I Went To A Wedding this Weekend....

I went to a beautiful wedding this weekend. Every time I go to a wedding I learn a little bit more and a little bit more. This time I learned it pays to check and double check your vendors, some churches have made weddings an income source, have a wedding day flow chart, and seating charts are valuable. I've debated this last lesson with my sister and she doesn't think seating charts are necessary but we will see how she sways after my wedding.
Lets go over the lessons learned...

1. The florist forgot to make the flowers! (WHAT!) Yes, the mother of the bride and her friend stayed up the night before and made bouquets, corsages , boutonnières, and centerpieces for the wedding. There were 6 bridesmaids and groomsmen, 5 hostesses, over 250 guests and the wedding family. Can you imagine the mothers frustration? The florist provided the mother with the flowers (at a discount of course). I wonder if the bride had a signed contract. If so, I would have demanded the flowers for free. I don't know full the details but maybe this could have been avoided if this vendor was rechecked a week in advance.
2. The wedding ceremony was held in a beautiful church that came with a coordinator, a photographer, a videographer and decorations all for one fee. The price around $500.00 not bad except the coordinator was a monster. I realize each wedding is a production but the coordinator shouldn't make the bride uncomfortable. This church has created an income stream in weddings.
3. The wedding day went well except the wedding party missed the pre-wedding pictures. The ceremony coordinator had a flow chart but it wasn't followed. I think this was partly because she wasn't received by the bride well. This kind of problem can be avoided if the bride and her wedding party buys into the flow chart.
   
4. I will definitely have a seating chart for my wedding reception. Every wedding event I've been to seems to neglect this as apart of the planning process. I'm not sure why, but every time it becomes a problem. The bride is never privy to the problem but her hostesses have to politely ask someone to move or slide to the next seat. This can be avoided by the RSVP process and a seating chart. That way the bride and groom have those most important to them sitting close to them.
   

I'll post a picture when I have one....