Bridal Tips | Avoid Wedding Planning Mistakes
Man Throws Out His Best Friend's Wedding Ring in Hopewell Junction
What would you do if you lost your wedding ring? 
Richard Cunningham of Westchester County entrusted a wedding ring to his friend, Michael McLendon. The ring belonged to Richard's late mother who had passed away the previous year.
On the cold, snowy morning of February 25th, Michael had that ring wrapped in a napkin sitting on his kitchen counter. He was going to have it appraised at a local jewelry store for his friend.
Michael took out the trash that morning, came back inside to finish getting ready for work and went to pick up the ring on the counter where he had last seen it. It was nowhere to be seen.
The trash! He had thrown out his friend's ring.
The garbage out front had already been picked up. Michael searched the entire kitchen, hoping and praying that he hadn't actually thrown it out, with no luck. The ring was gone.
Frantic, Michael jumped into his car and sped to the Royal Carting transfer depot on Rte 82 in Hopewell. The truck that had picked up the garbage was still on the road, so Royal Carting requested that it return to the depot.
When the truck came in, Royal Carting's workers sifted through 9 tons of trash for over an hour. Michael wanted to tell them to give up because the task was so disgusting.
Finally, they identified Michael's trash and intensified the search. Fifteen minutes later they found the wedding ring wrapped in a napkin.
Richard Cunningham, who had originally planned to sell his mother's wedding ring, has decided to keep it. Could there be another wedding in its future?Thanks to the heroic Royal Carting workers, there just might be.
How can you prevent this from happening to you?
Glue that ring to your finger! Well, if you have to take it off, place it inside a jewelry box or other secure location where it won't be disturbed and where you will remember to look for it. Make sure that location is well out of reach of children and mischievous felines.
Do you have a tale of wedding woe or disaster narrowly averted? Leave a comment and share the drama!
Wedding Drama: The Tale of the Drunken Chauffeur
I'm extremely nervous about writing this blog post. After days of tireless contemplation (okay, slight exaggeration) I'm finally ready to lay it all on the table with...the 
tale of the Drunken Chauffeur. I think enough time has passed that I can purge my soul of this wedding drama and the mistake we made when we were fledgling DJs that has haunted me ever since.
These events really happened...to me. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Long, long ago at a Hudson Valley wedding not so far away, Sarah and Joe were celebrating their union with a traditional wedding reception. Jeff and I were the DJs.
Everything started out normally enough. The bridal party was running a little late. Guests were mingling in the cocktail hour, munching on pigs in a blanket, drinking white wine out of Dixie cups and gulping Coors Lite at the bar.
Finally, the bride and groom arrived. We had our introduction music ready to go, the first dance song was cued. We were ready.
A gust of wind swept into the ballroom as the door was thrust open. A short gentleman in a limousine driver outfit and a chauffeur's cap on his head rushed up to us.
"The bride and groom are here!" he panted. I noticed the dirty fingerprints on his glasses. "I need the microphone. I'm supposed to announce them."
I looked at Jeff. Jeff looked at me. No one had told us about this, but this little man seemed pretty confident.
"Hurry! They're about to arrive," he insisted.
I picked up the microphone, looked at it, and reluctantly handed it to him.
The little limo driver stood as tall as he could manage and strode to the center of the dance floor. "Attention! Attention, everyone," he said in the manner and personality of an air traffic controller.
He cleared his throat into the microphone. "Prepare to receive. Prepare to receive. The bride and groom are about to arrive."
Sarah and Joe stumbled into the hall to join their guests, still straightening their garments from the limo ride, looking embarrassed. The limo drive puffed up his chest and handed us back the microphone.
"What was that about?" the bride asked us five minutes later. "That guy is a freak!"
I wanted to shrink into the floor and my ears burned. I apologized profusely.
Sarah, a beautiful bride with cascading auburn hair, smiled at me. "It's no big deal."
