Whatever you do, please, make sure your wedding is not rumored as the wedding from hell. I know you are wondering what exactly is a wedding from hell and how do I prevent this from happening to me? This is an easy question to answer because through the rumor mill, people have told me of their experience with such a wedding. First, an example of a wedding from hell is one that serves you beer instead of wine; every body can wear their "every day clothes," people are not modest in their actions; and more than likely it will be held in their own backyard. There are several factors you need to consider to prevent this from happening: make sure during the wedding planning process you are organized, guests are pleased, and you don't turn into a "bridezilla."



Foremost, you need to make sure you stay organized during the wedding planning process and the actual wedding. For example, you need to have ushers sit your guests in their seat in an orderly fashion. This will allow a prompt wedding ceremony. An acquaintance of mine went to a wedding where the guests seated themselves and it was a disaster. People were arguing over seats they had saved for other guests that had not arrived. You know what happened next, the bride got involved and the wedding ceremony started late. She also told me that after the wedding they had to wait thirty minutes before they were assigned seats in the reception area. The problem was ushers were checking guests off using the old check-list system. My brother-in-law went to a wedding that was very organized. The bride had a table with favors that had the guest's name and table they were assigned to. This made for a smooth transition and guests were seated quickly. If you consider this too costly you can use a place card.

Furthermore, I encourage every bride to be more universal when choosing wedding favors. You need to keep everyone in mind. For example, a friend of mine participated in a recent wedding and the bride chose butterfly key chains as her wedding favor. A butterfly key chain does not have a masculine appeal. The bride gave family members CD's and custom made t-shirts. If you are going to do something like this, do it for all your guests.

Secondly, you need to make sure your guests are pleased. There is nothing worse than having people at your wedding who look bored, tired and restless. I attended a wedding where the bride chose a band solely as the entertainment for her wedding. I enjoyed the band for the first thirty minutes, but I became bored and disengaged. I was not the only one. It must have been embarrassing to the bride when her mother-in-law was photographed asleep at the table.

Most importantly, please, do not become a "bridezilla." My best friend's sister just got married and she was a "bridezilla." She didn't have any fun at her wedding and made every one feel miserable during the whole ordeal. Her only focus was the dance her bride's maids were going to perform during the reception. She didn't even have an engagement party because she wanted them to rehearse every week leading up to the wedding. She didn't realize she had burnt them out and by the time it came down to the actual performance they choked. She scorned them afterwards and blamed them for ruining her wedding. Sometimes it's hard for us to take responsibility when all we want is for everything to go perfectly. However, you must be considerate of others, even on your special day.