Looking Back, Continued…
May 19th, 2008 @ 12:58 pm by Mrs. Corn
This installment of my ‘Looking Back’ series* focuses on one of the details about my big day that I wish I had done differently:I wish I had had someone test out our directions to the venue prior to sending out our map.
I checked, double checked and triple checked the directions on our map and was completely satisfied with them when I put them in the invitations to our guests. Sadly, although the directions themselves were (pardon-me-while-I-pat-myself-on-the-back) perfect, the instructions on where to park were not included.Whoops.
This wouldn’t have been such an issue if the peninsula where Fort Adams is wasn’t also the home to the Eisenhower House, another wedding venue.
So, as it was, some of our guests ended up at someone else’s wedding. Thankfully, they realized their mistake once they figured out that the bride coming down the aisle wasn’t me, and they were able to get to our ceremony in time to at least see most of the wedding (hence the previous posting about my wishing I had waited just a few minutes for all of my guests to arrive instead of rushing down the aisle as the clock struck 5:00pm).
It also wouldn’t have been such an issue if the normal-every-day parking area for the fort wasn’t a 7 minute walk from where our ceremony was.
Nor would this have been such an issue if I had gone with my gut instinct and made a slew of “Zucker-Bradford Wedding” signs.
But most importantly, none of this would have been an issue, if I had just had someone try out the directions. Because no matter how ‘perfect’ your instructions are…your directions are only as strong as your weakest, uh, direction.
—–
*Previously in this series…
I’m so glad I did this:
renting a full length mirror
setting my DIY deadline for a week out from the wedding
I wish I could fix this:
being too proud to start a few minutes late
Related Posts
7 Responses to “Looking Back, Continued…”
We ended up driving all the routes on our directions at about 10:30 on a Tuesday night, the day before I sent everything to the printer. Not fun, and especially not fun getting up to go to work the next morning, but I’m glad we did it. We didn’t actually find any mistakes, but we did reassure ourselves that the directions were right, which made me feel much better about okaying the print run.
Glad I could help, MsAnge!
I think I was so cocky about the directions because I had gotten them directly off the website for the Fort and followed them myself when we first went to visit the site. The difference was that when we went to visit, we just went-to-the-fort whereas our wedding had its own parking area due to how far away from the front of the fort the ceremony was.
Oh well 
Thank you for this series Mrs. Corn. Also thanks for the recommendation of Colleen from Classic Weddings, I lover her!
I also think that this is a great series! Thanks so much for doing it.
this really is very helpful. We will have to do something similiar as we are marrying on a college campus and guests will have to park about 3 meandering blocks away. if you’re not familiar with the campus (as 99% of our guests wont be) you wouldn’t have a clue as to where the chapel was……i will definitely walk out the directions and make multiple cue signs along the way….
Thanks!
this is a great series. we should have tested out directions to my brother’s venue… half the guests got lost. 
Mrs. Corn, Newport, RI
Age and Occupation in '07: 31, HR for public accounting firm
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Consultant for public accounting firm
Engagement Date: October 7, 2006
Wedding Date: September, 2007
Blogging Since: June 1, 2007
Venue: North Lawn of Fort Adams State Park
About Me: I am a lazy scrapbooker who loves the instant gratification of making cards and I am very easily distracted by all things shiny. In honor of my childhood nights spent hibachi BBQing on the beach with my family, we are hosting a traditional New England Clambake for our reception.
I just want to take a moment to thank you for this series! I love, love LOVE all of the beautiful projects that are blogged about on a daily basis, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I just want someone to hold my hand and walk me through the practical aspects, like mirrors and directions, lol. My wedding is going to be in my hometown and has ample parking on site (it’s a hotel so I would hope so!), but a lot of our guests will be coming from out of town, so I think I’ll have one of my bridesmaids actually drive the directions I’m going to include to make sure the street signs are all clear, etc. Thank you for the advice!