There are almost always things that go differently than planned at your wedding. Sometimes they are small, and sometimes that are a bit more significant. But even so, the day can still be so beautiful, joyful, meaningful, and memorable. Today I’m sharing some never-before-told-online stories of examples from our own wedding.

7 years ago this week (!!!), we were putting the finishing touches on our own wedding. There were tasks to complete, errands to run, and many details to finalize. We were excited, exhausted, and grateful all at once. We felt incredibly loved by those around us, while also feeling concern about things going “right”.

It was important to us that our guests felt loved too. We didn’t want the day to fly by. And we hoped we hadn’t forgotten anything important in the endless sea of to-dos.

We checked the forecast like it was our job (there was a 50% chance of rain a few days out) and packed totes full of supplies and decorations. All the while, we prayed that everything would go smoothly and tried to remember that our wedding was simply day one of our married life together.

And because every wedding involves imperfect people (us included!) and lots of moving parts, some things did go “wrong”. Almost every wedding has at least one example of this, and we were not the exception! While I often share these examples with our couples on their wedding days if something goes awry, I’m going to share them here, too, in hopes that they encourage someone else 🙂

A few things that did not go as planned for our wedding day (and how we responded):

Fickle Peonies:

I ordered hundreds of dollars of peonies through a wholesaler, and half the order arrived moldy and unusable. (What we did: my mom and I went to multiple grocery stores in the area to buy out their inventory. And I got a refund on the wholesale blooms, so this ended up saving us money in the end!)

The Almost-Smurf Hands:

I thought it would be fun to try to hand-dye some ribbon with deep indigo fabric dye. Two days before our wedding, Dillon and I were up to our elbows in the project when we looked at each other and realized that we were risking blue skin for both of us on our wedding day if it stained. (What we did: We stopped immediately and went to the craft store instead. In hindsight, I wish I’d splurged a bit for the silk ribbon I’d been eyeing for months instead).

Seamstress Procrastination:

I did not use one of the recommended seamstresses provided by my bridal boutique (because I procrastinated this step…). Instead, I used a local seamstress who had hemmed my prom dress years prior. I don’t think she had a lot of bridal gown experience and she ended up hemming my dress a bit too short. (What I did: I leaned into the fact that because our reception was outside, my dress would be much less likely to get dirty! If I could go back, I would have used a seamstress recommended by the bridal boutique.)

Grammy’s Pearls:

I forgot to delegate who would be packing my Grammy’s pearls on my wedding morning. As a result, my dad ended up driving an hour round-trip to go get them from my parents’ house. In doing so, he missed our private father/daughter first look. (What we did: I didn’t wear them for my first look with Dillon, but my outfit still looked complete! Our incredible photographer was on top of things and still captured the moment when my dad first saw me, preserving the sentimentality of that moment).

Mismatched Shirts:

Two of our groomsmen bought a different patterned shirt from J. Crew. I own that we switched it a few times before finalizing our decision. Thankfully, the difference was subtle. (Solution: our photographer staggered them in the line-up during portraits and we reframed it to realize that it kind of worked because they were the best men anyway).

Missing Bouquet:

I added a dear friend to my bridal party a month prior to the wedding. But in that update, I forgot to share the change with my dear friend who was our florist. We didn’t realize this until it was time for bridal party portraits. (What we did about it: we took one of the bouquets from our junior bridesmaids and didn’t stress over the slight difference in size).

Delayed Recessional

We were required to use a volunteer from the church for our audio/visual needs. But somehow, the wires were crossed on when to play our recessional song, so we stood there for a moment wondering if we should start walking or not, which felt like an eternity! Thankfully, we were so excited and happy that the moment was still incredible, regardless.

Encouragement for Brides and Grooms:

The moral of the story is that some things will go differently than planned at your wedding. But take heart: by planning well and delegating to trusted loved ones and vendors, these mishaps should be minimal! But by preparing your expectations ahead of time, you can be free to truly enjoy your day instead of sweating the small stuff. That way, when something unexpected does happen, you can roll with it and remember that you’re not alone and your day will still be a joy 🙂

Read more encouragement HERE!