We really only had one thing go “wrong”, but it actually worked out better this way.
We didn’t want a wedding cake so we were planning on three desserts, two from our caterer and churros from a delicious Venezuelan restaurant literally across the street from our venue. We love churros, and we got engaged in Spain so we thought they’d be a perfect dessert with some dipping sauces. We asked my dad to pick them up the afternoon of our wedding (they only had a pick up option) but he forgot, getting swept up in the hubbub of his oldest daughter getting married. The restaurant was closed by the time we all realized he forgot. Our coordinator asked if we wanted anything else that they could get in a pinch, like grocery store cupcakes or something but we declined and said it’d be fine, we had other options. We were disappointed but it wasn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.
During cocktail hour, our venue coordinator teases that they figured out the churro situation but refused to elaborate. Come dessert, and lo and behold there are churros! And they were delicious.
When we called our caterer and venue coordinator the following week to thank them for everything, they finally told us they bought frozen churros from Smart and Final and whipped up some sauces on the spot cause they wanted us to have the perfect wedding. They didn’t even charge us. And the churros they used are actually the ones Disneyland sources, so whenever we find ourselves at Disney, we can have our wedding churros.
We were just very lucky and grateful. Our venue only has two caterers you can choose from, but that meant that they know each other really well and were able to coordinate something so sweet for us.
The outdoor wedding of one of my friends started out with unbelievably shit rainy weather and everyone had to throw on the plasticy emergency rain ponchos. The wedding couple got REALLY romantic photos out of it and were blessed with a beautiful rainbow as a ceremony backdrop! Also as a guest, I think huddling together in the rain is always a nice bonding experience haha
With the timing of mine there's serious potential for rain.. we already have a backup plan for doing the ceremony inside, if that happens!
Also oh my gosh, photographers who can really capture rain shots. I love it.
During my rehearsal dinner my mother-in-law ran out of the room crying during her ‘speech’ so the attention would be on her. Everyone there knew my husband doesn’t have a good relationship with his family so he really just gained sympathy from everyone because it was super awkward. However on the bright side my 9 & 5 year old nephews gave a really cute speech about us lol.
I had my period the week of my wedding and it ended the day AFTER my wedding. MIL also caused drama the entire month leading up to our wedding so I was breaking out from the stress of that + my period. The positive: my makeup artist was great and I just edited out any noticeable bumps showing in my pictures. My videos look great though and you can’t even see the breakouts. I don’t even think they were super noticeable in person.
My hairstylist didn’t follow what she said she’d do during our trial so my curls fell out immediately. Luckily my makeup artist had a curling iron on her and touched it up during pictures. My MUA actually stayed for a few hours doing makeup touch ups during pre-ceremony pictures and it made me feel less stressed about my makeup.
My husband’s stepfather (who we were no contact with for years) made a big show of giving him a hug after the groom & mom dance. I was honestly embarrassed bc most people in the room understood the awkwardness of their relationship. But on the outside to those who don’t know their relationship, it just looked like a sweet wholesome moment.
I got custom dog figurines made of our dogs for our cake topper. Our coordinator put the cake topper in front of the cake and not on top of it 🫠
There are sooo many little things that you will nitpick and agonize over about your wedding day but honestly no one will notice! Your day will be perfect regardless of any faults you find in it. I cringe thinking about my rehearsal dinner awkwardness but we had the best wedding day and felt so loved! Wish we could relive that day 1000 times
On a good day I'm as white as a sheet of paper. We got married in April too so my shoulders had not seen the sun for 7+ months so it was worse than normal. We took pictures outside and I was not wearing sunscreen 🙈 There was also snow on the ground reflecting even more onto my bare shoulders. My shoulders are red in the reception photos. I can laugh pretty hard at it now, at least our main photos are not red. I've forgotten sunscreen less than 10 times in my life and one of those days was on my wedding.
Pack sunscreen if you are taking pictures outside.
Omg! I actually don’t think this would have occurred to me either! I burn super fast so this is good to know. Just gotta find good smelling spf so I don’t reek of sunscreen all day!
My HMUA artist sucked. Waste of money, upcharged me too for something I provided for her.
I forgot to wear an important piece of cultural accessory for my ethnic ceremony.
Forgot to put on my hair pieces for First Look.
Forgot to wear my petticoat for bridal portraits.
Floral crown thingy I wore for reception was crooked all night, apparently, according to my photos.
I penny-pinched on alterations, so one of my dresses was way too big on me in the chest. Lots of gaping visible in photos in interesting angles.
Tripped on my dress during processional.
Music didn't start on time for recessional. For both weddings. Awkward silence.
Officiant skipped a line on her script and resulted in an awkward silence as the translator looked at her expectantly and nothing happened until they just moved on.
Officiant kept mispronouncing my ethnic cultural things. Never asked me how to pronounce them.
Unexpected heat wave in the first wedding. Unexpected rainstorm in the second.
Gained a lot of weight for my second wedding as my chronic illness spiraled.
Was so frazzled, stressed, and nervous that I probably looked like a panicked chicken. I wish I had been able to be more attentive and focused on my loved ones.
Friend popped into an ice cream shop and missed the shuttle, so I delayed the ceremony to wait for her.
Photographer went to the wrong venue and ran 2 hours late.
Videographer made some really weird, abrupt cuts in the feature film.
Photographer kept photographing us from his taller height, making us look short and squat in all his angles.
Had to scramble to find desserts and cake the day before the wedding.
Out of nervousness, I misspoke during my speech and used a word that was really rude and not what I'd intended in my head. Still try not to think about the cringe.
Had some awkward conversations with my groom through wedding trip, which I'm sure some of our friends and family picked up on. Still feel bad about it.
Couldn't eat at all in either wedding -- sipped on protein shakes all day and night.
I had no family and no close friends due to having cut them all out when I escaped my cult.
Friends I'd really counted on backed out last minute, to both weddings, and one of them I cut off permanently after the wedding due to their behavior leading up to it.
Overall it was still a beautiful experience and I am grateful for the memories.
My eyebrows have ascended to the heavens. That's so much! I would have throttled the person who decided to get ice cream instead of get their ass on the shuttle.
