Wedding Day disasters - and how to cope with them

You've planned everything perfectly, down to the last fleck of confetti.  The dress is altered to perfection, the bridesmaids all know their roles and are happy with them, the vicar has the correct readings and Uncle Fred has promised not to drink until the reception.  Everything is as it should be.  What could possibly go wrong?  As Jessie Wallace found out to her cost this weekend, sometimes you need to be prepared for the unexpected.

Admittedly, discovering that your fiance has has been sending provocative photos of yourself to another woman probably points to fundamental flaws within the relationship rather than anything purtaining to the wedding itself, but Wallace's decision to call off the nuptials just hours before they were due to go ahead had serious repercussions for everyone involved.  Guests already en route to the wedding arrived at the venue in Richmond, south west London, were in for a bit of surprise.  Caterers had to remove thousands of pounds worth of champagne and other goodies and florists had to take down all the decorations.  At least most of them would have been on site and it would have been easy enough for the suppliers to remove their goods again.

It's a different story when you're looking forward to the wedding going ahead and then one of your suppliers lets you down.  Coronation Street star Tupele Dorgu was disappointed when her bridal bouquet turned up on her big day in 2009 and it was not what she wanted.  Instead of getting upset, she simply carried her favourite evening bag down the aisle instead.

Holby City actress Tina Hobley had similar problems on her 2007 wedding day.  She had ordered a teardrop shaped bouquet but when it arrived, it simply didn't match with her wedding look.  Thankfully, ace florist Jamie Aston was able to create her a stunning handtied bouquet so that she didn't go down the aisle empty-handed.

Other things likely to go wrong on the big day include dresses not fitting/seams or hems going, people getting lost or unknown food/drink allergies presenting themselves at the last minute.  The best thing to do is to have someone on hand who is calm, organised and preferably distanced from the wedding party itself so that there is no chance of them being caught up in the frantic energy of the wedding day.  Make their mobile number known to people ahead of time.  Be guided by the professionals - caterers will know best how to deal with food allergies.  Keep important telephone numbers (e.g. the number for the nearest dry cleaner/mender) to hand.

In beautiful, barmy Britain the one thing we know we can never ever rely upon in the weather.  In 2007, during the summer of flooding that washed out large parts of the Cotswolds, South Yorkshire and the West Country, many couples had to deal with terrential downpurs on their big days.  Marquees in muddy fields became the order of the day.  But instead of crying in despair, we Brits did what we do best: we put the kettle on and worked out how to get round it.

Ta Tiara! - What fashion accessories are there for your head

When there's the joy of the dress you're going to wear, it's easy to forget about what you're going to wear on your head.  Yet an appropriate head dress can really make an outfit whole.

Whilst we don't all have the Queen on speed-dial to lend us a bit of bling for the big day like Kate Middleton did (The Cambridge Lover's Knot design by Cartier, above), there are plenty of beautiful yet affordable tiaras around.  Tiaras have grown in popularity in the last fifteen years, especially as the veil's popularity declined.  Tiaras are brilliant because they work with or without veils and they are appropriate at all times of the day. Butler &Wilson have a great range of tiaras to buy online and even more in their South Moulton Street store.

Having been big in the 80s, floral headdresses are starting to make a comeback.  They often make an attractive alternative for brides who want a statement headpiece, but feel that a tiara is too formal for a more casual wedding.  A simple band of roses can look very elegant, but it is all to easy to go over the top with flowers a la Liz Taylor.

Hats are a quirky choice for a bride who wishes to steer clear of traditional.  Top hats to rival that of your grooms gives a delightfully feminist twist on things.  In 'The Parent Trap' with Lindsay Lohan, we see a dress designed by her mother - Natasha Richardson - being modelled by a leggy blue-eyed blonde.  Top hats are as good as heels for adding for height if you lack it naturally.  Alternatively, a wide-brimmed summer hat is great for a relaxed garden party feel, as demonstrated by Jemima Khan.

It's not so good a bringing home the 'bride' feel though.

Of course, there is of course no reason why you should not go nude if that is what works best for you and your outfit, as exemplified by Luisana Lopilato when she married Michael Buble earlier this year.  It's natural, it's simple, and if you've got a great hair do, why ruin it with adornment?

Bye Bye Cosmo - decline of the wedding magazine

It has become known today that the next issue of Cosmo Bride will be the last.  Miranda Eason will steer the ship safely into harbour just one more time.  With the internet and even TV taking over, is there still a place for paper in the modern wedding market?

The first point about Cosmo Bride was that it was a spin off of it's big sister Cosmopolitan.  Spin-Offs rarely do as well as the originals.  ('Joey' vs 'Friends' - need I say more?)  Whilst the content of the spin-off is no better or worse than any of the originals, by simply being a spin-off, they give off the impression of recycling old stuff; of not producing anything original.

