Not sure you need a wedding planner on your wedding day? Because your wedding is going to be perfect, right? They usually are. But, just in case you have a hilarious wedding fail (which Hitch Studio likes to think of as memorable wedding moments that make your wedding EXTRA special!), Hitch will be right there to help with anything that doesn’t go as planned. Like these real-life-yes-they-actually-happened wedding bloopers from eight years of Hitch Studio weddings. We were there for every one of them. Sometimes the guests (or bride and groom) didn’t even know they happened. We just put out the fire (sometimes literally) before anyone knew any differently. And THAT’S why you hire a wedding planner. We take the stress of the unexpected off of you and your family. That’s exactly what our Certified Wedding Planners are there for!
Here we go! 25 hilarious #weddingfails that reassure why you need a wedding planner:
- “The family of this couple wanted to surprise them with fireworks after their lakeside wedding. Family members used a paddle boat to set them off from the middle of the lake. When they returned and everyone else was at social hour, we looked over and the paddle boat was on fire! We grabbed arm-fulls of bottled water and put out the fire before anyone even noticed. Of course, we told the family about the burnt paddle boat, but the incident didn’t take away from the attention that should have been on the bride and groom! We literally put fires out on wedding days.” — Renee
- “At a destination wedding in California, the bride was exiting an air conditioned limo to walk down the aisle when her dress straps broke! I signaled for the processional music to keep playing while I climbed in the limo and pinned her straps. She walked down the aisle as if nothing went wrong.” — Renee
- “At an outdoor wedding, the cake ended up melting and splatting all over the cement floor of the tent. With no hesitation, we scooped up the three-tier cake, somehow managed to save the top tier (which never touched the ground) and made that single tier into their new wedding cake — cake topper, frosting and all. Although guests watched it happen, the couple laughed about it later. Shortly after, the bride forgot her vow book! I ran to the bridal suite, found her vow book and sprinted out to the ceremony site. Winded and caught on camera while mid-ceremony, the guests cheered and laughed as I ran the book up to the bride during the vow portion. I’d rather be sweaty, running, and covered in cake frosting than any guest or family member, so it was a win.” — Renee
- “We handled an overly drunk groomsman with grace and professionalism until the ambulance arrived for him. We also convinced the bride to still have her sparkler exit so guests would remember THAT instead of the ambulance incident from their wedding.” — Renee
- “A horse showed up at a reception once. Yes, it was in a barn venue, and yes, he broke the door. We found a way to safely escort him out.” — Renee
- “When I arrived at the reception, the basement had flooded from rain the night before. I called the venue manager and got it taken care of before the family even knew about it! No worry, no stress!” — Tessa
- “We noticed the guestbook was missing at a wedding and when I asked the family, they said it was in their truck in the church parking lot. I found the truck and went to open the back door when the car alarm went off! Ah! Wrong truck! But it turned out the guestbook was actually on their kitchen counter, which we went and found and had placed before the ceremony started.” — Renee
- “I noticed the bride didn’t have her veil on before the ceremony. The mom, looking sad, explained that nobody could get it to stay in the bride’s hair, so she was going to skip it. I knew it meant a lot to the mother of the bride, so I went in the dressing room and said “Oh! Don’t forget your veil!” and was able to flip the veil and pin it right in. The mother (and bride) were thrilled.” — Renee
- “It was an outdoor ceremony and right before the ceremony, I noticed the dog had left a little surprise RIGHT down where the aisle was going to be. I found a baggie and saved some dresses from getting REALLY dirty.” — Renee
- “We noticed a bridesmaid was missing from the reception, so we helped the family (and police) find her.” — Tessa
- “It happened to rain on this wedding day and we moved an entire ceremony indoors in about 20 minutes. The new backdrop behind the couple ended up being windows into a garden. Because the garden was open to the public, I saw some people who were unknowingly standing in every photo out the window of the ceremony! I went outside and gently explained the situation and they gladly moved. It was an easy, timely, and important fix.” — Renee
- “One night before the days of Uber and Lyft, the parents of the bride had too much to drink and I was one of the only people sober at the end of the night, so they asked me for a ride home. Hard to say no to that!” (Remember, this is small-town South Dakota where it wasn’t weird or scary to do this favor for them! Haha!)” — Renee
- “I decided to get ordained for the just-in-case scenario if an officiant couldn’t make it to a ceremony for some reason. (Sick, car accident, something unexpected, etc.) At least the couple could still get married on time and as planned with my license. It hasn’t happened yet, but it JUST about did with an out-of-state pastor!” — Renee