The night proceeded mostly as planned, though the reception hall (run by a staff of sixteen year olds) seemed to forget they were supposed to feed the guests; Jeff and I had to remind them almost three hours into the reception. "Uh, aren't you guys going to feed these people?"
Dance after dance the guests partied...and the limo driver sat at the bar. Drinking. A lot. By the end of the night he was...how do I put it?...completely sloshed.
The bride and groom were forced to call a cab because there was no way they were climbing into a limo driven by a drunken chauffeur on their wedding night.
As for the limo driver, let's just say he hadn't demonstrated the best judgment. The groom was a police officer and there were dozens of cops among the guests. I think he went home in handcuffs.
What did we learn from this fiasco?
Never, never, ever give the microphone to anyone at a wedding unless the bride and groom tell us they would like them to speak. Never.
(This is Toasting Rule #1, by the way. Even if the father of the bride wants to say something, if he is not on the agenda I will still clear it with her first.)
How can you prevent this from happening to you?
- Check your references. I'm sure if this couple had called around a bit before hiring the drunken limo driver, they would have found a list of complaints a mile long.
- Instruct your reception hall NOT to serve drinks to your wedding vendors. Especially the ones responsible for driving you home. Yeah.
- And by all means, be specific about who is and who is not allowed to use the microphone at your wedding.
Got a drunken tale of wedding woe to share? Leave me a comment.
Bride Loses $17,000 When Hudson Valley Wedding Location Goes Bankrupt
Jennifer Daddio of Queens was thrilled to book her wedding at the Monteverde in Oldstone Manor, NY. The 1760 restaurant and inn boasts 29 acres with magnificent views of 
the Hudson River, the perfect spot for an unforgettable Hudson Valley wedding. It seemed her dream wedding was about to come true. Until...
The bride learned that the Monteverde's owners had filed for bankruptcy...only 8 days after she had signed a contract for a wedding hosting 200 guests...and after she had plunked down a deposit quoted as $9,600-$17,000 (depending on which newspaper you read.)
This spunky bride, who also happens to be an attorney, is suing for damages. You can read more about her wedding nightmare here.
Will she succeed? Not likely.
When a business declares bankruptcy, you become an "unsecured creditor." In short, you're SOL and any deposit you've paid is lost. If the company has any recoverable assets, you'll be standing behind a long line of creditors waiting for their share of the leftovers.
How can you prevent this from happening to you?
Check Reputations Before You Book
First, let me put this out there--in almost 10 years working in the wedding business only ONE of our weddings was forced to cancel because the location went bankrupt. The chances of this happening to you are pretty slim.
However, make sure you thoroughly check your venue's references. Check for complaints with the Better Business Bureau and do a Google search for reviews. If your location has a long-standing reputation of excellence in the area, this is a very good sign.
Read Your Contract
Before you sign that contract, make sure you read and understand every bit of it...even the fine print.
Ask what happens if the venue is unable to fulfill its commitments. Is your deposit refundable? Under what conditions?
Make sure you feel comfortable with the terms of the agreement before you make it official.
Consider Wedding Insurance
If the possibility of being stood up by your wedding venue is already giving you nightmares, wedding insurance might be just the Valium you need to ease those anxieties.
You can purchase wedding insurance to cover event cancellation due to weather, illness or bankruptcy by any vendor and it even covers loss of deposits.
I found comprehensive wedding insurance policies available through WedSafe. Event cancellation coverage on a $25,000 New York wedding with an additional $1 million in liability coverage costs $349. Not too bad for peace of mind.
If you do buy wedding insurance, make sure you read the fine print and understand exactly what is covered and what is not, as well as any required deductibles before payment. And check with the BBB regarding the insurance company's reputation.
Today's lesson in wedding drama prevention: check references, read your contracts and minimize your risk. Then ditch the stress and get back to having fun planning your wedding!
(Jeez. I'm beginning to think I missed my calling as an insurance rep!)
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