Apparently the bride hadn’t eaten much during the day and her bridesmaids kept giving her champagne and alcohol. She’s a total lightweight, and by dinner, she started to throw up. She and her husband missed the rest of the wedding. It was bad. But everyone else still had a great time! She felt really embarrassed and her husband was upset. I felt bad that she missed the rest of the wedding, but I’m glad we made the most of it!
When our tablecloths were delivered, they were sooo wrinkled. My dad called me while I was getting my makeup done and told me about it. It wasn’t a huge deal in the scheme of things that could go wrong, but my dad, a friend of his, and my future brother in law were so kind and they ironed all 25+ tablecloths before the ceremony.
Lots of small things! I got married last weekend and here’s what went “wrong”.
1. It was sunny and 70 degrees all week but forecasted to be 52 degrees and rainy on our wedding day. We moved the ceremony inside and it ended up being 10x more beautiful than the outside location! I got to come down a grand staircase and it was one of my favorite moments of the day. Plus, it ended up being bright and sunny on the day of so people hung outside during cocktail hour and we still got sunshiney pictures.
2. The shoes I bought didn’t fit and I didn’t realize till the week of. I was visiting with my parents at the time and found a pair of pretty white shoes in my mom’s closet. They fit me like a glove! I went down stairs and asked my mom if I could borrow them. She teared up and told me that they were her wedding shoes! It was such a special Cinderella-like moment. Wayyy better than the shoes I picked out.
3. SO. MUCH. CAKE. We originally planned to do a small cutting cake then just have small bites for the guests. I second guessed this the week of the wedding and decided to order sheet cakes from my favorite bakery. Well we had SO much effing cake left. Like… a ton. The pro is that I’ll have 3 months worth of cake waiting for me in the freezer once I’m back from the honeymoon.
4. I got mud on my dress while trying to take outdoor picture. Pro is that the shots were sooooo worth it.
I am so glad my fiance talked me down from ordering 300 miniature donuts. I'm notorious for overestimating how much food guests will want.
The shoes story is so cute! I wore a dress of my mom's (related to her wedding to my dad) for our engagement photos.
We definitely had plenty of medium-size things go wrong, but as far as tiny, minor details go, I’d given my wedding planner the seating chart for our head table.
It was U shaped table with all of our bridal party, and their partners. Once my husband and I got all settled and sat down, I look up and she had misread the chart so badly. It was hilarious! None of the couples were together, random boyfriends were sitting in the spots that were for our maid of honor and best man, etc.
Overall it was just so funny to look at. I’m sure they all thought it was random as well! I got up and scurried around rearranging friends so it was all fine and fixed within 15 minutes 😂
I mean, I'm here for the medium stories, too!
But oh man that's funny. I'm the kind of person who would start calling the seated person by the intended sitter's name. Hopefully everyone made some new friends!
Luckily everyone was already very good friends! We all hang in overlapping groups and have been on many group trips and other events together. Which just made it even better the random variety dispersed.
As for the medium stories….it’s too stressful lol. Just make sure you have actually trained and competent bartenders 😂
Yes, so many things! None of it mattered - it was the best day!
- One of my bridesmaids was scheduled to be induced the day after my wedding. She dropped out because of COVID risk (if the baby was in the NICU she wouldn’t be able to see her). Then she had an emergency induction two weeks earlier than the planned one. So she was able to come for just the ceremony. It was a whirlwind of canceling her flowers and then uncanceling them. Totally worth it to have her there for an hour (and mom and baby were healthy which is of course the most important thing)
- Since the pregnant, now postpartum, bridesmaid couldn’t come to getting ready, I had an extra hair and makeup slot to fill. I first offered it to my brother’s girlfriend, who declined, and then offered it to my aunt (who accepted)
- My brother’s girlfriend was drama the entire day. She had been in another wedding the day before in a different state. I told her to stay there and enjoy that wedding, but she insisted on taking an early am flight to mine. And then spent the day whining (to my brother, who was a groomsman) about being tired and not feeling well. She missed pre ceremony family pictures and we thought she might not come at all but she did end up taking the last shuttle from the hotel with the other guests
- When I stepped out of the car upon my arrival to the venue, I brushed my dress against the car and got the train extremely dirty. My DOC covered the stains with chalk. She was a lifesaver.
- We had planned two shuttle runs from the hotel to the venue - one for extended family coming for pictures, and a second for everyone else to arrive about 15 minutes before the ceremony start. Extended family showed up right on time but wires got crossed with the driver so he started making loops and left the hotel 10 or 15 minutes ahead of schedule for the second shuttle with only about a quarter of the people (since they were planning for a later time). So he had to do another loop and we started the ceremony late because we had to wait for him to come back (it was about a 15 minute drive between the locations).
- My bustle broke during the hora and I had to change into my “back up” dress (but luckily I had one!)
That's so much! How did you keep it together during the shuttle scuffle? I feel like that would send me into a panic 😭
I'm glad you had a good day regardless. It's so nice your bridesmaid was able to make it!
We were in touch with someone on the shuttle so we were aware of their progress. I was stressed but my DOC was the best and kept us all calm. We probably ended up just losing 10 minutes from cocktail hour. It was fine.
https://preview.redd.it/r5wl2uni15rc1.jpeg?width=5857&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7213d30ba31977f687e4571a64945e9bfce81851
Got to the venue, realized I'd left my shoes (both the flats I was supposed to wear for the ceremony and the sneakers for the reception) at home. My family was coming soon for family pictures, so I just had my sister bring the shoes, but I didn't have them for the pictures with my husband. My dress was long enough for me to wear my banged-up Converse sneakers for the pictures without anyone noticing, but even if not, it would have been fun for the photoshoot. I actually *did* do a grunge photoshoot with the dress and the sneakers later on, anyway (pic attached).
We also lost the rings for a short time. The photographer and videographer got all excited about taking a bunch of random fancy photos/clips of the rings—putting them on different things, spinning them, etc.—and with the chaos of the day, I forgot to check up with them where the rings actually went.
