which movie would you like to go see tonight?" or some other such change of topic. When you refuse to get sucked into the competition chat, the reassurance Olympics, you save your own sanity.