Bridal magazines also have to complete with celeb magazines, such Hello! and OK! which go into such depth about celebrity weddings.  They reveal almost as much detail as a wedding magazine would.  Some mags even mention costs!  It's hard for brides to be to dodge the lure of celebrity style.

But perhaps the biggest threat to the printed word comes from the internet.  Wedding blog Love My Dress publishes up to an article a day.  The content is always fresh, relevent and full of photos.  Magazines are published monthly, sometimes bi-monthly, and the material is out of date as soon as it hits the stands.

So what can wedding mags offer that nobody else can?  Well, the staff are pros.  They are stylists, they are florists, they're professionals; they've often got hands-on experience of the wedding industry.  Magazines are the papers you pull apart to put together your mood board.  Paper does not fail when there is a power cut!  A magazine will never run out of battery.

So thank you Miranda Eason (pictured left, above) for looking after Cosmo Bride so well.  You've perhaps been outpaced by technology.  However, the good news is Miranda is also editor of You and Your Wedding magazine.  A magazine may have gone under, but the industry is not dead yet!

2 Dress to Impress - wearing more than one outfit on your Big Day

It's the lucky bride who gets to wear more than one dress on her wedding day.  However, it's not just a symptom of spare budget and extravagence.  Sometimes it is a necessity:

 When Alex Curran tied the knot with footballer love Steven Gerrard in the summer of 2007, she did so in a heavily beaded and bejewelled Flamenco-style Eli Saab gown she'd bought in Paris.  Complete with a Spanish-influenced headdress and flowing train, the gown was a stunning spectacle.  It was also very heavy.  The bride confessed that she eagerly swapped it for a Prada mini dress for the evening's festivites.

 

 Victoria Beckham's creamy golden dress for her Catholic ceremony to husband David was demure, modest and romantic.  For the party, she wanted a far sexier look.  For that, she donned a close fitting "Jessica Rabbit" purple dress that sexily clung to her curves with a cheeky slit up the thigh.  The other colours of the theme, burgundy and evergreen, were picked out in the flower detailling on the shoulder.

In many European countries, religious ceremonies are not legally binding.  A civil ceremony must take place first in order for the marriage to be recognised by the State.  When this happened for Grace Kelly, she married Prince Rainier of Monaco on Wednesday 18th April 1956 in a chic golden suit, heavily embroidered; befitting her new status as Princess of the Meditteraenean principality.  The iconic gown she wore for her religious ceremony the following day was far bigger and filled the Cathedal of Monaco.  Beautiful though it was, it would have been inappropriate in a smaller venue.

Beautiful though your wedding gown might be, we all know that they are not the most practical garments in the world.  5ft trains are great until you have to trail them around the dancefloor.  Shorter skirts are better for dancing in, so once you've greeted your evening dress, you can easily slip into a party dress for boogying the night away.  Arguably some guests may feel cheated if they didn't get to see you in your fancy finery, but your comfort must be the number 1 priority

Beauty Belle Bonce - the secrets of perfect hair

Up or down.  This is possibly the toughest question posed to any bride.  How to wear your hair on your big day can have a massive impact on your overall bridal look.

The Duchess of Cambridge was criticised in some quarters for not being daring and wearing her hair up on her wedding day.  Yet she followed the golden wedding hair rule: don't do anything dramatically different just because it's your wedding day.  You still need to look like you.  The demi-chignon she opted for was glamorous enough for the big day but was still reflective of her personality.

Short hair needn't be troublesome if you're a bride.  Fashion labels are getting very good at creating intricate Alice bands and beautiful fascinators as delightful alternatives to trailing curls and fussy veils.

Of course, you could always get extensions put in.  And that is not limited to the bride!  When top pop pin-up Peter Andre married glamour model Katie Price in September 2005, he was worried that they would look back on their wedding pictures and his spiky hair would look dated.  To combat this, Pete had extensions put in to give him more of a classic Italian Stallion look.  Both Andre and Price later admitted that the only thing they would do over about their big day was Pete's hair!



By far and away, the worst thing you can do to your chair on your big day is to change it too dramatically.  I can think of no better example of this than Chantelle Houghton who tied the knot with The Ordinary Boys frontman Samuel Preston in August 2006.  She went from her trademark, striking blonde, Paris-Hilton-lookalike tresses to sleek glossy brunette.  Whilst the transformation (in my opinion) suited her, Houghton later admitted that she'd only done it because her beloved didn't like blondes.  She changed who she was because of him; because she was getting married.  And that proved to be a fatal mistake.  10 months later, the marriage was over.

We place a far greater emphasis on hair than perhaps at first we appreciate.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to revamp your self image, so long as you are doing it for the right reasons.  Don't do it to please your other half - you are going to have to spend far more time with that hair than he will.  Never EVER do it just to fit in with your wedding look.  Your wedding lasts for just one day (or a weekend if you're lucky).  Hairstyles can take up to a year to grow out.