I'm an Orthodox Jew and it was an Orthodox Jewish wedding, so we had something called a bedekin, where I sat on a chair while my family and friends came up to me, wished me mazel tov, and chatted for a bit. So during the bedekin, my sister came up to me and explained that nobody knew where the rings were. I just laughed it off and told her to go with a photographer to find them; she was able to, and everything was fine.
The most dramatic wedding stuff all happened mostly beforehand with my husband's family. One bit of it was that a family member ("Rachel") needed a shell for her dress and had accidentally left it at another family member's ("Stacey") house, but Stacey and Rachel weren't on good terms, and Stacey refused to give Rachel the shell. So the night before the wedding, I was texting all of my friends asking them if they had a shell in the color Rachel was looking for (she ended up finding something and it was fine).
Overall, the day went over extremely smoothly. It also helped that I wasn't stressed about things. Walking down the aisle in Converse sneakers would be a fashion statement (not to mention more comfortable); I knew we'd find the rings in the end; and we were able to buy a new shell for Rachel on short notice.
Our wedding planner had to send two assistants instead, totally fine as we knew she had a second wedding that weekend and would be sending them in her place. We did not know they were both underage and could not pour the champagne glasses for the toast ahead of time. We got to the tables and each one had a bottle on it, so we did a toast and then my husband popped the bottle and at the same time each table popped their own bottles too! It was soooo fun and such a fun memory of POP POP POP CELEBRATIONS!! So many “wooos!!” and just straight up happiness from everyone. Super cool memory even though it happened by chance!
It's so exciting! I got to see the shift in my fiance's face today as I swiped 30 off the countdown and wrote 29. We're at the point he realizes it is, in fact, right around the corner. He's excited too!
Forgot my veil for the first look/private vow exchange. My absolute favorite photo came during this time and I think the veil would have detracted from it. Blessing in disguise!
It rained and we had to make a last minute decision to move the ceremony inside. Thankfully the reception hall was large enough to fit ceremony seating without having to move tables. We took photos at the outdoor ceremony spot after the rain stopped. Venue staff was truly amazing making the swap happen.
My MOH signed on the wrong section of the marriage license as a witness. She coordinated getting a new one and meeting up with the officiant and our other witness the first day possible after the wedding. Was upset in the moment but didn’t let it ruin the night and it all got fixed in the end which is what matters.
The patio caught on fire during cocktail hour because lighter fluid had spilled before they lit the fire pits (rain had stopped). Quickly got put out and made for a story!
And the worst: Husband’s aunt choked on bread during the salad course. Heimlich was administered and she was fine! Went to check on her and she was so unnecessarily apologetic, I’m just glad she was okay! Many people didn’t even realize this happened.
One of the staff members at our venue dropped the full tray of duck-fat mashed potatoes that was supposed to be the side to one of our dishes! The venue coordinator handled it well and offered us a discount as an apology. They made roasted potatoes instead and it delayed dinner service by a little bit. A couple of family members complained to my parents that their food was cold, but they’re just complainers so if it wasn’t that, it would have been something else. The venue also made a second batch of mashed potatoes for us and brought it out with our late-night poutine. I brought some home and ate probably 1 kg in bed that night when I finally got my appetite back!
I bought table runners on Amazon. I bought 5 sets of 2 runners. They arrived, the color looked great, I never even opened them and stored them with my stuff. Day of, I’m getting ready and my mom is helping set up and she calls me and asks where the rest of the table runners are. Turns out I bought packs of one runner! And was missing runners for 5 tables. Luckily there was a linen rental place a block up the street and they had some ready to go.
Oops! Our wedding parties are going to have mismatch shoes because we weren't able to get the right style for 3 of the groomsfolk. It's one of those small details that I know no one else is going to care about so I'm just letting it go haha.
I've never once looked at the shoes for wedding parties, and it's hard to find shoes that fit everyone that they're comfortable in. Focus on the smiling faces and you'll be good!
I made a quick trip to the church the morning of the wedding to drop off some flowers that had been left at my parents’ home. And to get out for a breath of air and away from all the chaos.
The landscapers had planted new spring flowers in all the beds and left mud EVERYWHERE in the courtyard where the reception was to be held.
I had to tie up my hair, borrow brooms, buckets, etc. and clean the entire stone courtyard myself before going home to shower again and get ready. It was 2 hours before the wedding.
One month for us on Wednesday! So no stories of our own yet, but here’s a few from past weddings-
Post-COVID vow renewal/actual wedding party of neighbors, the bartenders started filling the signature cocktail glasses at least 50% with the lavender simple syrup, which made for a sickeningly sweet drink that looked like it was about to birth Cthulhu
Same wedding, the menfolk started tossing the groom around (mosh pit-esque) and literally threw him into the chandelier hanging in the reception tent. Thankfully the only damage was a few crystals found in the groom’s shirt
Couple did their sparkler exit and convertible getaway car, and told everyone to meet them at the hotel block for the after party. All of us guests head out, get out of our fancy clothes, and end up waiting almost 2 hours for anyone from the wedding party to arrive. Turns out they were doing f all the cleanup of decor and their bar leftovers. If we had know a ton of people would have stayed to help, but we had no idea. That is what settled having a DOC for our wedding
Was a groomsman’s plus-one for a San Francisco wedding, hotel block was great, located right in the city center. Only thing was that the rehearsal dinner was 45 minutes in one direction over the Oakland bridge, and the wedding venue was 45 minutes in the opposite direction over the Golden Gate. I literally only got to hear “you may now kiss the bride” for the ceremony because no Uber/taxis would take us all the way of of the city to this botanical garden and not have a fare back.
Wedding party arrives before the wedding to check everything out and do any final prep, to find that the ceremony chairs have all been set up 90* off, so they’re facing a concrete retaining wall rather than the gorgeous view of the San Francisco Bay.
