In the anxious days leading up to my wedding, married friends warned me that no matter how much I planned, some little thing would inevitably go wrong and it wouldn’t be a big deal. I counted five things:
1. It Rained
When you plan a Malibu wedding in July during one of the worst droughts in history, you’re all but guaranteed fabulous weather. All but guaranteed. (Cue Alanis Morissette: Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?) Yep, moments before I walked down the aisle, it started to drizzle—not that I would have known, since every time I asked “Is it raining?” I was assured, “No, of course not.” (That’s what you’re supposed to tell the crazy lady on her wedding day.) Luckily, the fan-style wedding programs we’d created to protect ceremony guests from heat worked as makeshift umbrellas, and the rain didn’t last long. They say rain is good luck. I’ll take that over being pooped on by a pigeon any day.
2. I Couldn’t Walk in my Dress
I was so excited to find my fantasy bridal gown that I never noticed how constricting it was or that it weighed more than I do. Walking in my dress felt like swimming in wet cement. I made it down the aisle okay but was terrified for our first dance. Dave and I had been secretly practicing a routine at Arthur Murray for months, not telling anyone so as to avoid raising expectations. A good move, as it turns out, since I could barely execute the steps and was just grateful not to fall down (See #5). For the rest of the night, my power dance move was to stand still while shaking my skirts a la Cha Cha DiGregorio in Grease. It was a look.
3. The Flower Girl Melted Down
Dave and I feel incredibly lucky that we could share our big day with the other most important person in our lives, our 3-year-old daughter, Viv. But being a mommy bride is not without its challenges. Here was one: we got married on a ranch that happens to feature an old timey merry-go-round. This seemed like a fun, kitschy place to shoot photographs of the bridal party, and although I couldn’t walk in my dress, I somehow managed to mount a pony in it. Everything was going swell until the flower girl lost her mind, wailing at peak volume, “But I want to sit on the ROOSTER!!!” I managed to calm Viv down, but the photographer suggested I leave her out of the photo “because she’s the only one here who looks sad.”
4. I Cut the Cake Before the Cake Cutting
After the photos, Viv bounced back, partying like a rock star at the reception. Our babysitter wanted to take her home at 10pm before another meltdown could erupt, but we hadn’t yet cut the cake and Viv wouldn’t budge. That’s when I realized, Mom comes before Bride. When no one was looking, I hacked into the back of the cake, serving a yummy chocolate wedge to my little girl so she could go home happy. Thirty minutes later we cut the cake officially.
5. I Fell on my Butt
As the night flew by, I forgot about all the little problems and got lost in the moment – dancing with my favorite partner, surrounded by everyone I love with an amazing 80s band playing songs like “Don’t Stop Believin.'” I was having so much fun that I landed right on my ass. My new husband pulled me up so fast I didn’t think anyone even noticed…anyone except the friend that managed to capture this genius photograph and the other friends who are cracking up in the background.
And in the end…none of it mattered. It was perfect. But if you want to share with me something that went wrong at your wedding, please do leave a comment.
We had one major thing go wrong at our wedding–we forgot to give our ring bearer (my stepson) then rings. He came up to the alter when it was time, we asked for the rings, and realized that nobody had ever given them to him. Thankfully, my maid of honor knew where they were, ran and grabbed them, and all was well. Everyone thought it was hilarious except for the poor kid–he wasn’t too happy with us.
That’s a good one! Hope your stepson has forgiven you 🙂
Lets see, we got married at our house surrounded by family. It was amazing and low key. Right in the middle Audrey (2 at the time) started screaming for me to change her and just stared at me like “Well?!?!” until my sister came to the rescue, but then she missed the whole thing. Also, looking back…NOT ONE FREAKING PHOTOGRAPH of us together dressed. We have a couple good ones after we changed but that’s it. Ugh.
We were originally going to get married in 2013 and realized we just weren’t ready to do it with a 2-year-old – diapers and bridal gowns are a tough combo! But it all works out in the end, right?
One of my favorite pictures of my wedding is of me sitting on the floor surrounded by poofs of my Cinderella skirt with my soon to be niece on my lap in her red pinafore. My soon to be Mother in Law was having kittens because Anna was only one and of course still in diapers. Apparently Angels watch over fools and children, because there were no accidents.
