Weddingbee Blog

I recently made a request of my bridesmaids. With 5 girls living in 5 different states and knowing the general nature of travel, forgetfulness, or miscellaneous mishaps, I opted to hedge my bets on the possibility of something going awry. I hate to be a pain—or worse, a bridezilla!—but basically, I allowed myself a paranoid bride moment.

My request? Ship your bridesmaid dress to Providence in advance of the wedding. Track it, insure it, the whole shebang.

Why? Flights get delayed, canceled, re-booked, and bags get lost. If you’re flying in the day (or even two) before, you don’t want a lost bag arriving the morning of the wedding. Or after the wedding. Or whatever. Alternatively, because we all have our moments, you hang the dress outside your closet because it’s the one thing you have to remember, and it’s the one thing you forget to pack. It could happen.

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So, here’s where my story gets good:

I made this request to all of my bridesmaids. They kind of rolled their eyes, but sweetly agreed to ship their dresses—all except Bridesmaid Who Shall Not Be Named. She quickly told me that she would meet my request but she would NEVER check a bridesmaid dress—she would hand carry it—and it’s certainly something that’s hard to forget. We teased each other, and I told her to “oblige my craziness” and she agreed.

The following weekend she was in her cousin’s wedding in Florida. I got a call from her saying that I wouldn’t believe what happened. SHE FORGOT HER BRIDESMAID DRESS. Yes, indeed. My urge to blurt out, “I told you so! See, it happens!!!” was painful. But, alas, “OMG, what happened?” came out instead.

Essentially, she and her then-boyfriend now-fiance were checking in at the airport. She suddenly realized that she had forgotten her bridesmaid dress. Knowing her boyfriend couldn’t grab the dress as quickly as she could, she hopped in a cab and raced back to her apartment. Unfortunately, she ran out of time and missed her flight. It was the last flight to Sarasota for the evening, and the next best thing was a flight to Orlando. She booked it, and her father was kind enough to drive 2.5 hours each way to retrieve her the night before the wedding. I think it’s safe to say they missed the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. All that hassle over a darn dress.

Am I bragging about being right? A titch. But also I’m sharing my rationale for what initially seemed like a slightly irrational request. Go figure.

Did you have any crazy bridal requests? Have any of your irrational fears become reality?