I will be sharing to you some of the worst things that happened in my weddings so you can learn from my first hand experience on what really happens in actual weddings and avoid repeating such mistakes.
1. Pouring Rain during the wedding ceremonial rites. Garden and outdoor weddings are always dreamy especially if you set the ceremony around sunset. But the down side of an outdoor wedding is the weather, no doubt. And no amount of hoping and praying can appease an incoming thunderstorm. In one of my weddings, the ceremony was ongoing when the threat became real. Strong rain poured so hard that we had to evacuate the vicinity immediately. Red carpet was soaked wet, chairs and decorations were also very much wet. Nonetheless, the pastor was very calm and enthusiastic still. He ensured everyone that the rain will eventually stop and we will continue with the ceremony. He was right all along. After a few minutes, about 30 minutes, the rain stopped and we all went back to the altar. Some guests opted to stay on the covered area. The bride's gown was dirty on the edges but somehow, their wedding was one of the happiest and festive weddings I've had despite the heavy downpour.
Another dress disaster happened to my wedding sometime in the year 2016. The family of the bride dutifully obliged for their scheduled fittings. But the horror happened when on the wedding day, the dresses were too lose, or with damaged zipper or too small. As wedding coordinators, we always brought with us our sewing kit every event and with basic sewing skills, my assistants manage to repair the dresses on the spot.
4. Misplaced Marriage Document. Another unforgettable moments in my wedding career were the time when my friend got married in one of the mountains near Davao. We were close friends so the bride asked us to decorate her wedding venue, make her bouquet and entourage flowers and also coordinate the event. We were a staff of 3 doing all the decors, flowers and also the coordination. We were exhausted to death since we started in the morning and finished the next morning just in time for the supposed dawn wedding. On the morning of the wedding, we discovered that some of the wedding essentials were left in the venue, which was about 20 minutes away from the church. The photographer did not endorse back to us the essentials used for photography the night before and we were distracted so much in the decorations since there were only 3 of us working. Worse, the bride also forgot to endorse to us the marriage contract ahead of time before everyone got busy. The wedding was delayed by an hour because of these forgotten things. I felt so horrible about my performance this wedding. Surely, under staffing causes a lot of mistakes.
6. Bridal Car met an accident (but without the bride in it). There was a wedding when I rode the bridal car en route to the hotel where the bride was preparing for the wedding later that day. It was still early in the morning so I was sure we could be there on time. To my disbelief, a motorcycle bumped into the side of the bridal car causing a road accident. It needed some police involvement because the car was still under insurance. There were a lot of paperworks. Thankfully, the driver of the car and his nephew found a way to still deliver the bridal car just on time for the bride to go the venue. The car had a new tire and a small dent on the side that wasn't so obvious.
Here are the 7 Worst Things I could never forget that ACTUALLY happened during the wedding day of some of my dear brides and grooms:
1. Pouring Rain during the wedding ceremonial rites. Garden and outdoor weddings are always dreamy especially if you set the ceremony around sunset. But the down side of an outdoor wedding is the weather, no doubt. And no amount of hoping and praying can appease an incoming thunderstorm. In one of my weddings, the ceremony was ongoing when the threat became real. Strong rain poured so hard that we had to evacuate the vicinity immediately. Red carpet was soaked wet, chairs and decorations were also very much wet. Nonetheless, the pastor was very calm and enthusiastic still. He ensured everyone that the rain will eventually stop and we will continue with the ceremony. He was right all along. After a few minutes, about 30 minutes, the rain stopped and we all went back to the altar. Some guests opted to stay on the covered area. The bride's gown was dirty on the edges but somehow, their wedding was one of the happiest and festive weddings I've had despite the heavy downpour.
2. Unfinished gown, dress replacement last minute, dress disasters. The wedding dress is every bride's prized possession at least during her wedding day. It is the topmost priority to finish on time. But during one of my weddings, the bride happened to be one of my dearest friends, her bridal gown was left unfinished on the morning of the wedding. There were missing lace patches on the skirt and edges. The designer could not be found along with her assistants. The bride cried and my heart broke for her. The assistants and the designer arrived 2 hours before the scheduled time for the ceremony and immediately did their jobs. Thankfully, when the bride saw the improvement, she agreed to wear her gown once more.
Another dress disaster happened to my wedding sometime in the year 2016. The family of the bride dutifully obliged for their scheduled fittings. But the horror happened when on the wedding day, the dresses were too lose, or with damaged zipper or too small. As wedding coordinators, we always brought with us our sewing kit every event and with basic sewing skills, my assistants manage to repair the dresses on the spot.
The most unforgettable dress disaster I ever encountered was the wedding with a very meticulous mother of the groom. She didn't like the color of one of the bridesmaid dresses and asked the seamstress to make another one with the color she preferred. It was a holy friday, most stores were closed on that day and the wedding was to be held the next day. The seamstress was all around the city looking for the fabric and doing it over time. But thankfully again, the seamstress managed to finish the gown last minute!
