We sat down with Geralnique who had her wedding October 22 of this year.
So, what were some of the great things about your wedding?
Seeing our families together. It was a big highlight!
Because it was so sweet?
Oh no! Because it was so hilarious! I'm black and my family is from New Orleans. My husband is white and his family is from Georgia. My NOLA family dances like... Well, NOLA people! It's a bit raunchy and wild! Cody's cousins spent the night watching the dance floor with a mixture of awe and horror! At that point in the night, I really needed a good laugh.
So, what went wrong?
Well, it started with my husband's grandmother falling ill during the ceremony, she passed out as I walked down the aisle and everything had to stop to help her.
Oh no!
Yeah, I felt really bad. She was ok though, and after about half an hour we started again.
Well that's good.
We were so relieved. But you wanted to know my biggest regret, right?
Well, yeah.
The biggest regret was hiring my wedding planner.
You thought you didn't need one?
Oh, I definitely did! The problem was, the one I hired didn't do her job! She booked a venue that, on paper, said it could hold 160 people. Our wedding had 154 guests, so she assured me it would be enough space. But she didn't account for the tables and chairs. The reception hall was so crowded, everyone was bumping elbows. It's been over a month since the wedding and people are still talking about how packed it was. That's NOT what I wanted people to remember!
That's awful! Was that all she did wrong?
No! There was more! She kept showing up where I didn't want her. She stood at the end of the aisle while I was walking down and tried to take my flowers from me even though I told her I wanted to hold them during the ceremony. Then she stood just off to the side, but not far enough away that she didn't look like one of my bridesmaids.
Was she in the photos?!
Yes! We had to go back and stage photos with the photographer after the preacher was done so she wouldn't be lurking in the background! Then, during the reception, she served herself food before any of the guests and got drinks from the bar. Venders starting coming up to me looking to be paid because they couldn't find her. Turns out she was on the dance floor enjoying herself like a guest.
That's terrible! Any advice for upcoming brides on how to avoid what happened to you?
Definately do you research. Read reviews and ask friends. Don't trust price either. I based my decision almost entirely on price thinking that too cheap would mean a bad wedding planner, so I went with the most expensive one I could afford and got burned. I learned a bad wedding planner can really wreck your big day