This is a short one. What goes wrong at weddings? Weather, delays, a provider who does not show, a power strip that dies, a wifi signal that drops, somebody getting sick, and, once in a while, a date that has to move. That is the list. Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans, and every saying like it holds true for weddings. Lucky for us, almost all of it is predictable, and predictable means preventable, or at least survivable. Pilots don't train for the flight that goes fine. They train for the engine that quits, so when it quits they are not deciding anything, they are doing what they already decided. Apply the same method to your wedding. To those of us with experience there is little we have not seen, and I can predict 9 of 10 mishaps you could face at your reception, and how to handle them. Here they are.
Weather
The first thing that comes to mind is rain. If you have anything outdoors and have not planned for it (which would be nuts), you are in trouble when the rain starts. Rain is not the only thing, either. Wind, extreme heat or cold, bugs, a wet lawn, an early sunset, all can have an effect, so be mindful. The rain plan is big enough that it gets its own article next, with the one decision that matters: who makes the call, and by when.
Delays
People call delays the nature of the beast at weddings. There is a small amount of truth to that, but with a well-planned agenda you should be fine, and most delays are foreseeable. I have seen photographers run long on post-ceremony photos. I've seen the venue have trouble turning the room in time for guests to enter. I've seen wedding party members run late. I've seen a lot of what happens when life happens. So decide now: if photos run twenty minutes over, the MC opens the room and dinner starts on time, and the two of you enter before the first course; if the wedding party is late, the ceremony starts fifteen minutes after the printed time regardless. Written down, a delay is a line item. Improvised, it is a domino. A plan B gives peace of mind.
The provider who does not show
It is rare, and it happens. The defense is the team sheet from the communication article: one day-of contact for every provider, a backup number for each, and one person on your side who is not one of you making the calls. If the photographer is late, the entrance holds ten minutes, then the night starts and they catch up. If the officiant is late, the guests get another round and the music keeps going. Nobody in the room should hear about it until it is solved.
Power and wifi
An outdoor ceremony runs on one outlet and one extension cord, so ask at the site visit where that outlet is and what else shares its circuit; a coffee urn on the same breaker will trip it. Ask your entertainment what happens if the power dies: a battery speaker for the ceremony, and the music library on the machine, never streamed. The same goes for a slideshow: the file lives on the device, not in the cloud. If you are streaming the ceremony for guests who cannot travel, someone owns a hotspot and has tested it standing in the exact spot. And for a money dance, keep it cash; the payment apps need a signal that a tent in a field does not always have.
Health
Health issues can, and have, had an effect on weddings. I have done weddings where one of the couple did not feel well. I have done a few where a guest had a medical emergency and an ambulance was called. Though rare, things do happen. Be ready: know the nearest hospital and its drive time, hand the caterer the allergy list, put the emergency kit in one person's hands, and agree that if one of you goes down for an hour, the point person keeps the night moving and the MC keeps the room calm. Eat. Drink water. It sounds silly until it is the reason someone faints during the toasts.
Postponement
Since 2020 every couple knows a date can move. It is not a mishap you handle on the day; it is one you handle before you sign anything, by asking every provider what happens to your date and your deposit if you have to move it, and keeping the answers. If it happens, the order is: your providers first, so the new date is real before you announce it, then your guests through the website, then everything else. Same team, new date, is the goal.
Every one of these comes down to the same three questions: who decides, by when, and what moves. The card below asks exactly that, category by category, and tells you how many are still open.
The emergency kit and the week-of confirmations live in the checklist, which is where the plan B gets packed.
During planning, discuss with your coordinator and your entertainment any concern you have about mishaps. Most things that go wrong are predictable, so there is no reason to be caught off guard on the day of your wedding.
Thanks! Chuck