- WEDDING PARTY NO-SHOWS – you intend having five bridesmaids and five groomsmen to make everything equal. That’s a great number! Quite unfortunate, without informing you, one of the bridal party members backs out. That leaves you to have an odd number of attendants. It is not compulsory to have an even number, either. If it’s not too late, you can ask another person to replace. Else, just go ahead with the wedding. Afterwards, find out from the lady or guy who dropped out why he/she did so. Let them know how much you missed their participation at the wedding. However, when asking someone to be your bridesmaid or groomsman, ensure you are not being pushy. He/she might not like to be a part of your wedding attendant, really.
- ATTIRE FLOP – the bride walks down the aisle with worn out zipper or a ripped dress. You should have dress fittings before you have your dress finally delivered to avoid a wardrobe failure. When going for dress fittings, take along your wedding day lingerie and shoes. One of the duties of your MOH is to carry a small emergency kit on the day which contains, among several things, a small sewing kit. You can have a dress rehearsal at home a couple of days before the D-day. If, however, your dress rips open at the seam or your b**bs pop out of a strapless dress, just walk away quickly and laugh it off.
- STAINED DRESS – I am not talking menstrual, please; you should consult your physician in advance to regulate your period. How about getting coffee in your white or ivory gown while having breakfast before the ceremony. Be careful. As a rule, do not wear the dress until you have had breakfast. Moreover, consult your dry cleaner for emergency dry cleaning service in case you get stained with wine or food at the reception. Anyway, a stain gets to add some colour to your dress. Lol
- MISPLACED WEDDING RINGS – one job of the Best Man on that day is to keep the rings till the time of the exchange of rings. If your ring bearer or little groom is a little older, he can carry the rings instead. To prevent the wedding rings from being misplaced, let the Chief Groomsman keep it in the inner pocket of his tuxedo. Groom, if your friend is a naturally careless person, hold the rings yourself. You do not want to borrow the Pastor’s wedding ring to be used at the exchange of rings at the last minute. Borrow your parents’ rings to be blessed as yours during the ceremony then get another set of rings later.
- SEAT SCRAMBLE–your guests get to the ceremony site or reception and there is not enough space! It’s likely to occur at the reception, though. This may occur even when you have printed out few wedding invitation cards or invited only a few by word of mouth. Your classmate from primary school you didn't invite showed up because you invited your mutual friend. Though your guest list count tallies with the seating capacity of the hall, let tents beoutside for those who can’t get a seat inside the venue.
- A LONG, BORING SPEECH/SERMON – let’s face it! Some Pastors can be so boring and unconscious of time. It would be nice to let the officiant know that you have guests who travelled down from far away and who would be returning the same day. “Sir, can you preach a powerful sermon for just thirty minutes?” Trust me, if the sermon exceeds thirty to forty-five minutes, your guests will lose concentration. It’s a wedding not a church teaching service, please. In addition, give the Chairman of the reception, the Master of Ceremony, Best Man or whoever is giving a speech that day, a time frame. Guests would want to leave as soon as they have eaten.
- MIGRAINE – what happens if you wake up with extremely bad headache on the wedding day, or the headache starts during the event? Included in the emergency kit the MOH would carry are pain relievers. Make sure you consult your physician to know the prescription that would work for you and purchase from reputable pharmacies. As precautionary measures, eat breakfast on the wedding day. Due to the stress associated with planning weddings, take out time to relax during the planning process. Do whatever you would normally do to relieve stress regularly while planning.
- A COLLAPSING OR MELTING CAKE – did you assign a relative to pick up your seven tiered butter crème cake from the baker? Why in God’s heaven will you do that? Delivery costs you would pay your baker for home delivery service won’t be as much as the grief of a toppled over cake handled by a novice like your cousin. If you have to pay the baker to deliver at the venue and stay around till after the cutting of the cake, please pay! Have your cake kept in a cool place. Also, research into reputable bakers who can deliver ‘world class service’.
- INSUFFICIENT FOOD & DRINKS – you communicated the final guest count to the caterer on time, who in turn, provided food & drinks for the same number of people. Unfortunately, your soon-to-removed cousin brought his latest catch and four other drunken guys, each with their flings. An uninvited old family friend showed up with their eight kids and two nannies. Bottom line, guests you never planned for showed up. Due to the part of the world you are from, dear Nigerian couple, plan for extras. If you are expecting 250 guests, book 300 plates of food. Trust me! The food can never waste, as long as we have the poor among us.
- ACTS OF GOD – if you are using a wedding planner, you might have come across this phrase when signing the planner contract. Acts of God such as storms and earthquakes cannot be prevented; you can only proffer a solution after it has happened. When using a hall and rain falls heavily on the day, you may likely have to worry about flooding or erosion. Before signing the dotted lines with the facility manager, ask what their back up plans are in case of such natural/man-made disasters like flooding. Do not sign a contract if you are not satisfied.
- EVERYTHING GOES WRONG – you woke up late feeling tired, there was traffic on your way to church, the Minister or your partner arrived late, the Best Man forgot the wedding rings at home, it rained cat and dog, you tripped in your shoes…Anything can go wrong on the day though you have hired a professional wedding coordinator. Sometimes, things just don’t go perfectly as we want, so we get angry. There is however a master planner who sees the end from the beginning. God isn’t a magician and cannot be bribed or cajoled like our human counterparts, but we can pray to God to perfect our big day and make everything work in our favour, everything! So, pray to God and trust Him to make your day run like clockwork.
If
you (or someone you know) have experienced a disaster of some sort on your
wedding day, please share your experience with others in the ‘Have your Say’
section below.
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