It's true. I have promised to tell the tale of the mishaps from my wedding with you all a few times. But, now, more than a year later and at the urging (dare I say nagging?) of some of my friends and family, I think I am finally ready to unleash the beast. Here is the longest post I have ever (and probably will ever) post on this blog:
My wedding was far from perfect. As a sidenote, you all should know that what went wrong was completely and entirely out of the hands of my wedding planner. But, if you watched the "Day in the Life" video I posted a couple weeks ago you know that things we far from ideal...
First there was the chair situation. Rental company for extra chairs for the ceremony is spontaneously closed when Melissa goes to pick them up. Thankfully, Melissa was quick on her feet and had already secured new chairs (albeit not as pretty) from the hotel where my family was staying.
Then there was the DJ. He was given explicit instructions to stick to the playlist we gave him (we not only provided the playlist but also all the songs on CDs for him so there would be no confusion). Yet still we had to ask him twice to stop deviating from the playlist. At some point during dinner my Mom went up and asked if he would turn down the music a little (unbeknown to me). He turns it down so low no one can hear it. Greg and I ask Melissa to ask if he will turn it up a little bit. He turns it up so loud we cannot hear each other anymore. Passive aggressive much?
Now onto the decor... we'll start with the bouquets. You see those (below)? The color they are in this image is only after rounds of the florist painting and re-painting them. When they showed up, they were HOT PINK. Hot pink is beautiful but not so much with my burgundy and coral wedding scheme. Thankfully I had a wedding planner there to get this matter set straight.
And the lovely boutonnieres (see below). Ohhh this one makes me mad.
This CHERRY RED image you see below was supposed to be ohhh about the color of the tie that the groomsmen was wearing. In my opinion, here is where there is no excuse. Sure with the bridesmaid bouquets above maybe the peonies arrived in the wrong color (that happens sometimes).
But here? The roses that were to be ordered were black baccara (which is a deep burgundy color naturally). So the only explanation is that the florist ordered the wrong color. And, when he was sent swatches of my colors MONTHS before my wedding and confirmed that all the colors were corrected the two weeks prior for our confirmation meeting there is NO EXCUSE.
Below is a photo of the tables at my wedding. A red napkin on a red tablecloth tied with a raffia wrap of some kind. To me, I would say that is not at all like a burgundy tablecloth with a burgundy napkin and a coral-colored ribbon, would you? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Here is where you can see again the lovely hot pink peonies (which were not sprayed, in this case) and cherry red roses. The vase was supposed to have floating pearls in it (Do you see pearls? I don't... just bubbles.). In fact, I think the only thing even close to "right" here is the hydrangea. Oh, and the candle.
And the chair covers... more lovely red to add to my burgundy and coral palette. The sashes that were tied on them were also supposed to be coral colored.
This of course is not even mentioning that we were short one corsage so my poor mother had to go without one. Or the fact that the corsages were supposed to be wrist corsages and they showed up as magnets.
The worst part? The florist was my "splurge." I went way out of my budget to afford the florist in town that is touted as being "the best." He is said to be able to do amazing things and I had faith that my wedding would be no exception. Instead, I spent one fifth of my wedding budget on details that were wrong in ALMOST EVERY WAY. In fact, the only thing that was right was my bouquet. That was it. And, what an awful feeling to see the bouquets and boutonnieres for the first time and almost start crying. Or walk into your reception with the thought "wow, this is all very wrong."
I wish I had a happy ending for you. Like ohhh say, that the florist admitted he was wrong (which he did) and gave me a large portion of my money back (as he should have). But, unfortunately, I do not. Instead, I have a very important lesson for you: You CANNOT trust a wedding vendor on reputation alone. Ask for references. Talk to past clients. Do your homework. I hired an established, well-known wedding vendor with a good reputation and I still ended up screwed. Do not let it happen to you.
But the ultimate moral of the story? Take a deep breath, and move on. I did not spend a second crying in the bathroom at my wedding reception despite the fact it was all wrong. In fact, the photos of my first dance with my new husband are all smiling. Because, in the end, you have to let go. At the end of the day I still married the man of my dreams, even if the flowers involved were all the wrong color. So, do not let this tale worry you because on your wedding day, should something go awry just remember to breathe in, breathe out, and let it go. The important part is that you still get to get married.
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