By Esther Villalobos
The wedding day can be compared to a stage production. After several rehearsals and preparations, the live show will take place. The bride and the groom are the lead stars, while the untoward incident is the villain. The visitors make up the audience, who will excitedly watch every scene.
Like a play, every part of the wedding will only be done once. You have to perfect your scene. You can’t have a “take two” just to correct the mistake. Yet, unlike other stories, the wedding day is always expected to have a happy ending.
Unfortunately, some weddings end up with its share of bloopers. If only these couples could edit their weddings, and have a chance to retake the scene, they’d grab the chance. “If only” are the operative words. And as the bride-to-be, maybe you can learn from their wedding mishaps to avoid having the same mistakes in your own.
The wedding date trouble
“If only I had the chance to change my wedding date, I’d move back the day from December 27 to December 23. My wedding date was in the middle of Christmas vacation. Some were busy preparing for the New Year’s Eve, while others spent the Christmas vacation in their provinces. There were only a few who could really afford to celebrate with us,” said Florence Pilao, an assistant accounting manager.
Setting the wedding date is important. As much as possible set the date where everyone is likely to be available, carefully avoiding national holidays and customary events. This is to ensure that a large number of your invited guests will be able to attend your wedding. However, you should take into account that in some churches, it is the availability of the officiating priest or pastor that is highly considered.
When nature calls
Like time, venue can also become a problem. You may think that a garden wedding is a very romantic wedding site, however, you cannot stop the rain from pouring down, (probably to bless you more). Like in the case of Tina Santos, an entrepreneur, who if she could, play the role of the proverbial Dutch boy and stick a finger in the clouds to stop the rain from falling.
“I held my wedding at one of the beautiful gardens in Intramuros. Before the wedding ceremony began, the weather was actually fine. And everyone was admiring the beauty of the gazebo. But until now, I can’t understand and I’ll never forget the sudden downpour of heavy rain, and everybody was in a panic looking for shelter. We were all drenched, and nobody had the chance to eat the food…” she said sadly. So if you’re planning to have a wedding in the garden, or in any open place, make sure that the venue is safe from the heat of the sun, or from the heavy rain.
Proximity: catch-22
Distance is also another factor that the couple should consider. Like in the case of Bernadette Cruz, a housewife, who would have, given the chance, chosen a venue near her mother’s house.
“I held my wedding here in Manila, but my mom was living in Quezon Province. There were many times, although she lived quite far, that she confirmed to me her attendance in my wedding, but on the wedding day, she couldn’t walk any farther due to her arthritis, and just let my Tita Lor walk with me to the altar. ” she said.
“Ask mom why…”
If Bernadette had a proximity problem with her mother, Clarizza Ditas’ problem was actually her mom. Just to follow the wedding custom, “not to wear your wedding gown until your wedding day to avoid any accidents,” she never had a chance to fit her gown.
“…and after the ceremony, I had to immediately change my wedding gown because it was too big, and the style was off-shoulder that I had to hold my gown, or risk having it drop to the floor. We couldn’t repair it since my wedding was scheduled at seven ‘o clock in the morning. Anyway, I can’t blame my Mom for that; she was just religiously following the custom. Funny, but it really happened,” she said.
Make-up disaster
If Clarizza couldn’t blame her mother for that, Julie Gutierrez, a financial analyst, ended up really blaming the make-up artist for the unsatisfactory service the latter gave her.
“I couldn’t understand why my make-up artist put the mildest make-up on me. Before the ceremony started, I already had a dull face, no lipstick and no blush at all. Good thing that my bridesmaid retouched my make-up… I guess that’s what you get for getting a make-up artist that was cheap.”
After
There are still other untold wedding bloopers that some brides prefer to keep a secret. But for all the bumps and the inability to change things, still the essence of their weddings remain and the memories treasured forever.
So on your wedding day, pray for the best and be alert for any possible mishaps. And should anything go wrong, smile radiantly and remember that the show must go on.
