DIY Wedding Near Misses

DIY Wedding Near Misses: everybody thought I had a dream wedding, but there were some behind the scenes near misses that I will share with you for the greater benefit of all! Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but having reliable, unflappable people around you certainly helps, as well as a sense of humour. So here are my solutions to what actually happened.

Related link: DIY Wedding Solutions

DIY Wedding Near Misses: Behind The Scenes

The not so brilliant exclusive caterers.
Solution: My fiancé and I had no choice in caterers as the wedding venue we chose had caterer’s exclusive to them. Luckily we insisted on a tasting session and picked up on a number of points. We had an added advantage of being able to speak to the chef himself. This meant averting what could have been a disastrous meal.

The car of my bridesmaid’s partner broke down. Not only couldn’t he make it to the wedding in time, but also he wouldn’t be able to read one of the poetry readings.
Solution: My mother poured my bridesmaid a stiff drink as she was very upset. We had a copy of the poetry reading and gave it to the marriage celebrant to read. Her partner joined us as soon as possible and I made sure the photographer took a special picture of them both together.

The florist made a boo-boo with my floral rose-bud tiara.
Solution: The floral tiara was meant to be ready to attach to my veil. Instead it was attached to a comb. Having recovered from the initial panic, I carefully unpicked the florist’s wires from their comb, twisted them together and attached the two ends of the floral tiara to the comb on my veil.

My brother forgot his wedding shirt.
Solution: He borrowed one of my fiancés spares.

DIY Wedding Near Misses: At The Wedding Breakfast

My veil was under attack.
Solution: Due to the length of my veil when seated it was an easy target for the caterers size 10’s. Luckily a dedicated gentleman spotted what was about to happen and made sure it was scooped up and tucked under my chair.

The best man’s speech was an hour long.
Solution: I could see through the windows more guests were assembling for the evening celebrations so I organized for them to be served tea and cake on the terrace, alternatively they could have come in and listened to the speeches. The “overseer” managed to make a few discrete noises in the best man’s ear. A couple of years later the best man’s brother did the same thing to our best man!!!

DIY Wedding Near Misses: At The Evening Party

I could not go to the toilet unaided due to the volume of my wedding dress.
Solution: I got a family member (my dad) to help me. We found it easier for him to undo me and for me to step in and out of the dress.

An older family member threw-up in the carp pond!
Solution: He was put into the recovery position and then when sufficiently recovered driven home.

At the end of the evening the envelopes containing the cheques and/or cash for the transport and band went missing.
Solution: To find a person with a cheque book on them – my bridesmaid and she wrote out a replacement cheque. The best man had some spare cash. After the honeymoon we reimbursed our bridesmaid and best man. Incidentally the envelopes had been scooped up with our bridal attire and delivered to our home.

A member of the bridal party forgot they were to accommodate an out-of-town guest.
Solution: They were accommodated as originally planned, but could have stayed with other guests who stepped forward.

I hope you enjoyed reading my DIY wedding near misses. If you have any experiences that you would like to share then email me and I will add them to this page.