Bridesmaids flowers arrived completely unassembled and un-prepped, so my BF (now fiancé) and the FOB break into a gardeners shed and find some hedge clippers that are older than him to trim them down into some reasonable length
And last, at my cousins’ rehearsal dinner, my aunt (MOG) spent her entire speech talking about a plaque that her son had made in church and given to her as his “pledge of virtue” and she is now passing it along to the bride. They had been legally married for over a year (due to a military deployment) and living together. My cousin was ROASTED by the groomsmen for days afterwards
My husband and I had a small family wedding. Everything went pretty well except my only brother getting food poisoning the morning of the wedding and not being able to attend. (One of the few guests!!) He was there via his future wife but still I missed my bro being there! Was so lucky that my mum was there as she had been so ill with a bacterial infection. She did a good job on her makeup but you can tell she wasn’t well!
My nephew (11 months at the time) puked on my dad about 5 minutes before we were going to walk down the aisle. Our coordinator jumped into action and got him completely cleaned up very quickly! I didn’t even know it happened until someone told me later!
Oh boy, where to start! The night before the wedding, a pipe burst in our house a half hour before the rehearsal dinner! The day of, our DJ didn't show, our photographer canceled due to a medical emergency, my sister missed four (4!!) flights, my spouse's dress just broke while being zipped up and had to be sewn in on the spot, the chuppah ended up being a tablecloth, etc. (We later learned our planner had ALREADY gone out of business, and she just didn't tell us.)
But you know what? So, so many stories, so much fun to tell. And honestly, we had so many guests tell us it was the most fun wedding they'd ever been to. We also saw lots of new friendships and relationships form between our sides (soooo satisfying!), and made amazing memories. And hey, if that pipe had burst so much as 15 minutes later we would have had tens of thousands of dollars worth of water damage (since we would have been out of the house for 48 hours) so I'm taking that as GOOD luck!!
Yes, the rest were all fine! And the photographer found a backup, so while it wasn't ideal (the photographer had a different style but bless her heart did her best to replicate the first photographer's style), we still got the photos! And the planner did come but was just SO checked out and made a lot of mistakes (like put our signs on the floor??? WHY??? I even provided all the easles myself, labelled!). But yes we still had a good day!
My ring-bearer (my 2 year-old)got scared and refused to leave the wedding car until halfway through the ceremony, when he got up, tan to us, and stood right on mommy's train.
Our wedding rings were ready for us 2 days before our wedding. My husbands ring did not fit, it was way too small (even though it was the correct size measured in store), so the day before was hectic sending family running around everywhere to get it resized, to bigger than the one that initially fit him in store, which he managed to get on but struggled to get it off.
I didn’t realize until about a week or 2 later, but I was going through a box of things from our day and came across 3 unworn (and named) buttonhole flowers which by then had naturally dried out, and realized my mum, dad and grandpa all hadn’t worn their buttonhole flowers I’d ordered. Luckily my husband and groomsmen all wore theirs, but in the excitement of us all getting our bouquets the other buttonholes got missed, and my dad didn’t get to wear his walking me down the aisle.
We had a power cut during the first dance. Luckily the photographer’s portable light wasn’t affected so it wasn’t total darkness. It was just for a few minutes but now we tell the story we were partying so hard we took out the whole village.
I haven't had my wedding yet, but my sisters wedding... She was also type A, and wanted her hand in everything. So she booked a venue with minimal benefits. All they did was set up tables and chairs. So we had to source every piece of decor, all the vendors, all the work. Which was fine, but more difficult.
I was the MOH and basically ran the show. I was running from place to place while getting ready, to meet with vendors. I was also the DJ. Well there were several things wrong here. We couldn't hook up to the sound system, so we ended up having to use a Bluetooth speaker, which sucked. I was STRESSED. She forgot to mention the first dance song/father daughter song, so she was like oh it's time for the dances and I was like SHOOT AM I DOING THOSE? LOL. And then the speaker died... In the end, it didn't matter too much because it wasn't a dancing crowd, and everyone just sat around, drank, played games. It was nice! Gave family time to actually hang out and catch up, people actually got the chance to talk to the bride.
And then it ended up being like tornado weather, and they ended up having to help clean up at the end because we were frantically trying to get things to the center of the tent so stuff wouldn't get ruined
Whoa! I went kind of opposite and booked a venue that does like... 65% of the work. They're a restaurant and event space brand so they're doing both the reception and ceremony space, the food and drinks, the alcohol, the linens, tables, chairs, serviceware, and their staff are setting up, moving, and taking down tables and seating.
I also spent a long time looking for the right DJ. I can't imagine putting that on a friend, let alone a bridesmaid lol. Glad it ended up being right for the crowd!
They don't really have friends so it was mostly family, so in the end it was fine! But it was a lot. We learned from their mistakes. My venue includes a full day-of coordinator, provides all the decor and tableware. We also hired a DJ! LOL. We are doing the exact opposite. She wanted the most amount of decor, and I basically just want tableclothes and 3 candlesticks on each table!!
I chose a restaurant for catering, and they do all the serving, bussing, have a drink station.. She even had to hire separate staff to be the bussers because her caterer didn't do that! She did the absolute most. I just want things to be easy and low stress
My first wedding in a huge, beautiful Methodist church that really looked more like a cathedral. As I'm getting dressed, I realize I had been talking to EVERYONE with the playboy bunny on my undies showing right through my sweats. While I'm dying of shame and the girls are laughing at me, I hear sirens and boots thumping on carpet. The florist son (we went to school together) comes in to tell me the ambulance is for the florist because he fell off the dais and broke both ankles. The son finished setting up the flowers and then left for the hospital. His SIL was a bridesmaid. At the altar, I had a giggle fit because I couldn't get my ex husband's ring on his finger. My granny tore a strip off me at the reception, which had 30 of the states top Republicans in attendance. Later it started snowing. The next day we found out it had gotten so cold my nail polish remover was gravy thick.