3. Collapsing, crumbling cake. We had a mountain wedding once. The place was very far from the city. Me and my team were hired for decorations, flowers and coordination with hosting only. The couple planned the entire wedding themselves. About 3 hours before the scheduled ceremony, the wedding cake arrived carried by the groom's mother. When they reached the place, they opened the cake and it was a horrendous sight to behold. The 2-layer fondant cake crumbled into pieces! The groom went to find the nearest cake shop they could find. Truly enough, he found a replacement wedding cake just in time.
There was also one time, a 3- layer cake sort of melted to its side. The reception was held in a Durian farm in Tupi South Cotabato and that day was humid. The boiled icing cake slowly slid sideways but just in time to reach the cake slicing ceremony. Whew!
4. Misplaced Marriage Document. Another unforgettable moments in my wedding career were the time when my friend got married in one of the mountains near Davao. We were close friends so the bride asked us to decorate her wedding venue, make her bouquet and entourage flowers and also coordinate the event. We were a staff of 3 doing all the decors, flowers and also the coordination. We were exhausted to death since we started in the morning and finished the next morning just in time for the supposed dawn wedding. On the morning of the wedding, we discovered that some of the wedding essentials were left in the venue, which was about 20 minutes away from the church. The photographer did not endorse back to us the essentials used for photography the night before and we were distracted so much in the decorations since there were only 3 of us working. Worse, the bride also forgot to endorse to us the marriage contract ahead of time before everyone got busy. The wedding was delayed by an hour because of these forgotten things. I felt so horrible about my performance this wedding. Surely, under staffing causes a lot of mistakes.
5. Double Booking of Suppliers. During my sister's wedding, it was the month of December. During this month, the events industry is probably the busiest of all during this month due to high demand. There were about 9 bridesmaids so we hired the best makeup artist we knew along with his assistants. To my horror, during the wedding day, the assistants accepted other booking without the knowledge of their boss. They set my sister's hair and suddenly left! The main makeup artist did his job as best as he could to finish hair and makeup of all the bridesmaids, mother of the bride, and me! (The maid of honor!) He was so calm under a lot of pressure. I was about to crack under pressure too but held all the my rage inside.
There was also a time when the restaurant venue had double events booked in one day. The decorators had to literally transform into supermen to finish the decors on time before the guests arrived.
6. Bridal Car met an accident (but without the bride in it). There was a wedding when I rode the bridal car en route to the hotel where the bride was preparing for the wedding later that day. It was still early in the morning so I was sure we could be there on time. To my disbelief, a motorcycle bumped into the side of the bridal car causing a road accident. It needed some police involvement because the car was still under insurance. There were a lot of paperworks. Thankfully, the driver of the car and his nephew found a way to still deliver the bridal car just on time for the bride to go the venue. The car had a new tire and a small dent on the side that wasn't so obvious.
On the same wedding still, when the time had come for the ceremony to start, I was reprimanded by the pastor in front of the entire working crew before the wedding ceremony started because of lacking elements that he would have wanted included in the venue. I trusted the decorators got all the instructions as he was always nodding during our previous meetings. It turned out that he just left his crew to do whatever design they could think of and did not consider the bride's requests and they all left at the time of the ceremony was about to start. I received all the rage of the pastor that time. I understood his sentiments but I doubt if he understood my stone-cold reaction after his ranting to my face! A few days after the ceremony, the couple were ready to file a lawsuit to the decorators.
7. Missing jewelry, missing money, missing valuables. When I plan weddings, I make sure I have been working with the wedding working crew and that I can vouch for their honesty. I know that they can be trusted. In one of my weddings, we were hired as decorators, on-the-day coordinators and hosting only. The bride and groom did all the planning and booking. On the day of the wedding, the bride was horrified to learn that some of her cash envelopes intended to pay the suppliers were already empty. We had some suspicions but the bride wanted a peaceful wedding night so she just tried to shrug it off.
Another theft incident was during one of my events in South Cotabato. The gold engagement ring of the bride was gone after she put it on the table in her dressing room. The room was filled with people, her family, relatives, and wedding crew. Even after I announced it later in the program, still, no one came forward to return the engagement ring.
In one of my events, the cellular phone of one of the bridesmaids got stolen. I couldn't point fingers but we had suspicions. Therefore, it is very important to know your wedding working crew and trust only a reputable wedding planner to assist you in your wedding day!
These are just some of the many things that could go wrong in any event. As a wedding planner and coordinator, it is my duty together with my team of wedding coordinators to shield the bride and groom from such unnecessary stress. These are also the reasons why you should hire a trusted wedding coordinator/planner to keep you from encountering these problems and challenges during the planning process and especially during your big day!
If you have concerns or inquiries, email me at leahjacobeweddings@gmail.com or leave a message in my facebook page.
HAPPY WEDDING PLANNING!!!
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