Wedding Planning: What No One Else Has the Guts to Tell You
I know that if you are planning your own wedding, or someone else’s, it might be hard to swallow the one truth that no one wants to hear and no one wants to tell you: Something will go wrong.
I know exactly what you are thinking. “No, that won’t happen to me. I have everything planned out. I have a schedule, and I have each detail written out for everyone with full instructions. There is NO WAY anything can go wrong.”
And that is a great way to think and the last thing you want to do is roll over and give up. Planning is very important and giving clear and concise instructions to everyone involved is KEY to a successful wedding, or any event.
But as sure as gravity, something will go wrong because you simply cannot control everyone and everything. I have seen things go wrong even when a wedding planner is implemented! There are two things you can do to not lose your mind.
1. Accept that something may happen and convince yourself that you are totally cool with it. After all, everything else is wonderful and beautiful, and due to your planning anything that goes wrong is at least not catastrophic. This way, when something goes wrong - like geese leave little presents near the pool - you don’t freak out (this happened at my wedding).
2. Pick hard as nails bridesmaids. Surrounding your wedding with people that are great communicators, available to mitigate conflicts, trustworthy, and will keep you out of any drama on your day will keep you from knowing little details that are out of place.
An example of hard as nails bridesmaids: I was a bridesmaid at one wedding and on the day of the glorious event the steamer melted a hole in my bridesmaid dress. I felt like I had completely let down the bride and was frozen. Luckily, a friend of mine, the maid of honor, and a bridesmaid were all able to calm me down and give me some advice. The bride never noticed something was wrong with my dress and the bride did not know about the problem until after the wedding.
Common things that go wrong that you cannot control:
1. Someone is too early or too late
2. Someone complains about the food or their order is wrong
3. It rains or snows or is too hot
4. Your flower girl or ring bearer refuse to go down the aisle
5. One couple that replied yes does not come (my friend had a whole section of family not come because another family wedding was the following weekend)
6. One of the speeches is embarrassing/badly written/forgotten
Lastly, if you like watching those chick flicks that end in weddings, make sure you watch ones that don’t have a perfectly tied-up wedding.
Suggestions, in no particular order, are:
Tell us about something you saw go wrong or prevented from going wrong at a wedding you attended in the comments section below.