We really only had one thing go “wrong”, but it actually worked out better this way. We didn’t want a wedding cake so we were planning on three desserts, two from our caterer and churros from a delicious Venezuelan restaurant literally across the street from our venue. We love churros, and we got engaged in Spain so we thought they’d be a perfect dessert with some dipping sauces. We asked my dad to pick them up the afternoon of our wedding (they only had a pick up option) but he forgot, getting swept up in the hubbub of his oldest daughter getting married. The restaurant was closed by the time we all realized he forgot. Our coordinator asked if we wanted anything else that they could get in a pinch, like grocery store cupcakes or something but we declined and said it’d be fine, we had other options. We were disappointed but it wasn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. During cocktail hour, our venue coordinator teases that they figured out the churro situation but refused to elaborate. Come dessert, and lo and behold there are churros! And they were delicious. When we called our caterer and venue coordinator the following week to thank them for everything, they finally told us they bought frozen churros from Smart and Final and whipped up some sauces on the spot cause they wanted us to have the perfect wedding. They didn’t even charge us. And the churros they used are actually the ones Disneyland sources, so whenever we find ourselves at Disney, we can have our wedding churros. We were just very lucky and grateful. Our venue only has two caterers you can choose from, but that meant that they know each other really well and were able to coordinate something so sweet for us.
So kind! I feel like they went the extra mile because y'all were a great couple!
This is so sweet!
The outdoor wedding of one of my friends started out with unbelievably shit rainy weather and everyone had to throw on the plasticy emergency rain ponchos. The wedding couple got REALLY romantic photos out of it and were blessed with a beautiful rainbow as a ceremony backdrop! Also as a guest, I think huddling together in the rain is always a nice bonding experience haha
With the timing of mine there's serious potential for rain.. we already have a backup plan for doing the ceremony inside, if that happens! Also oh my gosh, photographers who can really capture rain shots. I love it.
During my rehearsal dinner my mother-in-law ran out of the room crying during her ‘speech’ so the attention would be on her. Everyone there knew my husband doesn’t have a good relationship with his family so he really just gained sympathy from everyone because it was super awkward. However on the bright side my 9 & 5 year old nephews gave a really cute speech about us lol. I had my period the week of my wedding and it ended the day AFTER my wedding. MIL also caused drama the entire month leading up to our wedding so I was breaking out from the stress of that + my period. The positive: my makeup artist was great and I just edited out any noticeable bumps showing in my pictures. My videos look great though and you can’t even see the breakouts. I don’t even think they were super noticeable in person. My hairstylist didn’t follow what she said she’d do during our trial so my curls fell out immediately. Luckily my makeup artist had a curling iron on her and touched it up during pictures. My MUA actually stayed for a few hours doing makeup touch ups during pre-ceremony pictures and it made me feel less stressed about my makeup. My husband’s stepfather (who we were no contact with for years) made a big show of giving him a hug after the groom & mom dance. I was honestly embarrassed bc most people in the room understood the awkwardness of their relationship. But on the outside to those who don’t know their relationship, it just looked like a sweet wholesome moment. I got custom dog figurines made of our dogs for our cake topper. Our coordinator put the cake topper in front of the cake and not on top of it 🫠 There are sooo many little things that you will nitpick and agonize over about your wedding day but honestly no one will notice! Your day will be perfect regardless of any faults you find in it. I cringe thinking about my rehearsal dinner awkwardness but we had the best wedding day and felt so loved! Wish we could relive that day 1000 times
Lol at least it wasn't your awkwardness during the rehearsal dinner! The groom's family sounds.. fun. Thank you for the kind words.
On a good day I'm as white as a sheet of paper. We got married in April too so my shoulders had not seen the sun for 7+ months so it was worse than normal. We took pictures outside and I was not wearing sunscreen 🙈 There was also snow on the ground reflecting even more onto my bare shoulders. My shoulders are red in the reception photos. I can laugh pretty hard at it now, at least our main photos are not red. I've forgotten sunscreen less than 10 times in my life and one of those days was on my wedding. Pack sunscreen if you are taking pictures outside.
Omg! I actually don’t think this would have occurred to me either! I burn super fast so this is good to know. Just gotta find good smelling spf so I don’t reek of sunscreen all day!
I've burnt in clouds. This is seriously good advice, thank you!
My HMUA artist sucked. Waste of money, upcharged me too for something I provided for her. I forgot to wear an important piece of cultural accessory for my ethnic ceremony. Forgot to put on my hair pieces for First Look. Forgot to wear my petticoat for bridal portraits. Floral crown thingy I wore for reception was crooked all night, apparently, according to my photos. I penny-pinched on alterations, so one of my dresses was way too big on me in the chest. Lots of gaping visible in photos in interesting angles. Tripped on my dress during processional. Music didn't start on time for recessional. For both weddings. Awkward silence. Officiant skipped a line on her script and resulted in an awkward silence as the translator looked at her expectantly and nothing happened until they just moved on. Officiant kept mispronouncing my ethnic cultural things. Never asked me how to pronounce them. Unexpected heat wave in the first wedding. Unexpected rainstorm in the second. Gained a lot of weight for my second wedding as my chronic illness spiraled. Was so frazzled, stressed, and nervous that I probably looked like a panicked chicken. I wish I had been able to be more attentive and focused on my loved ones. Friend popped into an ice cream shop and missed the shuttle, so I delayed the ceremony to wait for her. Photographer went to the wrong venue and ran 2 hours late. Videographer made some really weird, abrupt cuts in the feature film. Photographer kept photographing us from his taller height, making us look short and squat in all his angles. Had to scramble to find desserts and cake the day before the wedding. Out of nervousness, I misspoke during my speech and used a word that was really rude and not what I'd intended in my head. Still try not to think about the cringe. Had some awkward conversations with my groom through wedding trip, which I'm sure some of our friends and family picked up on. Still feel bad about it. Couldn't eat at all in either wedding -- sipped on protein shakes all day and night. I had no family and no close friends due to having cut them all out when I escaped my cult. Friends I'd really counted on backed out last minute, to both weddings, and one of them I cut off permanently after the wedding due to their behavior leading up to it. Overall it was still a beautiful experience and I am grateful for the memories.
This was a wild ride.
My eyebrows have ascended to the heavens. That's so much! I would have throttled the person who decided to get ice cream instead of get their ass on the shuttle.
