Your wedding day is one of the happiest days of your life.
Or at least it is supposed to be.
Unfortunately, as a wedding officiant I have arrived at many weddings where it is obvious that the bride and groom are not having a good time.
That is really sad considering the time and expense that they have gone to in order to have a great wedding ceremony and celebration.
So how can you prevent that from happening to you? One, is to make sure you have done careful preparation beforehand.
This means that you have solid contracts with your vendors and have (or have had someone) contact the vendors a day or two before the wedding to confirm what you want and when you want it.
One of the problems is that sometimes vendors arrive too early or too late.
And then they may bring something other than what you asked for.
Hopefully you are dealing with professionals, but even they sometimes can mess up.
Yes, if they do, after the wedding you should ask for a full or partial refund depending how bad the problem was.
But that does not change what happens on the day of your wedding.
One example that I have seen more than once is with using shuttle services in getting guests to the wedding location.
This is the one thing that I have seen that gets weddings started late, one as late as one hour! You would think that shuttle companies know how to get to the location or understand delays in getting guests on board or in traffic patterns at certain times of the day.
But apparently they do not always.
So be sure to go over timing and directions and the company guarantees on time arrival of your guests except for circumstances beyond their control.
Second, I would suggest that if all possible have a wedding director the day of your wedding.
It amazes me to arrive at very nice weddings and find that is no director.
I know they cost money but you may regret not having one.
At least have a friend or family member present the day of the wedding to help things go smoothly.
You need someone to say it is time to start, to get everyone in place and to take care of little issues that arise.
As the bride or groom you don't want to have to fool with these yourself.
It will just add to your stress and take the fun away.
Your wedding can be a special day to cherish for the rest of your life.
Don't let little and not so little problems ruin it.
With a little preparation and planning your day can go off without a hitch.
Except for the hitching of bride and groom that is!