- “I was decorating a wedding in an ice arena when the electricity went out! There aren’t many windows in an ice arena, so we decorated the entire reception by cell phone flashlight and battery-powered candlelight. We still got done on time and saved the family some stress (and time) had they been decorating themselves!” — Tessa
- “We were standing in the Campanile in Brookings and five minutes before the ceremony started, a groomsman needed a button sewn back on his jacket. I ran to get our sewing kit and my mom (who helps with Hitch weddings) sewed it back on before the processional! In the dark and under pressure.” — Renee
- “We rearranged tables, put on linens, and folded and set out napkins, silverware, and water for a venue who was short-staffed just so the couple would have a perfect wedding reception.” — Renee
- “The couple was getting ready for their first look when we realized the boutonnière for the groom hadn’t been delivered by a family friend yet! We took a flower arrangement off the bar and made him a replacement boutonnière for the first look until the real one came.” — Lyric
- “The DJ was running late. Like really late. So I gave him a call and it turned out he was lost. I gave him directions and helped him carry his gear inside and kept the day on track! Nobody even knew he was late.” — Renee
- “With some quick thinking, some ‘magic water fountains’ and some ‘super special flowers’, we’ve kept many flower girls from crying down the aisle and looking happy for photos.” — Renee
- “It was almost time for the father/daughter dance, so I went looking for the father. He was outside smoking a cigar with some buddies! I waved him inside and made sure he was on the dance floor for his daughter’s dance.” — Renee
- “The couple was ready to start their speeches after dinner, but we were missing one groomsman. Nobody could find him. I happened to look under the head table. There he was. Passed out drunk. But accounted for! So the speeches continued on time and on track!” — Renee
- “There have been numerous times we used our stash of bobby pins, superglue, stain remover sticks and extra ribbon to fix things like the ring bearer sign on the fly.” — All of us
- “We have helped the photographer/videographer get the perfect shot by throwing the bride’s veil in the air for a windblown shot, we’ve crouched behind the bride holding her dress so it didn’t get dirty, we’ve been under a bride’s dress picking out sticks, etc. and we’d do it all again! Anything for the bride!” — Renee
- “When an unexpected hail storm rolled through our reception last summer, the walls of the outdoor pavilion reception were literally falling down. We saved the linens from blowing off, re-lit the candles, chased the welcome sign across the lawn, and made sure everyone took shelter. The family from Texas loved it and were catching hail stones in their drinks. Haha! You just have to make the best of it!” — Lyric
- “At an outdoor tent wedding reception, the electricity wasn’t working in the restroom trailer. I was pregnant at the time, and still rolled/crawled under the trailer to hook up the right cord to the electricity box.” — Renee
Okay. We can’t help it. You get some bonus fails! All of these make me think I should have taken more photos of these hilarious fails-turned-wins! Looking back, they are so funny!
26. “At one outdoor wedding, the wind was blowing so hard that the chairs kept blowing over. We waited until just before the ceremony to set them all back up so they were picture-perfect for photos. I bet we set them up four different times.” — Renee
27. “It was almost time for the bride to walk down the aisle. The plan was for her to hide behind a wall at her outdoor wedding and I would come get her when it was time for the ceremony to start. I looked over to the wall and saw her dress flap in the wind from behind the corner. I knew she was in our agreed place without me even having to think twice. Come to find out…she wasn’t there! (I don’t know what I saw!) I had to quickly find her in the dressing room and tell her it was time! She got married with PURPOSE down that aisle and had no time to panic or be nervous. We giggle about it to this day.” — Renee
28. “The bus was late. And when I stepped into it to confirm a few details about pick-up and drop off, it also smelled like vomit and was so dirty because the driver “took some gravel roads and just got back from Sturgis” before the wedding. Oh my. I went to my car, grabbed a blanket, and made sure at least the bride had a clean spot to sit so she didn’t get her dress dirty!” — Renee
29. “I had a wedding that was scheduled to take place in a tent…when we noticed six days before the event that there was going to be freezing temperatures and 50 mph winds the day of the wedding. Out of safety, we told the bride about our concerns. We had the entire wedding rescheduled at a new venue in less than 48 hours. That’s the value of a wedding planner!” — Lyric
30. “We saw there was an ice storm coming (hello, South Dakota weather!), so we travelled to our destination a day early. The next morning, when we went out to the trailer to unload, we found it completely iced over. We couldn’t get the large unloading door open, the tires were frozen to the ground, and the lock was so full of ice, we couldn’t get our key in it. With some very helpful guys, a few bottles of de-icer, two ice scrapers, and a screwdriver, we got in and still set up the event ahead of schedule! Leave the stressful situations to the decorators.” — Renee
