My 5 Biggest Wedding Day Fails that Brides Don't Know About
As the saying goes, nobody's perfect, and no wedding day is perfect either! (*Cue Hannah Montana Song) So I’m getting real honest and sharing my 5 biggest wedding day fails that I didn’t tell the bride about (Or at least waited a few days to tell her)! Spoiler alert, everything still turned out okay!
Cake Flower Fiasco
I was doing a wedding once where the cake was delivered but the bakery was not going to set the flowers on the cake. The florist had dropped off a few loose sprigs of greenery and blooms for cake flowers. So it was looking like the job was going to fall on me. However, the venue coordinator proclaimed that she used to be a florist and could set the cake flowers for me! Hooray, my hero! So I pointed out where the cake flowers were and told her to do her thing.…. only to turn around half an hour later and discover that she had stuck all the boutonnieres straight into the cake. So I plucked them out, wiped them off, and pinned them on the groomsmen as they were about to walk down the aisle. Then covered the holes in the cake with the intended cake flowers. Whoops!
Projector Screen Stalemate
For this wedding, the couple wanted to display a slideshow of pictures during the cocktail hour while they were off taking pictures! Well the way the venue was set up, the projector screen dropped from the ceiling on the stage, right in front of where the head table was. The screen came down for cocktail hour, but did not want to go back up. Some mechanism in the screen switch had failed and the screen was stuck all the way down, right in front of where the bride and groom were supposed to sit. Venue maintenance had to come out and tie it up manually with rope/twine/etc. so that it wouldn’t hang down in front of the wedding party. It looked a bit ( a lot) jenky, but at least it all happened when the bride and groom weren’t there!
A Stormy Setback
Everyone knows that rain on a wedding day can present it’s own set of challenges. On this particular wedding day, there was a hail storm heading straight for the venue, luckily we were expecting it so we had tents, towels, rugs, umbrellas, etc. What I wasn’t expecting to deal with was the very nice, very expensive getaway car being exposed to the elements. We were out at a venue in the middle of nowhere, with no covered parking, with a hail storm on the way and a very expensive getaway car uncovered (along with all the guests cars, but I mean, priorities!) So we ended up having to drive the car (very slowly and very carefully) into the kitchen tent. Yup, we pushed aside all the plates, glasses, food, etc. and drove the car right into the tent. Never again will I have a bride use an expensive getaway car without a covered place to park it!
To-Go Box Tragedy
Most people are worried about how the cake will be delivered, but no one considers how it will be taken home. I once had a bride with exorbitant amounts of leftover cake (like at least 150 servings) so of course I wanted to send it home with her family for them to enjoy. However, the bakery did not leave any extra boxes for leftover cake, and the caterer had it is his contract that he would not handle the cake at all. So what did I do? I sent my assistant to Kroger to buy cake boxes from the bakery (smart right?) well guess what, the bakery won’t sell you their cake boxes from the bakery section, which is honestly just rude. So we ended up buying those big foil tins that you can cook a Thanksgiving turkey in, and that is what the cake went home in that night.
cast Iron Catastrophe
Okay I am saving the best one for last, and yes it is a complete fail, but I did not hide it from the couple because they realized it almost immediately after I did. So there is no point in being anonymous on this one, because like I said, the bride and groom knew what was up and now it is even an inside joke for their family! Lexie and Cole were having their rehearsal dinner at Lonesome Dove Restaurant in the stockyards. One of the really cool traditions about this restaurant is that they let you brand the door with your initials using a branding rod. So we had one made with their initials: L, C, and B (for their last name). I turned it over to the venue to be heated, and once that thing is hot, you have to run it over to the wall and immediately stamp it. Well, as Lexie and Cole were branding the wall, my heart immediately sank, they were handed the brand UPSIDE-DOWN. That’s right, their initials, that will forever be on the wall at Lonesome Dove are upside down. I of course apologized profusely, and the amazing couple that they are, they laughed it off and said they thought it was hilarious and a great story to tell (they aren’t wrong!). So here is a picture of my biggest wedding fail in action and one of my favorite wedding stories. (Check out more pictures from their rehearsal dinner here!)
With the wedding industry, some lessons you can only learn the hard way, and then there are some lessons you didn’t even think you would be learning! With each #weddingfail I have learned and become a better planner for it! I hope this helps you avoid or at least prepare for your own wedding fails! My biggest piece of advice is don’t sweat the small stuff and don’t be afraid to get creative! The absolute worst thing you can do is breakdown and let it defeat you. Approach every problem knowing that it is “fixable” and you will be fine!
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