I love that you gave Viv some cake. She’ll remember that forever.
Btw: no wedding dress is comfortable, just like no bridesmaid wears her dress again. Just how it goes.
xo
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Uncomfortable I can handle – it was just so BIG and heavy – people had to form a perimeter around me and blow air kisses. Except Viv of course, who just climbed right up. The best was how trashed my dress was at the end of the night – dirty and with a huge hole on the hip.
We got married last Thursday and we also did the “carriage before marriage” through our ceremony at San Francisco city hall our son decided to yell and run all around the rotunda while we exchanged out vows.
Congratulations! I feel ya – while we were exchanging vows my daughter was complaining loudly that she was not up on the altar with us. I should have just taken her with me! It’s a whole different ball game once you bring a kid but someday it will be great to be able to tell them that they were there and witnessed the whole unruly thing.
Congratulations! I love your pics. Two things went wrong at my wedding, both of which would have given me a heart attack before the wedding, but during that fun bash I took it (mostly) in stride. 1) My dress ripped with the very first person I hugged at the cocktail party after the ceremony. The dress had one off the shoulder strap that should have slid up my arm as I raised it to hug, but instead it just ripped right off. 2) During our first dance (also a rehearsed number) my shoe came off somewhere under my giant dress. I whisper-demanded of my new husband, “Box step! Box step!” so we swayed in place while I searched and recovered my shoe.
Thank you! Those are outstanding contributions to the wedding snafu list. Maybe we should do a book. Did your top stay up okay with one strap I hope?
It took us twice as long as it should have to arrive at the Williamsburg Inn after our wedding because it had started snowing. Literally, had my husband not owned a Jeep, we would not have been able to get through. He unlocked the door, picked me up in his arms, we entered the room and he almost dropped me because we were both laughing so much: there were two twin beds!
It gets better… we went to the desk to ask for a double or queen and were told, “there’s no room in the Inn”… now where had we heard THAT before?!?
Haha!
Ok, so I guess I you could say the thing that went wrong in our wedding was…my husband (aka the groom’s) butt crack. Now a little history – my husband is one of those people whose butt crack seems to show quite a bit when he sits or squats. I have a good sense of humor, so I usually just laugh (in fact I said nothing once when one of his friends threw a pencil in there as he was crouching – I was too busy laughing).
Now, at our wedding, after our first dance he crouched down to pick me up – I was elated at the time about everything so I wasn’t really paying attention but I remember everyone sort of laughing, hearing a couple of “oh my gosh”s and someone yelling “crack kills”. Sure enough, when we watched the video later, as he’s crouching to pick me up his shirt comes untucked, his pants slide down, and a good 3 inches of bare crack pop out. Now keep in mind he was crouched there for at least 4 or 5 seconds as he swooped me up. So basically he mooned our guests. Call me twisted, but I find it hilarious (he was embarrassed at first, but now can laugh about it)! Plus we have it on video forever, and, not to mention, I think he has a cute butt 🙂
Still, I guess you could say it was one thing that “went wrong”.
Our wedding reception was struck by lightning. The fire department showed up in full gear!!! Luckily, everything was fine. But everyone was so afraid to tell me about it. When my dad finally told me, I just laughed!
We had called my late grandfather “Grandpa Lightning” so I just assume it was him making his presence known at my wedding. 🙂 That or it was because my sister had lied to the priest, in the church, earlier that day… but thats another story!!
That’s crazy! Definitely sounds like a visit from Grandpa Lightning. Thanks for coming by to leave a comment – would love to hear the sister story 🙂
I love that you kept such a good attitude about all the mishaps. It’s great you snuck a piece of cake for your little one. The last photo made me laugh – that’s what are friends for!
Thanks! Weddings are so pressure-filled–I think having to still be a mom on my wedding day helped it real and down the earth.
It’s unfortunate that little Viv had a meltdown and couldn’t be in the photo. Hopefully, you’re not too angry with folks that find the story incredibly hilarious.
Don’t worry, she’s in plenty of other photos. It was hilarious to me too! Can’t take ourselves too seriously.