By Lara Updike
A car crashes. A skin disorder manifests itself. The cake disappears. The florist doesn''t deliver. The groom muddles his speech - every wedding has its blooper.
Something''s bound to go wrong because wedding''s are huge productions, said Jennifer Jackenthal, a Park City wedding coordinator. Also, wedding days are wrought with emotion, which can put further strain the bride, groom and family.
All the stress caused one groom''s angioedema to act up.
'It''s a rare skin disorder that if he put a certain amount of pressure in a certain place, it would swell up huge,' said Gina Murdock, bride of the unlucky groom who awoke on his wedding day with a very swollen lip.
'You''d have to have seen his lips to totally understand it,' Murdock said. 'It was huge, at least an inch on his lower lip sticking out. If it was me, I would have died because you want to look pretty on your wedding day.'
Murdock''s wedding continued as planned, even with a funny-looking groom. A doctor gave him a shot to reduce the swelling and the photographer pointed only at the right side of his face.
At another wedding, it was the bride who let stress get the best of her. Mariana Harper said she snapped at the ushers instead of being the gracious bride she had planned to be. And when the time came to make her vow, she was silent for a very long time, causing her groom to worry.
'I was nervous at the last minute,' Harper said. 'My feet were like ice. I remember thinking, ''Gosh, my feet really are cold.'''
Sara Blaney also worried her groom when she met him minutes before the ceremony. She was weeping.
'I was trying to explain to him what I had done so he wouldn''t think that I didn''t want to get married,' Blaney said.
What Blaney had done was crash her car. She might have avoided it if she had hitched a ride to the temple - she certainly would have avoided hitting her father. As it was, Blaney rammed her Corolla into her dad''s Jeep, crumpling the hood into a tent shape she could barely see over.
She couldn''t pull off the road, though, because the freeway was lined with construction. And when she arrived at the temple, she didn''t have time to mourn or make it better.
'My dad was like, ''Oh well. Let''s go get you married,' Blaney said. After the ceremony, her dad pounded down the hood with a hammer so she could drive more easily.
Perhaps mishaps like Murdock''s and Blaney''s can''t be planned for. But most wedding bloopers aren''t so unpredictable, said Tonya Linky, a Salt Lake City wedding consultant. She''s planned enough weddings to see what things often go wrong. For example, she said, most brides and grooms look forward to their wedding day as an ideal celebration, a joyful gathering of friends and family. Not always the case, Linky said.
'There are usually fights at weddings and funerals because you''re getting sides of the family together that may not get along, but you''re pulling them together for the event,' Linky said. 'We find out if there are any family conflicts, and make sure those family members are seated apart.'
Sometimes, though, assigned seating isn''t enough to keep family feuds under wraps. Linky planned a wedding in New Jersey where things nearly got out of control.
'The groom''s mother was making a seen,' she said. 'She apparently had had too much to drink and was saying a few things about the family that she didn''t like. She was voicing her opinion quite loudly. The bride''s uncle - he was a very tall gentleman - just grabbed her arm and shuffled her out.'
Another blooper-causing oversight is failing to review sales contracts made with the photographer, florist, baker, or caterer, Linky said. She told the story of a bride in North Carolina who ordered roses for her wedding. On the wedding day, the florist showed up with carnations.
'The contract said that if they couldn''t obtain what they needed to fill her order, they could substitute it with carnations,' Linky said.
Another bride learned at her wedding that even with an accurate and fair contract, florists don''t always meet the bride''s expectations. This bride trusted her florist to choose the settings for her corsages and boutonni?res. The wedding color was pastel yellow and so she ordered yellow roses. She and her mother nearly cried when the florist delivered yellow roses tied in tacky, wheelbarrow-blue ribbons.
Failing to communicate with the bridal party can be as disastrous as miscommunication with vendors, according to Peggy Canales, who sent her bridesmaids a pattern and material to make their own dresses. They were to be an elegant peach-ish color with long, flowing skirts. However, one bridesmaid made the wrong version of the pattern and showed up with a knee-length dress, destroying the wedding party''s symmetry and elegance.
Ushers and groomsmen can also be a problem. Linky said they''re notorious among wedding planners for giving inappropriate toasts. They''re known for bringing up the groom''s most embarrassing memories. And grooms don''t need help in this area, Linky said - they''re good at embarrassing themselves.
'Usually when the groom tries to make the toast, and he hasn''t prepared, that''s a great time for embarrassment,' she said. Especially when he''s been drinking, unwanted words come out of his mouth.
'Brides are usually a little better - they''re so concerned with making sure their day is perfect,' Linky said.
Brides are usually uptight about having everything perfect up until the actual wedding day, Jackenthal said. Then they relax, she said, and for good reason - they''re simply having fun.
'Nothing can make or break a wedding because it''s their special day,' Jackenthal said. 'When anything goes wrong there are so many things that go right that nobody notices. And as long as you''re resourceful, you can come up with alternatives.'
For example, one of Jackenthal''s friends was coudln''t get the cake she ordered, so she ran to the store and bought a load of Twinkies. She stacked them on top of one another, then she tied a big satin bow around the Twinkie tower.
'All the guests loved it,' Jackenthal said.