You might think wedding blunders are a just a thing in the movies, but no blunders happen everywhere even if you’ve planned everything on point.
Want proof? Here’s what we got for you. Last week, I emailed well-known wedding planners across the country with a simple question in mind:
“"What is your worst wedding blunder experience and how did you manage to get through it?"
Read on to find out their answers:
“One of the worst wedding blunder was when the best man forgot the rings at the hotel. He realized this about 5 minutes before the procession began . Since it was a church wedding, we could not postpone it so we just gave him the fake rings we have in our emergency kit. We told the Priest what had happened and saw on the time line that since the ring ceremony was at the end of the ceremony, we would have time to get the rings. I had one of the assistant rush to the hotel to get the rings and was back in time to give it to the Best Man before the ring ceremony. All worked out and the couple had no idea what had happened! “
Christine Ong Forsythe | Owner. Founder .Lead Wedding Planner | Lavish Weddings
“We had a bridesmaid’s long dress catch on fire when she unknowingly backed up into a candle during the ceremony. As a wedding planner, you are always on high alert during a wedding… I smelled smoke from the back of the ceremony site, looked up at the front and saw that her dress was on fire. The candle was smoldering a hole right through it! I don’t know how many guests saw this happening, but we had to do something immediately before she went up in flames. We quickly sent one of our girls with a cup of water up behind the bridesmaid and splashed it with some water before she even noticed she was on fire. The water scared her more than anything because she didn’t realize what was happening. She only let out a little gasp and the ceremony continued. After the ceremony, I first thought we might be able to stitch the hole but quickly realized it was a bit of a bigger problem. We ended up making it a tea length dress - I just cut the bottom right off. Each of the bridesmaids dresses were different so it didn’t make a huge impact and most of the bridesmaids photos had already been taken. #savedtheday.”
Krystel Tien | Wedding Planner | Couture Events
“My initial reaction to your question was when I lost the bride's wedding ring 45 minutes prior to the ceremony! That feeling of panic and distress returns right away when this memory returns. I was at the church setting up. In standard fashion, I take the wedding bands from the maid of honor to then tie to the ring bearer's pillow. The ring bearer had not arrived, yet, so I put the rings in my pants pocket. Unfortunately, they were not in a ring box. I continue setup & greet the wedding party, family, guests, etc... As I'm walking around, I feel inside my pocket for the rings (like I had a few times already). One Was Missing. I'm surrounded by people close to the bride. There is no way I can appear as if there is an issue even though I wanted to crawl into a hole & disappear. We are supposed to line up for the ceremony in 10 minutes. I have to get the guests seated. There is so much to do & now I have to calmly search for the RING?! It could be anywhere in the parking lot, in the lawn, inside the chapel! Like the angel that she is, my mother arrived to bring items for the post-ceremony limo ride (free labor) as I'm scouring the property incognito. I told her the situation & she immediately went to town looking for the said ring while I lined up the wedding party for the processional. After a few minutes, my mom walks up to me with the ring. I melted. The timing was perfect. She is a miracle worker. It was also the only time she's ever attended one of my events. The rest of the day was absolutely perfect & the bride & groom never found out. Thank you, Mom!”
Theresa Reilley | Wedding Planner | Hustle & Bustle
“One wedding the floral was not ready. As in- not ready (panic time!) I had to send one of my assistants to help this florist (who I did not recommend) finish the flowers.
We had a dog escape a wedding in Palm Springs. We had to jog around the large hotel to not only find the dog but get the dog back safely to the room. We did not let the dog out though.
We had a van carrying a cake get into an accident. They had to remake the entire cake and we stalled the cake cutting etc. for the bride- she had no idea and was happy as a clam.”
Victoria Canada | Wedding and Events Stylist, Coordinator and Planner | Victoria Canada Weddings and Events
“A hot day in September for a wedding. The wedding party bus shows up with no AC, so I sent someone from my team out to the local store to buy as many mini-fans as she could find, she came back with the whole rack- ha! But the wedding party (about 20 people) were so elated as they could carry them around and use them inside at the venue during pics as well, which was old & historic and thus had no AC either. “
Paige Jensen | Event & Wedding Coordinator | Bliss Events
“Paper goods are the death of me, seriously. One time we printed the wrong date on the Save the Dates, we sent out to over 300 guests. But, don't worry, we sent out another save the date with the wrong year to make up for it. Yep, genius. Lucky for us, we have the sweetest clients ever and were able to get everything straightened out with a lot of grace from them and a wedding website we invited the guests to check out. Whew! Rest assured we have a paper goods info checklist we use now for all of our clients!”
Sarah Chancey | Wedding Planner, Educator, Creative Director | Chancey Charm
“The mother of the bride fell down in the gravel parking lot right before her daughter was about to walk down the aisle. She had a huge gash on her leg and heavily bled through the front of her champagne colored dress. Thankfully I pulled out some heavy duty stain remover from my "emergency bridal kit" and was able to get the stain out in a matter of minutes.”
Christina Alibrandi | NYC-based wedding coordinator
“We always connect with our vendors the month, then the week before the wedding, often times we are in contact several times in the final planning. One wedding officiant did not return our calls, nor email. Short of stalking him in his home, we had to trust the contract and previous conversation he had with the bride. The wedding happened on a Friday night in summer. 30 minutes before the ceremony the officiant was nowhere to be seen, and yet again avoiding our calls. My business partner and I decided it was time to let our clients now there’d be a change of plans. We whipped out our phones, and within 15 minutes we had become ordained ministers online. We had seen enough weddings to pull this off?! As my biz partner walked over to the bride to share the news, the officiant ran up to the ceremony site. He had been stuck in traffic, and his phone had been on the fritz. However, he conducted the ceremony and now in time of desperation we can conduct the ceremony ourselves. “
Jenny Minns | Owner | Wedding Planner | Designer | Luxe Events
Amazing right?
These ladies definitely embody grace under pressure!
If you’re a wedding planner and have a story worth telling, I’d love to hear about it. Post your story in the comments section below and I’ll add it to this post!