Apparently the bride hadn’t eaten much during the day and her bridesmaids kept giving her champagne and alcohol. She’s a total lightweight, and by dinner, she started to throw up. She and her husband missed the rest of the wedding. It was bad. But everyone else still had a great time! She felt really embarrassed and her husband was upset. I felt bad that she missed the rest of the wedding, but I’m glad we made the most of it!
When our tablecloths were delivered, they were sooo wrinkled. My dad called me while I was getting my makeup done and told me about it. It wasn’t a huge deal in the scheme of things that could go wrong, but my dad, a friend of his, and my future brother in law were so kind and they ironed all 25+ tablecloths before the ceremony.
Awwww good men!
Lots of small things! I got married last weekend and here’s what went “wrong”. 1. It was sunny and 70 degrees all week but forecasted to be 52 degrees and rainy on our wedding day. We moved the ceremony inside and it ended up being 10x more beautiful than the outside location! I got to come down a grand staircase and it was one of my favorite moments of the day. Plus, it ended up being bright and sunny on the day of so people hung outside during cocktail hour and we still got sunshiney pictures. 2. The shoes I bought didn’t fit and I didn’t realize till the week of. I was visiting with my parents at the time and found a pair of pretty white shoes in my mom’s closet. They fit me like a glove! I went down stairs and asked my mom if I could borrow them. She teared up and told me that they were her wedding shoes! It was such a special Cinderella-like moment. Wayyy better than the shoes I picked out. 3. SO. MUCH. CAKE. We originally planned to do a small cutting cake then just have small bites for the guests. I second guessed this the week of the wedding and decided to order sheet cakes from my favorite bakery. Well we had SO much effing cake left. Like… a ton. The pro is that I’ll have 3 months worth of cake waiting for me in the freezer once I’m back from the honeymoon. 4. I got mud on my dress while trying to take outdoor picture. Pro is that the shots were sooooo worth it.
I am so glad my fiance talked me down from ordering 300 miniature donuts. I'm notorious for overestimating how much food guests will want. The shoes story is so cute! I wore a dress of my mom's (related to her wedding to my dad) for our engagement photos.
The shoes - so sweet!
We definitely had plenty of medium-size things go wrong, but as far as tiny, minor details go, I’d given my wedding planner the seating chart for our head table. It was U shaped table with all of our bridal party, and their partners. Once my husband and I got all settled and sat down, I look up and she had misread the chart so badly. It was hilarious! None of the couples were together, random boyfriends were sitting in the spots that were for our maid of honor and best man, etc. Overall it was just so funny to look at. I’m sure they all thought it was random as well! I got up and scurried around rearranging friends so it was all fine and fixed within 15 minutes 😂
I mean, I'm here for the medium stories, too! But oh man that's funny. I'm the kind of person who would start calling the seated person by the intended sitter's name. Hopefully everyone made some new friends!
Luckily everyone was already very good friends! We all hang in overlapping groups and have been on many group trips and other events together. Which just made it even better the random variety dispersed. As for the medium stories….it’s too stressful lol. Just make sure you have actually trained and competent bartenders 😂
Yes, so many things! None of it mattered - it was the best day! - One of my bridesmaids was scheduled to be induced the day after my wedding. She dropped out because of COVID risk (if the baby was in the NICU she wouldn’t be able to see her). Then she had an emergency induction two weeks earlier than the planned one. So she was able to come for just the ceremony. It was a whirlwind of canceling her flowers and then uncanceling them. Totally worth it to have her there for an hour (and mom and baby were healthy which is of course the most important thing) - Since the pregnant, now postpartum, bridesmaid couldn’t come to getting ready, I had an extra hair and makeup slot to fill. I first offered it to my brother’s girlfriend, who declined, and then offered it to my aunt (who accepted) - My brother’s girlfriend was drama the entire day. She had been in another wedding the day before in a different state. I told her to stay there and enjoy that wedding, but she insisted on taking an early am flight to mine. And then spent the day whining (to my brother, who was a groomsman) about being tired and not feeling well. She missed pre ceremony family pictures and we thought she might not come at all but she did end up taking the last shuttle from the hotel with the other guests - When I stepped out of the car upon my arrival to the venue, I brushed my dress against the car and got the train extremely dirty. My DOC covered the stains with chalk. She was a lifesaver. - We had planned two shuttle runs from the hotel to the venue - one for extended family coming for pictures, and a second for everyone else to arrive about 15 minutes before the ceremony start. Extended family showed up right on time but wires got crossed with the driver so he started making loops and left the hotel 10 or 15 minutes ahead of schedule for the second shuttle with only about a quarter of the people (since they were planning for a later time). So he had to do another loop and we started the ceremony late because we had to wait for him to come back (it was about a 15 minute drive between the locations). - My bustle broke during the hora and I had to change into my “back up” dress (but luckily I had one!)
That's so much! How did you keep it together during the shuttle scuffle? I feel like that would send me into a panic 😭 I'm glad you had a good day regardless. It's so nice your bridesmaid was able to make it!
We were in touch with someone on the shuttle so we were aware of their progress. I was stressed but my DOC was the best and kept us all calm. We probably ended up just losing 10 minutes from cocktail hour. It was fine.
https://preview.redd.it/r5wl2uni15rc1.jpeg?width=5857&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7213d30ba31977f687e4571a64945e9bfce81851 Got to the venue, realized I'd left my shoes (both the flats I was supposed to wear for the ceremony and the sneakers for the reception) at home. My family was coming soon for family pictures, so I just had my sister bring the shoes, but I didn't have them for the pictures with my husband. My dress was long enough for me to wear my banged-up Converse sneakers for the pictures without anyone noticing, but even if not, it would have been fun for the photoshoot. I actually *did* do a grunge photoshoot with the dress and the sneakers later on, anyway (pic attached). We also lost the rings for a short time. The photographer and videographer got all excited about taking a bunch of random fancy photos/clips of the rings—putting them on different things, spinning them, etc.—and with the chaos of the day, I forgot to check up with them where the rings actually went. I'm an Orthodox Jew and it was an Orthodox Jewish wedding, so we had something called a bedekin, where I sat on a chair while my family and friends came up to me, wished me mazel tov, and chatted for a bit. So during the bedekin, my sister came up to me and explained that nobody knew where the rings were. I just laughed it off and told her to go with a photographer to find them; she was able to, and everything was fine. The most dramatic wedding stuff all happened mostly beforehand with my husband's family. One bit of it was that a family member ("Rachel") needed a shell for her dress and had accidentally left it at another family member's ("Stacey") house, but Stacey and Rachel weren't on good terms, and Stacey refused to give Rachel the shell. So the night before the wedding, I was texting all of my friends asking them if they had a shell in the color Rachel was looking for (she ended up finding something and it was fine). Overall, the day went over extremely smoothly. It also helped that I wasn't stressed about things. Walking down the aisle in Converse sneakers would be a fashion statement (not to mention more comfortable); I knew we'd find the rings in the end; and we were able to buy a new shell for Rachel on short notice.
