Wedding Wednesdays: The Most Stressful Part of Owning a Wedding Business

Wedding Wednesdays: In between law school and the bar exam, I owned and operated a business/creative team that planned 15 weddings in 15 months.  These are the stories I lived to tell.

I'm going to let you in on a wedding industry secret right now:

The most stressful part of owning a wedding business is not navigating unpredictable or unexpected changes of weather.

Nor is it members of the bridal party not showing up on the wedding day because they are in a groomsman's bed.

Nor is it when the groom steps on the bride's dress and rips it right before they make their grand entrance into the reception hall.

Nor is it when the biggest Bridezilla turns out to the father-of-the-groom.

Nor is it when a drunken bridesmaid interrupts the bride on the dance floor to cry about her singleness and you are asked to intervene.

Nor is it when a Wal-Mart employee makes it his personal mission to ruin the wedding day of a person he has never met.

Nor is it when a drunken groomsman makes veiled threats to you because you allegedly didn't smile at him enough during the wedding rehearsal.

Nor is it when a bridesmaid hands you a mop and asks you to clean up vomit on the dance floor and you're like, hi, I have a law degree.

Nor is it when a local boutique hotel double books the wedding reception for 2 parties: (1) your client's wedding, and (2) the Golden State Warriors to review film before their playoff game.

Nor is it when the grandmother of the bride takes exception to the way you have decorated the reception (even though it is entirely in keeping with the bride's aesthetic and her very own requests) and you have to debate whether or not you should physically remove this elderly woman so she doesn't further disrupt the set-up.

Nor is it when the groom walks into your own home unannounced because he has a question and thought waltzing through your unlocked front door would be a better idea than, I don't know, emailing or calling.

No, none of these things -- and I mean to say not one -- is as stressful as when all the other members of the creative team are occupied and you have to be the one to transport the cake from the kitchen to the venue, and that venue is 30+ minutes away.

Your life flashes before your eyes with every speed bump.

Every pothole.

Every sharp turn.

Every stop sign.

Every squirrel that runs into the road.

However, on the other side of the same coin: there is no greater feeling of relief than when you arrive at the venue, park your car slowly and carefully, exit the vehicle in slow-motion, open the rear hatch door as though you are detonating a bomb, and see for yourself a flawless, perfectly in tact, unscathed wedding cake masterpiece without so much as a drop of icing out of place.

Who needs skydiving and zip-lining?

The biggest adrenaline rushes are to be found in the dead center of the wedding industry.