September 15, 2020 Kelly Lamb

I Can Do This! (A true story of a do-it-yourself bride)

This bride was a talented professional working in New York City planning her perfect day with her perfect man.  Who needs a wedding planner when she had her mom, grandma, cousin, auntie, sister, bestie and the rest of her family to help, right?  Easy-peasy.  She concentrated on finding her stunning, satin wedding dress, perfect for the Christmas wedding she had always dreamed about. All she had to do was book the reception venue and church, order the flowers, food, cake and finally, the invitations.  Done.  (And they pay people to do this?)  The wedding was quickly approaching, everyone was so excited!  She had everything lined up.  Let’s do this!

And the story begins … what could wrong?

Here is the wedding weekend breakdown:

  1. Night before the wedding – The groom drives over an hour to his family’s home during the worst blizzard in the state’s history. The bride, cries herself to sleep thinking the groom was in a car accident because of the lack of cell reception due to a blizzard which left her unable to reach him. Groom was fine.
  2. Maid of Honor – “Sorry sis, I can’t make the wedding. I’m in labor”
  3. Dressmaker decided to iron a bridesmaid’s red velvet dress, leaving an iron spot smack dab in the middle of the dress.
  4. Limo broke down in the snow.
  5. Got to the church and with no heat on, everyone was left freezing. The wedding party then looked dead in photos due to the ice-cold venue which left little to no blood flow throughout their bodies. Yikes!
  6. Photographer’s camera broke. With no backup, the sister-in-law with little to no photography experience was the one capturing these lifelong memories on a pocket camera.
  7. The officiant called the bride by the wrong name the entire ceremony.
  8. The officiant forgot to have Bride say her vows. The mother of the bride then yelled out from the front pew “What about ‘brides” vows?!”
  9. The bride fails to remove her veil from her face while blowing out the eternity candle. The groom, officiant and reader jump to her rescue as the flame nearly starts the veil and bride beneath it, on fire.
  10. While the groom was getting a Band-Aid from cutting his finger at the reception, the bride was standing alone on the dancefloor while the music for their first dance began playing.
  11. You’re not gonna believe this one. While the wedding party and guests were wondering why the food was taking so long, the chef (only chef) was on the kitchen floor, dead. I repeat, dead. Luckily, the mother of the bride, grandma and bridesmaids were able to keep the happy couple busy while all hell broke loose in the kitchen.

This can’t possibly be true.  Well, yes it can because it was MY WEDDING!  Thirty-one years ago, this all happened!  I had everything planned, my family helped me workout all the details and nothing could go wrong. So how did it? Because sh** happens and you need someone there to put out those fires. How could I, a current wedding planner have helped me, a then clueless bride, before I even knew about wedding planners?

  1. Tell the groom to stay local.
  2. Tell the bride not to choose a maid of honor so clearly due to give birth so close to the date.
  3. Tell the bride to have a professional make and prepare the dresses for the day.
  4. Have a backup ride planned. Luckily this limo driver was a cousin of the bride, so he turned the world upside down to get there.
  5. A wedding planner would have been at the church before the event and noticed the heat wasn’t on and would have made sure it was warm for arriving guests.
  6. Reviewed the contract of the photographer to be sure they carry multiple cameras and backups.
  7. Check with officiant before ceremony to review correct names.
  8. Check with officiant to review ceremony script before wedding day.
  9. Advise the bride not to blow out eternity candle before lifting veil.
  10. Advise band that there would be a slight delay in the timeline due to groom’s situation.
  11. Hire a catering company that has backup plans in the event of an emergency.

Now, all of this probably won’t happen to you.  But, a wedding planner has the professional expertise to know what to look for in contracts, what backup plans to have in place and what advice to give the bridal party and guests to make sure that any last minute situations are addressed or better yet, avoided with proper anticipation and planning. I know how important this day is and it is with my dedication, hard work and careful planning that I will make sure your special day is just how you’ve always imagined it! I will keep that chef alive and that dress untouched by fire if it’s the last thing I do! ?