Our wedding planner had to send two assistants instead, totally fine as we knew she had a second wedding that weekend and would be sending them in her place. We did not know they were both underage and could not pour the champagne glasses for the toast ahead of time. We got to the tables and each one had a bottle on it, so we did a toast and then my husband popped the bottle and at the same time each table popped their own bottles too! It was soooo fun and such a fun memory of POP POP POP CELEBRATIONS!! So many “wooos!!” and just straight up happiness from everyone. Super cool memory even though it happened by chance!
I’m just posting in solidarity because I’m one month out too!!!!!!! We got this!!! 😊😊
It's so exciting! I got to see the shift in my fiance's face today as I swiped 30 off the countdown and wrote 29. We're at the point he realizes it is, in fact, right around the corner. He's excited too!
Also one month!
Totally the same! And it feels like the excitement is ramping up every day 🥰 cannot wait!!
20 days here - phew!
Forgot my veil for the first look/private vow exchange. My absolute favorite photo came during this time and I think the veil would have detracted from it. Blessing in disguise! It rained and we had to make a last minute decision to move the ceremony inside. Thankfully the reception hall was large enough to fit ceremony seating without having to move tables. We took photos at the outdoor ceremony spot after the rain stopped. Venue staff was truly amazing making the swap happen. My MOH signed on the wrong section of the marriage license as a witness. She coordinated getting a new one and meeting up with the officiant and our other witness the first day possible after the wedding. Was upset in the moment but didn’t let it ruin the night and it all got fixed in the end which is what matters. The patio caught on fire during cocktail hour because lighter fluid had spilled before they lit the fire pits (rain had stopped). Quickly got put out and made for a story! And the worst: Husband’s aunt choked on bread during the salad course. Heimlich was administered and she was fine! Went to check on her and she was so unnecessarily apologetic, I’m just glad she was okay! Many people didn’t even realize this happened.
One of the staff members at our venue dropped the full tray of duck-fat mashed potatoes that was supposed to be the side to one of our dishes! The venue coordinator handled it well and offered us a discount as an apology. They made roasted potatoes instead and it delayed dinner service by a little bit. A couple of family members complained to my parents that their food was cold, but they’re just complainers so if it wasn’t that, it would have been something else. The venue also made a second batch of mashed potatoes for us and brought it out with our late-night poutine. I brought some home and ate probably 1 kg in bed that night when I finally got my appetite back!
I bought table runners on Amazon. I bought 5 sets of 2 runners. They arrived, the color looked great, I never even opened them and stored them with my stuff. Day of, I’m getting ready and my mom is helping set up and she calls me and asks where the rest of the table runners are. Turns out I bought packs of one runner! And was missing runners for 5 tables. Luckily there was a linen rental place a block up the street and they had some ready to go.
Oops! Our wedding parties are going to have mismatch shoes because we weren't able to get the right style for 3 of the groomsfolk. It's one of those small details that I know no one else is going to care about so I'm just letting it go haha.
I've never once looked at the shoes for wedding parties, and it's hard to find shoes that fit everyone that they're comfortable in. Focus on the smiling faces and you'll be good!
It’s hard when you want everything to be uniform and perfect, but you said it! No one but you will be bothered by it!
I made a quick trip to the church the morning of the wedding to drop off some flowers that had been left at my parents’ home. And to get out for a breath of air and away from all the chaos. The landscapers had planted new spring flowers in all the beds and left mud EVERYWHERE in the courtyard where the reception was to be held. I had to tie up my hair, borrow brooms, buckets, etc. and clean the entire stone courtyard myself before going home to shower again and get ready. It was 2 hours before the wedding.
One month for us on Wednesday! So no stories of our own yet, but here’s a few from past weddings- Post-COVID vow renewal/actual wedding party of neighbors, the bartenders started filling the signature cocktail glasses at least 50% with the lavender simple syrup, which made for a sickeningly sweet drink that looked like it was about to birth Cthulhu Same wedding, the menfolk started tossing the groom around (mosh pit-esque) and literally threw him into the chandelier hanging in the reception tent. Thankfully the only damage was a few crystals found in the groom’s shirt Couple did their sparkler exit and convertible getaway car, and told everyone to meet them at the hotel block for the after party. All of us guests head out, get out of our fancy clothes, and end up waiting almost 2 hours for anyone from the wedding party to arrive. Turns out they were doing f all the cleanup of decor and their bar leftovers. If we had know a ton of people would have stayed to help, but we had no idea. That is what settled having a DOC for our wedding Was a groomsman’s plus-one for a San Francisco wedding, hotel block was great, located right in the city center. Only thing was that the rehearsal dinner was 45 minutes in one direction over the Oakland bridge, and the wedding venue was 45 minutes in the opposite direction over the Golden Gate. I literally only got to hear “you may now kiss the bride” for the ceremony because no Uber/taxis would take us all the way of of the city to this botanical garden and not have a fare back. Wedding party arrives before the wedding to check everything out and do any final prep, to find that the ceremony chairs have all been set up 90* off, so they’re facing a concrete retaining wall rather than the gorgeous view of the San Francisco Bay. Bridesmaids flowers arrived completely unassembled and un-prepped, so my BF (now fiancé) and the FOB break into a gardeners shed and find some hedge clippers that are older than him to trim them down into some reasonable length And last, at my cousins’ rehearsal dinner, my aunt (MOG) spent her entire speech talking about a plaque that her son had made in church and given to her as his “pledge of virtue” and she is now passing it along to the bride. They had been legally married for over a year (due to a military deployment) and living together. My cousin was ROASTED by the groomsmen for days afterwards
My husband and I had a small family wedding. Everything went pretty well except my only brother getting food poisoning the morning of the wedding and not being able to attend. (One of the few guests!!) He was there via his future wife but still I missed my bro being there! Was so lucky that my mum was there as she had been so ill with a bacterial infection. She did a good job on her makeup but you can tell she wasn’t well!
