Weddingbee Blog

I pride myself on having my crap together. I like things to be orderly and organized so that I can minimize the stress and uncertainty in my life. I think I’m pretty darned good at dotting i’s and crossing t’s and get overwhelmingly frustrated when others lack my awesome skills in that department. As a result, the entirety of this wedding planning journey has been taxing but nothing my exceptional organizational powers can’t handle. The only downfall of my inherent planning awesomeness is that when I (infrequently) falter, it’s a long, long, way to fall.

Image via I Can Has Cheezburger

The most recent example of this?

Scheduling my dress fittings. For those of you who don’t actively track my wedding dress progression (for shame!) here’s the run-down: I bought my dress 14 months before my wedding, it came into the shop eight months before my wedding, and I paid it a visit six months before my wedding. During that six-month check-in, one of the consultants working with me pointed out that my alterations would probably be pretty minimal, so I shouldn’t sweat it too much this far out. She then proceeded to say, “You don’t need to worry about alterations until after the 4th of July.”

I think because I was too busy staring at myself in my dress and veil to listen properly, I heard her say, “You don’t need to worry about calling about alterations until after the 4th of July.” Two extra words in my interpretation kind of create a world of difference, eh?

So here I am, twiddling my wedding-dress-related thumbs, dutifully waiting until early July to pick up the phone and schedule an appointment. THANKFULLY, I ordered my BM dresses from the same salon, so when the BM dresses arrived and the store owner called to let me know, we briefly discussed alterations for the BMs. Off-handedly, she remarked that it was good that I had already taken care of my fittings because their summer appointments are filling up fast. My ears did a double-take, so to speak, and I informed her that no, indeed, I had no alterations set up quite yet, as I was told to wait until the 4th of July.

Her response: stone cold silence, followed by a stressed out sigh, and a rapid-fire turning of sheets in what I can only assume would be their appointment book. She then said that we needed to get me in the book right away and she wasn’t sure how many spots they had left for the summer.

It was at this point in time that I started to sweat profusely, sure that I would be walking down the aisle in a dress that was too long, bustle-less, and made for someone who’s actually hit puberty in the bust region (aka not me). Or, I would have to take it to someone like Spike’s Tailoring, who doesn’t care about the differences between a wedding gown and a tablecloth. Thankfully, my day-nightmares were interrupted when the owner informed me she had an appointment left at the very end of July… for our mid-August wedding. This is way closer than I would prefer to cut it, especially given that it’s usually a tjree-appointment journey, but what can I do? Besides build a time machine, listen better, and call earlier, obviously.

Image via Experience It All / Credit: ABC

Let this be a warning to all other brides out there: pay close, close attention to the timeframes your vendors outline, and it’s always better to jump the gun too soon and be told to call back rather than wait it out and be stuck with a serious problem on your hands.

Did you have any big miscommunications during your planning? How did you resolve them?