by Phyllis Cambria
This is a true story and it happened to me.
I had the perfect wedding. It was everything I could have ever hoped it would be. I couldn't have been happier.
Oh, but did I mention that...
the florist delivered the wrong flowers despite having photos to copy and exact details of what they should look like?
my matron of honor was eight months pregnant and busting out of the gown we ordered before we knew she was pregnant?
we had planned a spring theme for our April wedding and that we had a freak snowstorm the day before?
the church was inexplicably and unexpectedly double-booked, and when we all arrived there was another wedding taking place and my guests were shivering in the cold and I had to wait up the street for the other wedding to let out and, therefore, we were an hour behind schedule?
that my priest forgot about our wedding (since he'd already officiated one at my set time) and when my husband's minister showed up to co-officiate he had to scramble to find another priest to do the ceremony?
that the outdoor photo session we so carefully planned had to be moved to a studio because we were on high wind alert?
that I slipped and fell on the ice heading into my reception soaking the back of my gown and my attendants had to clean and dry my dress using the hand dryers in the rest room?
that my very pregnant matron of honor was introduced by the M.C. as Miss instead of Mrs. to a room full of shocked people who didn't know her and thought I had an unwed mother-to-be (this was the early '70s) in my bridal party?
that half of our luggage was left in the best man's car when we left for our honeymoon?
I could go on, but you get the point. "Murphy's Law" was having a field day at my expense.
But, still, it was the perfect wedding.
And that's the point. At the end of the day, despite all of the "catastrophes" I was still married to my best friend and the love of my life. Everyone that I loved was there and we all had a great time and a lot of laughs. Those "mishaps" are some of the things that we all still laugh about all of these years later.
The flowers were corrected...sort of. The delay at the church allowed me to have some extra private time in the limo with my father which we likely wouldn't have otherwise experienced. My attendants and I still chuckle over the sight of trying to dry me off in the restroom. My niece, who was born a few weeks after the wedding, can brag that she was "there" at my wedding, safely tucked in her mother's womb. Because of the delay at the church, the bridal party missed the cocktail hour of my reception but were still hungry, so we took the limos and went to a drive through and ate on the way to the photo shoot. And, since I was missing part of my trousseau when we got to our honeymoon destination that I had the perfect excuse to go shopping. And isn't that always a good thing!
Few weddings, no matter how well they are planned, are going to go off without a hitch. Things will go wrong that are out of your control. And it's not what happens or doesn't happen according to your plan, it's how you react to them that decides how perfect your wedding is.
Remaining calm and keeping your sense of humor will go a long way to keeping your wedding day special and creating memories of a lifetime.
A perfect wedding doesn't rely solely on how expertly all of your carefully-made plans are executed, what makes a perfect wedding are the feelings about the day that you and your groom carry in your heart for the rest your lives.
Phyllis Cambria is a nationally-recognized, award-winning party planning expert, event marketing expert, author and sought-after speaker. Her lively and useful seminars and her ingenious and easy-to-follow advice in books, magazines, newspapers and on TV, radio and websites have charmed and informed audiences everywhere.