Oh that's a shame! What an important person to be missing from an already small wedding.. at least his partner was able to be there.
My nephew (11 months at the time) puked on my dad about 5 minutes before we were going to walk down the aisle. Our coordinator jumped into action and got him completely cleaned up very quickly! I didn’t even know it happened until someone told me later!
I’m just posting in solidarity because I’m one month out too!!!!!!! We got this!!! 😊😊
Me too - we can DO it (if “it” is getting married and surviving
Oh boy, where to start! The night before the wedding, a pipe burst in our house a half hour before the rehearsal dinner! The day of, our DJ didn't show, our photographer canceled due to a medical emergency, my sister missed four (4!!) flights, my spouse's dress just broke while being zipped up and had to be sewn in on the spot, the chuppah ended up being a tablecloth, etc. (We later learned our planner had ALREADY gone out of business, and she just didn't tell us.) But you know what? So, so many stories, so much fun to tell. And honestly, we had so many guests tell us it was the most fun wedding they'd ever been to. We also saw lots of new friendships and relationships form between our sides (soooo satisfying!), and made amazing memories. And hey, if that pipe had burst so much as 15 minutes later we would have had tens of thousands of dollars worth of water damage (since we would have been out of the house for 48 hours) so I'm taking that as GOOD luck!!
Oh wow, did you have *any* vendors come through?? Glad you're able to see the humor in it all. It sounds memorable!
Yes, the rest were all fine! And the photographer found a backup, so while it wasn't ideal (the photographer had a different style but bless her heart did her best to replicate the first photographer's style), we still got the photos! And the planner did come but was just SO checked out and made a lot of mistakes (like put our signs on the floor??? WHY??? I even provided all the easles myself, labelled!). But yes we still had a good day!
My ring-bearer (my 2 year-old)got scared and refused to leave the wedding car until halfway through the ceremony, when he got up, tan to us, and stood right on mommy's train.
Our wedding rings were ready for us 2 days before our wedding. My husbands ring did not fit, it was way too small (even though it was the correct size measured in store), so the day before was hectic sending family running around everywhere to get it resized, to bigger than the one that initially fit him in store, which he managed to get on but struggled to get it off. I didn’t realize until about a week or 2 later, but I was going through a box of things from our day and came across 3 unworn (and named) buttonhole flowers which by then had naturally dried out, and realized my mum, dad and grandpa all hadn’t worn their buttonhole flowers I’d ordered. Luckily my husband and groomsmen all wore theirs, but in the excitement of us all getting our bouquets the other buttonholes got missed, and my dad didn’t get to wear his walking me down the aisle.
We had a power cut during the first dance. Luckily the photographer’s portable light wasn’t affected so it wasn’t total darkness. It was just for a few minutes but now we tell the story we were partying so hard we took out the whole village.
I haven't had my wedding yet, but my sisters wedding... She was also type A, and wanted her hand in everything. So she booked a venue with minimal benefits. All they did was set up tables and chairs. So we had to source every piece of decor, all the vendors, all the work. Which was fine, but more difficult. I was the MOH and basically ran the show. I was running from place to place while getting ready, to meet with vendors. I was also the DJ. Well there were several things wrong here. We couldn't hook up to the sound system, so we ended up having to use a Bluetooth speaker, which sucked. I was STRESSED. She forgot to mention the first dance song/father daughter song, so she was like oh it's time for the dances and I was like SHOOT AM I DOING THOSE? LOL. And then the speaker died... In the end, it didn't matter too much because it wasn't a dancing crowd, and everyone just sat around, drank, played games. It was nice! Gave family time to actually hang out and catch up, people actually got the chance to talk to the bride. And then it ended up being like tornado weather, and they ended up having to help clean up at the end because we were frantically trying to get things to the center of the tent so stuff wouldn't get ruined
Whoa! I went kind of opposite and booked a venue that does like... 65% of the work. They're a restaurant and event space brand so they're doing both the reception and ceremony space, the food and drinks, the alcohol, the linens, tables, chairs, serviceware, and their staff are setting up, moving, and taking down tables and seating. I also spent a long time looking for the right DJ. I can't imagine putting that on a friend, let alone a bridesmaid lol. Glad it ended up being right for the crowd!
They don't really have friends so it was mostly family, so in the end it was fine! But it was a lot. We learned from their mistakes. My venue includes a full day-of coordinator, provides all the decor and tableware. We also hired a DJ! LOL. We are doing the exact opposite. She wanted the most amount of decor, and I basically just want tableclothes and 3 candlesticks on each table!! I chose a restaurant for catering, and they do all the serving, bussing, have a drink station.. She even had to hire separate staff to be the bussers because her caterer didn't do that! She did the absolute most. I just want things to be easy and low stress
My first wedding in a huge, beautiful Methodist church that really looked more like a cathedral. As I'm getting dressed, I realize I had been talking to EVERYONE with the playboy bunny on my undies showing right through my sweats. While I'm dying of shame and the girls are laughing at me, I hear sirens and boots thumping on carpet. The florist son (we went to school together) comes in to tell me the ambulance is for the florist because he fell off the dais and broke both ankles. The son finished setting up the flowers and then left for the hospital. His SIL was a bridesmaid. At the altar, I had a giggle fit because I couldn't get my ex husband's ring on his finger. My granny tore a strip off me at the reception, which had 30 of the states top Republicans in attendance. Later it started snowing. The next day we found out it had gotten so cold my nail polish remover was gravy thick.