Expect the unexpected
It’s not just Murphy’s Law, it’s the law of the universe. Anything that can go wrong will.
There’s nothing you can do about it. Something will go wrong, even if you don’t hear about it until after the fact. The caterer forgot your nephew is allergic to peanuts and is serving stir-fry, your florist forgot Aunt Rose’s allergies and gave you lilies (this happened to me), your priest is running late, your dad is in the hospital, your fiancé has the flu. You get the idea.
Stuff is going to go wrong. Just accept it. You’ll spare yourself a lot of stress, and everyone else too, by being as organized as possible, but also be willing to shrug off the stuff that honestly doesn’t matter. Is your family healthy? Is your fiance still smiling at you? Are your friends by your side? Yeah? OK, then everything else is just details.
Also: Check out the pros and cons of hiring family and friends as wedding vendors >>
Be gracious
We all have that one person in our family who insists that the wedding is about them. More often than not, it’s not the bride. It’s either a parent or a grand-parent.
My sympathies run to the bride in this case, because there is nothing more annoying than someone else trying to plan your day. However, because this person is usually family, you must tread carefully.
Be firm, but be gracious. “Thank you, Grandma, for your opinion. I’ll certainly take it into consideration. Would you mind telling me about tulips?” You know you don’t care what she thinks. You know you’re buying gardenias instead of tulips. But it’s a smooth way to get someone off one subject and onto a harmless one.
Tons of people will give you their unasked-for opinion. Always know you won’t be able to please everyone, so don’t try. Just smile, honey. Say thank you and assure them that you’ll consider their opinion. With zero committment, you can soothe their vanity, so just listen to them and move on.
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