If you want a radical one-day look, consider wearing a wig.  You can get ones made from real hair and they are a far easier option that changing your own hair.
Top Haircare Tips:


1: Use warm, not hot, water when washing your tresses.  Having rinsed all the traces of soap out, rinse through quickly with cold water.  This makes your hair glossier.

2: Keep your hair wrapped in a towel for an hour after washing it.  This keeps it softer, even when blow dryed.

3: Blow drying will give it extra body but careful not to overdo it.  Ease off the straighteners in the 8 weeks before the wedding so that you don't scald it.

The Four Seasons - Marrying throughout the year

The tradition in the UK for summer to be the season of marriage stems from two things: 1) Traditionally people took their annual baths in May (which is why it's very unlucky to marry in May) and were still clean-ish to marry in June.  (It's also because people bathed so seldomly that brides traditionally carry a posy of flowers to block out the smell.)  2) In the days before electricity, people used to make as most of the natural light as possible.  Times move on and habits change.  We now get married all year round.  So what are the pros and cons of marrying during the different seasons:

SPRING: March, April, May

According to ancient Biblical myth, the world began in spring, so what a perfect way to begin your marriage.  Outdoor bushes and flowerbeds are blooming at this time of year.  The world really does seem to come alive after the long dark winter.  Spring is definitely the time of year to get hitched if you love your flowers.  Spring blooms are vibrant in colour and rich in sent.  The end of April consistently brings a bout of warm weather - just watch out for those April showers!

SUMMER: June, July, August

The wedding season at it's height!  And because of this, be weary that suppliers will put their prices up, especially venues and hotels.  If you are planning to get married in the summer, make sure you book everything well in advance as locations, photographers, cakemakers and the like get snapped up very very quickly.  Hopefully the weather will be on your site and plenty of extra daylight means you can party for longer.  Just bear in mind: the best summer weather tends to be in July.  June is the month when you're most likely to see a thunderstorm and August is the wettest month of the year in the UK.



AUTUMN: September, October, November

Wedding trends seem to show that in the last five years or so, September is definitely the new June.  It is THE month to get married.  Honeymoon prices certainly go down as the airlines need to persuade people to travel after the school holidays.  If you want to be seen to be quirky, get married in October.  It is the least popular month to marry in.  With November comes the added bonus of fireworks (if you marry around the 5th!) and a Christmassy themed wedding (without the Christmassy price tag) if you get married later in the month.

WINTER: December, January, February

Winter weddings are great for creating cosy, intimate environments.  However, do beware the winter weather.  Snow may seem like a great idea on paper, but it does tend to grind everything to a halt, especially in rural areas.  Suppliers will struggle to get to you and, worse, your guests may do too.  December can be a tricky time, but January is good month for those on a tight budget to get married.  Often venues who bought in extra supplies (e.g. wine) over Christmas will be willing to let you have it at a discount rate.  However in February, thanks to Valentine's Day, availability with certain venues will be limited and the cost of flowers will sky-rocket.

In truth, there is no good or bad time to get married.  There are good things and bad things to be said for every season.  The best time to get married will be known only to you and your-husband-to-be.

Dusting Off the Fairytale - what to do with your dress afterwards

It's probably the most expensive outfit you'll ever buy and the one piece of clothing you'll treasure above all others for the rest of your life.  So once you've wrapped it in acid free paper and a UV-protective cover, what will you do with your wedding dress?

Well, unless you marry royalty, it's unlikely to end up in a museum.  However, that doesn't mean you can't showcase your dress.  Purchasing a mannequin and a display case is not unheard of, but you will require a lot of space and fair bit of cash too.  If you're not adverse to cutting up your dress, if you have some particularly beautiful lace or applique, you could cut it off and then frame it.  Alternatively, you could sew it into a decorative tablecloth.

In these times of austerity and great awareness of reducing waste, some people find it an unnecessary expense to purchase a dress they'll never wear again.  Monsoon is particularly great for creating beautiful yet understated dresses that you can use again and again.

You don't even have to turn to the high street for a dress you can wear again.  The ever-thrifty Duchess of Cornwall has been spotted in the dress she wore to wed Prince Charles many times since her 2005 nuptials.  The dress was a bespoke piece by Robinson Valentine.

If you still want to purchase that dream dress you've had your eye for longer than you care to think about, who knows?  If you put it away now, the generation after you may want to wear it.  Daughters wearing their mother's wedding dresses has boomed in popularity in the last few years; this is due in part to the tough economic climate, but also because nostalgia and all things vintage are very much in vogue at the moment.  Who knows: if you buy that dream dress now, it may well be back in fashion by the time your daughter gets married.