Out in the real world, my friends, family, and acquaintances would probably be okay with describing me as an uber-organized, Type A, meticulous planner. From my point of view, I often feel like the to-do lists never get done, but I suppose I'm just a perfectionist who can never be satisfied. I'm good about remembering dates and numbers off the top of my head, and I can be detailed to a fault. Apparently, even I was no match for wedding planning.
Y'all, I got scatterbrained.
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| I've had this picture pinned for ages - I love it because I have a pink laptop!/Picture is a cake topper from Etsy seller Anna Crafts |
Sure, I had my wedding binder, and all of my contacts organized, but slip-ups still happened. And some didn't get pointed out on the actual wedding day.
For example, I accidentally ordered four extra 60" tables when we needed four extra 48" tables. I had my computer with me in the hotel room, and I checked my email- yep, there was my email and contract that both said 60" tables. No big deal, except that they didn't have the right linens for them or enough chairs. Honestly, I don't know how that even got sorted out, but it did. When we were trying to figure out the table situation, I also realized that the venue coordinator didn't have the final copy of my layout. The florist did, but she wasn't arriving til later. When she dropped off the bouquets, I let her know there was a situation going on and that I didn't care what decorations went on what tables, just make it beautiful. And she certainly did!
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| I think this was the final layout. I meticulously measured out the sizing of all the tables, the distances apart, and the colors of the linens for each table. But I forgot to actually sent the right version to everyone! |
If your vendors are like mine, you'll likely have a lot of questionnaire forms to be filling out in the weeks leading up to the wedding. I had these for my photographer, videographer, band and florist. They finalize all the information like times, locations, first dance song choice, if you are including a cake cutting/bouquet toss/garter toss/money dance, etc., so that every can plan for that. The last one of these that I wrapped up was for the band. I sent her the form mostly completed at the beginning of May, but I still needed to finalize our must-play song list and a few other details. So I added in my list of girls to be called up for the cake pull tradition, our New Orleans second line song request, and some must-play songs and sent it a week before. The song list had stressed me out for a while, but using a list of our favorite party songs compiled over the last year and the band's song list, I was able to get a good mix of oldies and current music that wasn't so long that I was dictating the entire playlist for the night.
Fast forward to the wedding night and before we were announced, the venue coordinator said the band needed my list of girls to announce for cake pulls (if you don't know what I'm talking about, check out my NOLA traditions post). I told her it was included in the form I sent to the band, but apparently it wasn't. I was able to write the list of girls down, but that made me a little nervous. The night of the wedding, I honestly couldn't tell you what songs were played. I remember we danced our butts off, and it was an awesome party. It wasn't til the end of the night, and our second line song came on that my suspicions were confirmed. They were playing the traditional second line song, and we had asked for a different one. I waited until we got back from the honeymoon to check my sent mail - and sure enough, I had not sent the updated form to the band. I had attached the Word document to an email before pressing "save." Way to fail whale, Miss P.
If we could get a complete redo on the music, how cool would it be to use this jazz version of the Game of Thrones intro for a second line song? It didn't come out until after we were back from the honeymoon, but I still love the idea!
Of course I was kicking myself for these mistakes, not because they ruined our day, but for the extra effort wasted. I didn't like knowing that I made setup harder on my vendors, and that I had put all this work into compiling a song list that wasn't used! Sure, I wish "Brown Eyed Girl" had played at the wedding, but our first dances were all to the right songs and the dance floor was packed all night, so I really can't complain.
And what would make all of this last-minute scrambling even worse? Our jewelry store offered a free cleaning and replating right before the wedding, but that meant they were hanging onto my ring for about a week and I constantly felt like I was forgetting something because my left hand was empty. I tried wear a different ring during that time, but it just wasn't the same.
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| When Sphinx picked my ring up, he sent me this picture and said "She misses you!" Right back at you, e-ring! |
So there is your warning - with so much going on, something is bound to get screwed up. And it might be your fault. The best thing way to prepare for this is to engage others and delegate! I wish I had shared the ballroom layout, decorations plan, and timelines with Momma P and her friends that were helping (AKA the angels who saved the day!), so that I wasn't clarifying so much on the wedding day. And double check those emails that you send. Don't get so excited to check something off the list that you forget about followup on that item altogether!
Did you get uncharacteristically scatterbrained with any wedding details? Share any "oopsie" moments in the comments - it feels good to get them off your chest!
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