Little girls start dressing up in white veils, tossing bouquets and humming “Here Comes the Bride” almost as soon as they can step-together-step up the aisle. Maybe they should practice expecting the unexpected instead, because that is what seems to happen on wedding days.
Couples spend months ironing out every detail, even hiring wedding planners to take care of the location, menu, music, décor and every tiny aspect involved. And still, so many things are beyond control.
The tricky part is trying not to let the mishaps ruin your special day. Have a sense of humor and laugh off the glitches as part of life. Those one-of-a-kind incidents are what make warm, wonderful memories later on. Just ask the Dublin women who contributed the following stories from their wedding adventures.
Reservations anyone?: Meg Perez got to her son’s rehearsal dinner only to find there were other people seated in their reserved private dining room. After chasing them out, the guests were seated an hour after their reserved time, and the ring bearer threw up from eating so late. Then, as the waiters were hurrying and rushing around, they dropped an entire tray of drinks on the bride and groom.
“But the wedding went off without a hitch,” says Perez.
Be wary of church giggles: “My husband mispronounced his own name during our vows, and I got a bad case of the giggles that lasted through our wedding,” says Jill Boser Kranstuber.
Learn to just say “no”: Leah Alford’s brother-in-law dared her to eat a ghost pepper at the reception. She ate it, but spent the whole night throwing up in the bathroom with makeup streaming down her face and bridesmaids holding her giant dress.
“The good news was I was too sick to drink, which came in handy when the shuttle never showed up to transport our guests, and I had to drive my friends back to the hotel,” says Alford.
Make sure the groom has sturdy shoes: Cheryl Detrich Pace says the caterer put their cake on the ground for a moment to level the table. A rat made a run at the cake, and her husband had to step on the rat in his formal patent leather shoes. Later, as the couple greeted guests at the candlelight dinner, Cheryl’s dress brushed a candle and caught fire.
“My hubby stepped on my dress and put out the fire, so his shoes saved the day twice,” says Pace.
Centerpieces are overrated: Lee Breitmayer says there was a random rain storm with high winds that lasted about 30 minutes. It was long enough to blow all their centerpieces down.
“I never even saw them because the tables were empty by the time we walked into the reception,” Breitmayer says.
Lee Chelsea Cordell’s décor was ocean-themed; there were goldfish in bowls on the tables.
“Let’s just say the poor goldfish didn’t do too well in the unseasonable 92-degree heat,” Cordell says.
Jacki Larouere Raabe advises that your candles be shorter than the skinny neck of the hurricane lamp in your centerpiece. Halfway through the ceremony, they heard a really loud crack, like the sound of a golf club whacking a ball. At first, they thought a bird hit the window; then the pastor ducked. All of the glass centerpieces shattered from the tall candles.
“There’s not much you can do about it once it’s happening,” Raabe says.
And away we go … or not: It seemed like a great idea when Amber Gibbs’ uncle, Chuck, offered to chauffeur the bride and groom from the church to the reception in his rebuilt 1968 Pontiac Firebird. The crowd blew bubbles, the couple stepped into the convertible, and the car … didn’t start.
“At one point, my uncle, dad and husband were all huddled under the hood trying to get the car started, and they eventually succeeded,” Gibbs says.
Use the buddy system: “My family left my grandmother, who had dementia, at the hotel,” says Cordell. “She just sat there patiently waiting for the 45 minutes it took for everyone to realize she was missing.”
Don’t forget the old, new, borrowed, blue: After her grandma forgot the blue garter, Debbie Paolucci Lowers needed something blue to wear during the wedding. She asked everyone to dig through their purses, and finally her aunt found a school picture of her cousin with the standard blue background.
“Weird, but we tucked it into my nylons, and my cousin had no idea his photo was on me while I got married,” Lowers says.
Check for twins and name mates: Apparently, there were two Holly Murphys getting married in Pittsburgh at the same church, a week apart.
“Out of all the bridal shops in Pittsburgh, we chose the same one, and the store tried to give me the wrong dresses for my bridesmaids,” says Holly Murphy Tuite.
There was even some confusion at the doctor’s office while getting blood work done. Both Hollys shared the same doctor and, as it turns out, the same birthday – but different years.
Can you hear me now?: During Laura Ali’s wedding at the Amberleigh Pavilion in Dublin, they realized one of their readings was misplaced. A guest ran to her car to get another copy and accidentally set off her car alarm – which triggered another car alarm and started a chain reaction of all the car alarms going off in the parking lot.
“At first, the minister kept right on with the ceremony. But when he made eye contact with me, I burst out laughing,” Ali says. “And, in celebration of our first wedding anniversary, the guest that started it all parked in our driveway and set off her alarm just to wish us a happy anniversary.”
Weddings last a day … marriage, the rest of your life: Kath Jackson had so many things go wrong with her wedding that she probably wondered if it was meant to be. Twenty-seven years later, though, she says she wouldn’t change a thing.
Her husband’s blood work results and paperwork were lost, the chef quit and the banquet manager was fired the week before the wedding. The tuxes came in with opposite sizing so a 32x36 came in as a 36x32, a bridesmaid’s dress had to be remade hours before the ceremony, the priest had an alcohol problem and, after marrying the couple, ran off and got married himself. The invitations were printed wrong and, finally, the wrong cake was delivered to the country club.
“Our kids watch our wedding video every year and order a cake like the one we were supposed to have,” Jackson says. “You can’t let the little things throw you.”
Colleen D’Angelo is a freelance writer who lives in Dublin with her husband, three children and several small animals. She enjoys playing tennis, walking the Dublin bike paths and traveling.
