Avoiding Wedding Day Mistakes

Who remembers that movie with Jennifer Lopez called “The Wedding Planner”?  My favorite scene in the movie is when she opens her suit jacket to reveal this kit full of supplies – needles, thread, duct tape, breath freshener.  It’s sort of a cheesy movie, but I’ll admit loving it solely because of her ‘wedding preparedness kit’.  But the truth is, as much advanced planning as goes into a wedding, things will inevitably go wrong.

Just thinking back over the years, between my own wedding mistakes and others that I’ve had to experience, I’ve put together a little list of things to remember, four on the actual day, and one after. 

1. Skip the horse and carriage.  One of my dearest friends had a horse and carriage drive her and her new husband from the church, through town, to the reception.  The wedding party followed along behind on a ‘hayride’.  It took so long to get to the reception that many folks left.  If your reception is at a different location, allow for drive time and photos, and offer your guests something to snack on while they wait.
2. Invest in a professional photographer.  That’s something we didn’t do, and it is my one big wedding regret.  We had a small but lovely ceremony and Matt’s uncle and cousin took photos.  In retrospect, it seems unfair to have asked them to spend the day behind the camera, plus they weren’t exactly trained photographers.
3. Make sure you can be seen.  My college roommate was incredibly shy, and when she got married, if she wasn’t holding her bouquet too high, she was sinking back into her veil.  If you choose to carry a large bouquet, make sure you are carrying it low enough so that when you look back at your photos, you can actually see your dress.  Same holds true for the veil.  Make sure it frames your face instead of hiding it. 
4. On the big day, follow Mary Fiore’s (aka Jennifer Lopez) example and have a small emergency kit with a needle, thread, safety pins, scissors, hem tape, lint roller, stain stick, static guard, and baby powder nearby.  These items will help with most garment-related wedding day emergencies.  I can speak from personal experience.
5. Don’t leave your gown hanging unclean in your closet, in a plastic poly bag, for 11 years.  Have your gown cleaned as soon as possible after your wedding.  The longer you wait to have it cleaned, the less likely it is that all the stains can be removed.  I’m fortunate that I didn’t ruin my gown by this careless move.

While many of these tips we can’t help you with, we can help you with the last two.  First, we can perform alterations and prepare your gown before your big day so that, hopefully, you won’t need to use your emergency kit.  Second, cleaning and preserving wedding gowns is one of our specialties.  To learn more, check out this article on Wedding Gown Cleaning and Preservation or stop by one of our locations to speak to a manager.