Things that Go Wrong

A lot of brides consider a wedding day coordinator and then shrug off the idea because they can ask their sister, aunt, or bridesmaid to set up the place cards and toasting flutes. While setting up the ceremony and reception are things that are included in our day-of coordination package, we also specialize in troubleshooting your big day (we call this 'event management'). To give you an idea of the types of mishaps we've handled, here's a short list of things we've seen go wrong at weddings:

* Cake was the wrong design
Can't do much about this one 20 minutes before the reception begins but we helped the bride get some money back afterwards.

* Dad was in the bathroom when the DJ announces his toast
The DJ told us he'd wait for our cue and then announced the toast anyway. We've also seen a similar incident with the bride and the cake cutting.

* Bride's bustle got ripped out (this one is popular!)
This one happens ALL the time!

* Limousine didn't show
Most of the time they're just late or get lost. In this case on a holiday weekend, we arranged for two town cars instead of a limousine to arrive before the ceremony finished.

* Caterer ran out of food
Yes...this unfortunately happened once. The bride ordered enough for 400, there were 325 guests, and they still ran out of food.

* 30 extra guests showed up
This was an extreme case but we see uninvited guests all the time (especially at ethnic weddings where 'the more the merrier' is the general rule).

* Marriage license was left at home
Our assistant drove to their house and found it before the officiant had to leave.

* Wedding rings were left at home
The bride & groom exchanged their grandparents' wedding rings instead so they could begin the ceremony on time.

* Florist was one bouquet short
We made them turn around and bring us another.

* Unity candle drips and starts a fire
Yep, this one happened too. We couldn't do much about it during the ceremony but now we make sure that whatever's under your candle isn't flammable!

We can re-confirm your vendors over and over and double check the details again and again but ultimately there will be unexpected problems on the wedding day. More often than not they're small issues that only you will notice. At the same time, why worry yourself with the details when we can troubleshoot your big day for you?Day-of Coordination starts at $945 and includes vendor confirmation, rehearsal direction, the entire wedding day, and much more. Check out our website for more info.

To the other wedding planners out there (I know you're out there), what common mishaps do you see at your weddings?