A wedding is like a landmark in one’s life so obviously everyone wants it to be perfect. A bride and groom spend months planning while friends and family put their strength behind as well to pull off the big day. But the nervous anticipation of something going wrong is always looming in everyone’s mind. The best way to counter this tension is to, of course, be prepared for it. Here are 9 wedding day ‘what ifs’ and their solutions.
1. The Bride/Groom Falls Sick On The Wedding Day
Oh no! This is certainly the worst case scenario. If the main participants of the ceremony fall ill, the entire wedding comes down and all the preparations go in vain.
Solution: Nobody can do anything about sudden sickness but you can take preventive measures for the more minor health hiccups. Avoid consuming too many cold food items in the days before the wedding and avoid going out unprotected in extreme weather. Tone down the hardcore workouts too. Go for a health check-up right before the wedding and if there is anything nagging you health-wise, do not fail to mention it to your doctor. Some people fall ill out of sheer stress so don’t forget to relax and meditate for a few minutes every day. Keep some regular medicines for headaches, nausea, acidity, etc handy in your wedding emergency kit. While the thought itself is nightmarish, falling ill on your wedding day seldom really happens, so relax.
2. The Weather Plays Hookey
So, your dream outdoor wedding seems to be really happening and then disaster strikes in the form of rain. Now that is a tragedy indeed. Be it rain, scorching sun or a sudden storm, we live in the tropics where the weather can betray you on your wedding day in different ways.
Solution: You can’t control the weather but you can prepare for a sudden downpour. Your first recourse would be to check the weather forecasts, of course, but do not trust them blindly. The people in charge of the shamiana and outdoor décor are no strangers to sudden weather changes. Seek their advice for contingency plans well in advance. It is also a good idea to not go completely outdoors, wedding wise. A wedding venue with a partial outdoor setting and some indoor arrangement is the best course. Also, while deciding upon an outdoor wedding it is important to keep in mind the season. To opt for an outdoor ceremony for a monsoon wedding is like purposefully inviting the wrath of the weather gods, no?
3. Electricity Fails
A power cut in the middle of the wedding ceremony or dinner is both embarrassing and chaos-inducing. It makes the organizers look bad, it creates unnecessary tension and there will be too much running around involved for damage control.
Solution: Check and re-check the power back-up arrangement a hundred times before the ceremony. Make sure that all the generators, inverters and other back-up sources are fully functional.
4. Running Way Behind Time
Have the baraatis not arrived yet? Is the mahurat hour already here but nothing else is? Is the bride not yet done getting ready?
Solution: First, relax, nothing ever runs as clockwork at a wedding. Secondly, call out your band of helpers and allot tasks. Calmly coordinate with the parties involved and leave some room for a few glitches. Weddings are big events and a few minutes will be lost here and there.
5. That Troublesome Ex
There is always that one troublesome ex who makes that thoroughly irrelevant bitter comment or tries to be extra nice. If he/she makes it to the wedding and god forbid, gets drunk, there is going to be some major damage control to do later.
Solution: First, inviting that one particular ex to your big day is like digging your own grave. Second, if he/she still lands up and you sense a hint of drama, what you do is ask a responsible cousin to tail that ex to keep him/her from further trouble. If things get out of hand, gently ask the person accompanying them to take some measures or ask a discreet member from your own family to take charge of the situation. Don’t let this hiccup mar your big day.
6. The DJ has Disappeared
Or worse still, has decided to play only heartbreak songs for some reason. If the DJ is messing up your dream wedding playlist, you or your fiancé are certainly going to lose it at some point. Also, bad music can be a major turn off for guests.
Solution: Entrust the DJ-ing only to someone you can thoroughly trust, and check and recheck the playlist with that person to make sure that she/he gets the cues on point. Once you find a reliable person and run the list through with her/him several times, you can allow for some impromptu variations here and there without worrying too much.
7. The Food Is Not Up to the Mark
This is truly a disaster indeed. If your carefully planned menu fails to deliver at the right moment, the setback will stay in your mind for a long time.
Solution: Ask one of your parents or siblings to be the taster for the wedding food. Taste each and every dish before serving the guests and correct anything that is missing. This is a disaster easily averted. Also, make sure that the food does not run short. Many guests will be coming solely for the meal, trust us.
8. Abusing the Open Bar
This can lead to a bunch of super drunk guests tottering around and passing out everywhere. While that would be hilarious at someone else’s wedding, it can seriously mess up yours.
Solution: Restrict the cocktails and hard spirits to a couple of hours and then ask the bar to serve only beer and wine. Make provisions for a number of fancy, non-alcoholic drinks so that guests are tempted to try drinks without alcohol in them. Make sure there is enough water to keep everyone hydrated and that the snack bar is well stocked with fruits, cheese and other edibles that offset the effects of alcohol. If you see a drunk uncleji bullying the poor bartender to serve him whisky, ask your father to intervene immediately. If there are more than ten people really drunk on the dance floor in the middle of the evening, it is cue to cut off the alcohol supply immediately.
9. Cold Feet
The biggest ‘what if’ that plagues any bride and groom right until the wedding is – what if your significant other develops a cold feet right before the ceremony? Improbable though it may sound, the world has a significant number of runaway brides and grooms who have actually abandoned their fiancés right at the altar.
Solution: Everyone feels the nervous churning in their stomachs and has big doubts right before the ceremony. In an age where we are scared of long term commitment towards anything, a marriage is a true triumph of love. The solution to the big doubt is to never forget the real reasons why marrying your fiancé seemed like a very good idea in the first place. If you are stung by sudden cold feet, slowly rewind to the time when you fell in love and remember all the sweet things you have done for each other. And viola! You are ready for the saat pheras in no time at all.
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