I’ve tried to be prepared for whatever disaster might ensue on our wedding day. The weather is completely out of my control and we’re doing a tent wedding, so I can only hope for sunny skies and mild heat. I’ve strategically worked through all the little last minute details that I’m afraid might come up, so hopefully there won’t be any late night last minute sprints to the finish line. The Fiance and I even spent a good eight hours on the seating chart this weekend, and things are looking good.

One thing that I did not anticipate, however, was a dress issue three weeks out. Fortunately it’s not mine, but unfortunately it involves all eight bridesmaid dresses, which are currently all en route back to New York. It all started last week when I got an e-mail that nearly made my head explode . . . fortunately The Fiance took cover as I worked through the initial panic. Here’s what happened.

The bridesmaids and I picked the dresses last October, and I made sure to place the order about eight months out (plenty of time, right?). They received the dress in mid-April, which gave them eons of time to get their alterations. A few girls called to say that the dresses were beautiful but pretty full of static, which we all chalked up to the transport in plastic bags. Fortunately one of my bridesmaids was going to Australia for two months prior to the wedding, so she got her alterations done before she left and sent the dress to my parents’ house. While I was home in late May, I noticed that the dress still seemed filled with static, so I e-mailed Bella Bridesmaid in Milwaukee, where we got the dresses, and asked if they were familiar with the problem and if they had any suggestions. They contacted Jenny Yoo, and responded with a tip from their rep about placing a safety pin at the bottom of the lining. I applied two pins and hoped for the best. When I came home in early June, I revisited the dress and it was still sporting a lethal static cling, which is when the panic set in. We tried dryer sheets; we tried static guard; we tried steaming. Nothing seemed to work.

I contacted the owner of Bella and asked her what we should do. At this point the wedding was in a little more than a month, and I was starting to have visions of the girls walking down the aisle with the dress wrapped around their legs. The owner asked if we could send her two dresses, which she would then send to Jenny Yoo in New York, so they could check the fabric and see what solutions they might be able to come up with. We promptly obliged, and two dresses went off to New York two weeks ago.

Last Monday, we got our answer. Something was wrong with the chiffon they used in our dresses, and despite their best attempts, they couldn’t alleviate the issue. One Monday (two days before the Fourth of July) we got an e-mail asking if all the girls could get their dresses in the mail by Friday, so Jenny Yoo could swap out the liner of each gown, and return it to us, roughly by July 20 (one week before the wedding). I frantically contacted each of my bridesmaids, asking them to get their dress in the mail ASAP. Of course, the fact that it’s a holiday weekend, drastically complicated the issue. One girl was out of town for two weeks, so she had to overnight her garage door opener to a friend and call in a favor. Another’s tailor was closed for the week of the holiday, so we’re still hoping that one gets there with enough time. Two of the girls are sending their dresses without alterations, so they’ll have to get theirs tweaked when they arrive in Green Bay two days before the wedding. The liner that they are replacing our current dresses with is a slightly different color than the existing one, so they’re shipping us the new fabric, just to ensure there’s not a noticeable difference. And to top it all off, we still don’t even know if this solution will work!

In the grand scheme of things, I know this isn’t a huge issue, and at least it’s being dealt with three weeks before the wedding as opposed to one. And if all goes according to plan, it’s an issue that will be resolved before the wedding even begins, which makes me lucky, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been a huge headache for all involved.  I’m very fortunate to have bridesmaids who, despite the added annoyance to their holiday vacation, were right on top of getting this issue resolved. Also, the owner of Bella Bridesmaid has been fantastic throughout this whole process. She’s tried to help alleviate any of my concerns, and she definitely made it a top priority, which I appreciate. But the one thing I’ve taken from this whole bump in the road (aside from a few new tricks on how to combat static cling) is that despite how perfectly you plan, something will go wrong. All that matters is that you try to tackle it with some level of sanity and calm. During those first 24 hours, I let myself get pretty worked up over it, and if this had happened on the eve of my wedding, I may have let a bad attitude shadow what should be the happiest day of my life. So there’s my silver lining: I’m now, hopefully, better equipped for whatever issues might ensue on July 28 . . . let’s just hope it’s not rain.

What issues have you dealt with during your planning? Any tips for brides-to-be on how to avoid common problems? We’d love to hear on our Facebook page or in the comments below!