By Taylor Sterling
Many moons ago I produced live events in New York City for Corporations and Organizations and occasionally a friend or relative would beg me to do their wedding which most of the time I declined as I am well aware of what could go wrong and to prove that point here are some of the faux pas at the weddings I did agree to do.
The family of one couple wanted to surprise them with fireworks which I begged them not to do. They refused to take my advice and right after the lakeside wedding, I was still trying to talk them out of this accident waiting to happen, the slightly inebriated guests used a paddle boat to set the fireworks off from the middle of the lake. When they returned the paddle boat was on fire!
At another wedding, literally 15 seconds before the bride walked down the aisle, the bride texted the guy sitting next to me and said, ‘I wish it was you at this end of the aisle waiting for me.'” You cannot make this stuff up.
One of the bridesmaids over-served herself at the wedding reception and passed out. One of the other bridesmaids’ fathers carried her to a car so her friend could take her home. He held her in a fireman’s carry all the way from the head table past the entire group of 200 guests. She was not wearing underwear.
Or how about a wedding reception where the DJ was a MESS and couldn’t get any of the songs right. Then it’s time for the mother-son dance. They start dancing, and then the song comes on…‘Sexual Healing’ by Marvin Gaye. Nuff’ said.
This wedding, the car was decorated with JUST MARRIED and lots of ribbons, cans, etc. and they neglected to look at the sign under which they were parked in illegally and when the couple reached the car, it had a boot on it.
Then there was the wedding where this couple who were friends of mine wanted to have their ceremony on the Jersey Shore which took me 2 hours to get to, and my partner forgot the most important part of the ceremony and I had to drive back and forth once again. However, that was the least of it. Trying to set up the ceremony on the beach where one of the finds was to clear the beach of the dog walking leftovers if you know what I am referring to. Thes best was me trying to convince the bride that she should not supply the music to walk down the aisle however she refused and of course what happened. The Karaoke machine did not function so I had all the guests sing “Here Comes The Bride.”
Now let me leave you with one of my suggestions that I share with all brides and grooms. First in a room off the reception area I had them set up a way to video tape and had an announcement asking the guests to take a few minutes during the evening to tape some great wishes to the bride and groom. To this day, the stories from those couples were that the video was the best thing about their weddings as friends and family, some who have departed, meant the world to them and some were hilarious.
Remember all you bright eyed young’uns on the way to the altar, this is one day of your life. It’s the rest of the time that is most important. Forgiveness, compassion, and listening which is equivalent to giving someone air.
