Things I’ve Learned the Hard Way

I went to seminary but we never had a class on conducting weddings and as a result over the last 30 years of doing weddings I’ve learned some things the hard way. For instance, during the second meeting with couples I always ask the bride if she has a train on her wedding dress. It’s not that I am nosy it’s that I want to avoid an embarrassing moment for the father of the bride.

Here’s what can happen. The bride walks down the aisle with her father and she is walking on his left side. They come to the front, stop and I ask, “Who presents this woman to be married to this man” and he says, “I do” or “Her mother and I do.” Then he kisses her, shakes the grooms hand and then walks around behind his daughter to his seat on her left. The problem is he forgets about her train and either just tromps across it or if the bride and groom are walking forward by then she will come to a sudden stop because her dad is standing on the train. It’s very embarrassing for dad, who often has worried himself about walking down the aisle and if he will remember what he’s supposed to say but stepping on her dress is a mistake big time. So I’ve learned to ask about the train and then remind dad about it at the rehearsal and just before he walks in. Nine times out of ten, he will remember and often has a proud little smile on this face because he avoided the train.

Another little thing I’ve learned is that it’s best for the Best Man/Person to take the rings out of the box and put them on their finger prior to the ceremony. First, those little black boxes are difficult to open, I’ve seen the Best Man turning them around and around trying to figure out how to open them while I am standing with my hand out ready to receive them and the guests are snickering out loud. The other thing is that it’s easy to drop the rings while taking them out of the box. In one wedding the Best Man dropped a ring and it bounced off the carpet into a potted plant. The next thing we knew he was down on his hands and knees digging through the pot trying to find the ring. It was very funny and we made some jokes about it but the poor guy was pretty embarrassed.

What humorous thing happened at your wedding? All of us reading this would love to hear so please post your own story. Please also look at my website, www.SpiritedWeddings.com