t’s finally here! Your big day. The day you’ve been planning for a year now. Yes! But wait, did I just feel a drop of rain? Don’t panic. Here are some unexpected things that may happen on your wedding day and some tricks to overcoming them.
Rain, Snow, Heat…Unexpected Weather
Even if your wedding is indoors, you still have to get from the car to the church, the church to the car, the car to the reception and so on. This one is a bit easier than an outdoor wedding and has a quick solution. Umbrellas! Have your wedding party or event coordinator secure some large golf umbrellas to get the entire wedding party in and out quickly while keeping them dry. You could also have ushers or designated people escorting guests from their vehicles to the building as well. The umbrellas will fight off rain, snow and an extreme heat wave.
For an outdoor wedding, things get a little trickier but there should be some preplanning involved to accommodate. Ask your venue what options are available ahead of time. Do they have an indoor area that will accommodate all of your guests? If so, make sure you go through the seating arrangements for this area as well so it is seamless on your wedding day. Make sure you have a backup plan when planning an outdoor wedding.
If you are planning a wedding in a specific region or during a time where there is a possibility of more severe weather (tsunami, hurricane, tornadoes) think about purchasing insurance to cover your costs. Event insurance will protect you from losing all the money you spent on your vendors and the venue itself.
Vendors are not on time or worse, don’t show up!
Oh what a disaster this could be, especially if it’s the caterer! Avoid this if you can by double and triple checking all the details with each of your vendors the week of the wedding. If they aren’t on time, it’s not the end of the world. A few things may need to be moved around but between your wedding party, the event coordinator and other friends and family, things can get back on track quickly. In most cases, things will typically get back on track without you even knowing.
In the worst case scenario, one of your vendors doesn’t show up at all. The first place to go is social media. Everyone is online these days and word will travel quickly, especially the day of your wedding. There is a good chance someone will step in and help. If not, call any vendors you didn’t hire and see if they can help. As they are already in the industry, they have potentially already dealt with this and can swoop in and help or recommend another vendor.
After your wedding, go over your contract to see what the ramifications are if a vendor fails to provide the services they promised. Pursue any action needed to recoup lost funds.
Guests RSVP but are a No-Show
Emergencies are one thing, but a guest who RSVP’d and then pulled a no show with no good reason is just plain rude. At the very least they owe you the cost of their plate since it is something you paid for in advance and potentially the cost of their +1. All hurt feelings aside, preplan for things such as this with your venue or vendors. Discuss accommodations for a smaller headcount and what that would mean for seating, food, cost etc. Discuss with your problem guests ahead of time too. If you have some flaky family members or people who are habitually late to everything, have the chat beforehand to try and avoid any guest disasters on your big day.
Wedding Crashers
How do we deal with uninvited guests? It happens. Whether it’s your cousin bringing her 3 kids when it is an adult only reception, your friend has a +1 you’ve never met and was not on the RSVP or a few strangers wandering into your cocktail hour, all of this can have an impact on your reception. Try to handle without any disruption. The great part of having a wedding coordinator is they can work with the caterer or venue to accommodate for the extra headcount. For any guests who are strangers to both the bride and groom’s families, someone can ask the venue to escort them out.
Overall, be discreet and don’t overreact. While it may irritate you, it’s something that can easily be handled and is an unnecessary stress you don’t need. Your coordinator, friends and family can handle this.
It’s your wedding day and things come up. Not everything always goes as planned so embrace the unexpected and don’t get caught up in the little things that aren’t going perfectly. Try to savour every moment of your day!