Compiled by Danielle Andrews Sunkel
What a Wedding Planner will and won’t, should or shouldn’t do is a mystery to many people. Here, members of the WPICAlumni Association dish on some of the strangest requests or comments they have received.
Thank you to Brenda Leader Legend Wedding Planning & Design, Brilliant Weddings, Erin Bosak Events, Harmony Wedding & Event Coordination, Mill Run Golf Club, Morganley Events, Nestleton Waters Inn, Phoebe Lo Events, Tracey M Events, and The Wedding Planners for contributing their funny stories.
“I was recently TOLD by the MoB (Mother of the Bride) that it was time for guests to join the bride and groom who were dancing. It was their first dance.”
“I’d like my ex-husband to walk me down the aisle and give me away. It would be most fitting.”
“Me, when looking over the catering contract: I don’t see any meals for the children.
Bride: No I didn’t order meals for the kids, I figured the parents would share their meals with them.”
“Bride: Can you ask the minister to come in a clown suit?”
“Bride to me: I hate to ask this of you, but I can’t reach…. I have a really bad thong wedgie…
Yup… I went up her dress to get it out!”
“Bridey hits me with “I have a problem. I don’t like the way my boobs look in my gown.” So I told FoB to turn his glance, and fixed the issue by hiking the girls up, and after reminding Bridey to smile, I gave her a gentle nudge towards the end of the processional of ladies in Tiffany blue gowns.”
“The brother of the Bride asked me if I ‘wanted to make out'”
“The father of the bride threw me his keys to his brand new truck and his black Amex and sent me to town to pick up some items for the reception-I’d never met this guy before, told me to get whatever I wanted.”
“I did an outdoor wedding a few years ago and one of the single guests became VERY intoxicated. He started yelling from WAAAAAY the other side, “Red rover, red rover, send the wedding planner over”. This went on for about 5 minutes until the wedding party told him to zip it.’
“One aunt of the groom at my last wedding was critiquing every detail on the table. She was so upset that she relayed her message through her daughter to me throughout the reception. It was pretty upsetting, because the bride & groom went through a lot to DIY the table decor, menus etc. It came to a point where I said “would you like me to pass on your concerns to the bride and groom? They made and designed all these items themselves”, and she gave me an evil stare.”
“One of the guests at the table knew I was the wedding planner, so the whole time during dinner, he just kept complaining to me about how bad the steak was and how the bride & groom should have gotten the steaks medium cooked, instead of well done, because he doesn’t like it well done. I just kept telling him that it was the B&G choice on how they wanted the food cooked and that was that. So finally, after non-stop complaints, he asks me to get him the other dinner option (salmon, which guests chose on the RSVP cards) because he didn’t like the steak, EVEN THOUGH HE FINISHED THE WHOLE THING!!. So he says, “you’re the wedding planner, isn’t it your job to make the guests happy??? ”
“At a recent wedding, the bride’s brother in law cornered me and told me I needed to come and dance with everyone. I politely declined and tried to walk away. He grabbed my hand and said “But baby girl, you’re so fine. I wish my wife wasn’t here.”
“Upcoming wedding: MOB will walk with ex and the bride for the processional: I do not want him to see me, talk to me and I do not want him within 10 yards of me. Say what?”
“Can you climb up the tree and hang these things?”
“Can you make the best man less drunk before he does his speech?”
“Can you make sure there isn’t one mosquito around the property on my wedding day – just do whatever you need to do!”
“A bride recently asked me how old my children are…oh, how sweet, right? She’s wanting to know me on a personal level.
She said your daughter is the perfect age but your son is too young. Okay…
She wanted to use them both in her photos with the bridal party, but since C. is too young, A. ‘will do’ but if I don’t mind finding a Chinese boy who is 6 and not too tall to be the ring bearer, she would be the happiest bride ever.”
“Two guests arrived quite late to an elegant wedding dinner reception that was well underway. In fact, so late, that the fifth and final course, dessert, was just about to be served. The couple politely summoned me to their table and asked if I could have the Chef prepare and bring the four missed courses.”
“Last Saturday I must have heard 100 times “So you’re the wedding planner right? Like the movie” or “You’re like Jennifer Lopez” Yeah, just like her…”
“The weirdest experience I’ve had with a guest was with the groom’s aunt at a lounge-style reception I was coordinating. She knew I was the wedding coordinator, it was a huge event and I had 5 assistants working with me. She snapped her fingers to get my attention and called me over, when I reached her she said, “I’ll have a water.” I responded, “Oh, the bar is right there.” (about 10 steps away) “Yes, I see that. I’ll have a water.” And then turned her face away from me. My jaw must have dropped to the floor. Umm, okay, let me run and get a water instead of managing this huge event with media all over the place, security because of the high-profile couple, the famous band and countless celebrity guests. Yes, let me go get you a water.”
very funny!
One of the first weddings I ever worked(for a catering company) the bride had baked the cake and all the guests were complaining loudly to us that it was gross and dry. ha. I quickly stepped over to one of the guests and said, “you might want to keep that to yourself since the bride baked it herself”. ha
A bride and groom arranged for their own music to be played outdoors, they used a small table top radio/cd player. On their signal, I was to press the play button so the guests could hear their “special song choice” as they arrived to the venue. They didn’t understand why they couldn’t hear anything! Sounded fine the day before when THEY did it, somehow they could not hear it when I did it, could it be the guests laughing and chatting drowned it out?
A recent bride wanted to have some trees decorated with lanterns. This would require climbing a ladder and hanging the lanterns approximately 12 – 15 feet off the ground. When I told her this was possible but at an added cost, she said, “but you have an assistant why can’t she do it?”
Here in Quebec, it is not surprising when a bride and groom opt to pay for the venue, the bar, the entertainment etc. they do ask for the guests to pay for their meal, usually a nominal amount. Guests at a recent wedding brought baggies and tupperware to fill from the buffet table as they felt they were entitled to do so. The bride was furious, she approached her own grandmother and told her to stop, when her grandmother responded “but I paid for the food” the bride responded with – yes but you did not pay for all the guest’s meals!
A bride once asked me to have the DJ do a strange mix for her entrance at the ceremony. The couple had a song that represented the period of time when they met and she wanted it to be mixed with the traditional Wagner Wedding March. That song was… Don’t cha from the Pussycat Dolls!! It was soooo weird when she walked down the aisle on this odd version of the wedding march!
Great content for the wedding planner dish!
amazing content, thank you for this!