How To Handle Mistakes While Planning A Client's Wedding
[[ 1491199200 * 1000 | amDateFormat: 'll']] | 5,461 viewsMistakes, unthinkable slips, forgotten duty, … are they ever inevitable? To know that you've done something wrong is a wedding vendor's biggest nightmare - especially since your job include paying attention all the way from major to minute details that affect somebody else's big day and lifetime memory. With this in mind, we want to help you overcome unforeseen if you happen to have blundered on the job.
The After-Effect
Well, it is normal for you to feel bad over it, especially if you are a perfectionist. However if you let it eat you, there's a likeness for you to experience self doubt, counterproductive and feel stressed. So don't let it be burden, perhaps you've just got too many client weddings to take care and things slipped out of your control. Allow yourself to feel bad about it but don't take too long to grieve about because it's not a fatal mistake. Don't beat yourself up about it, because in the end your client will still have her 'happily ever after'.
What to do after making a mistake?
Guilt aside, what would you do when the mistake is done? Since there is no rewind button in our life, so we've got to pull-up the adult pants and face what's in front of us. Don't be nervous and follow our lead!
1. Admit and apologize
Once you made a mistake, big or small, apologize for it directly. We know your next step is trying to cover it with a solution but, don't wait until your client pinpoints and pick up your mistake to you. Apologize to them, but remember to not overdo it. What's important is the act of your mistake acknowledgement and feeling genuinely sorry for the error you made.
2. Tell them how it happened
It's not that you want to save face, but a little explanation could help to let your clients understand about the mishap you did. Too many wedding to handle, or accidentally sent the wrong shipment for other clients as long as you acknowledge it. For the exception if you're making a mistake big enough to form a huge chaos, it's inexcusable, you probably will get reprimanded.
3. Take responsibility
Your next step is to crack up solutions and alternative to cover for your mistake. For instance, you've put up a wrong order for the archway decor your client want - she wants calla lilies but you ordered normal lilies. What to do? Immediately resort to a back-up plan, find solution to create a makeshift substitute when possible. Try your hardest and show how you genuinely care about their wedding and earn back your trust.
4. Avoid getting cold feet
Sometimes, your apology doesn't get through easily and in the end the relation you have with your client might go sideways. In this case, don't be discouraged to approach your client to go through the wedding details. Don't act cold towards them and cue Selena Gomez's song "Kill them with kindness" now. They chose you as their wedding vendor, so they expect you to be the best. So with the mistake you made, disappointment is what you can expect out of them. Just give full effort to mend the relation to let your clients get what they deserve.
Overcoming The Guilt
Don't let a mistake discourage yourself and go through self-doubt. We know the chances of making a mistake is always there, but in the end people will forget and so should you. Don't let the guilt eat you, follow these recovery tips to put burden off your back.
- Give yourself a breather
Release negative vibes and frustration over your hectic schedule and calls with clients. You deserve to breath out, relax and for once let loose of your surroundings. We know how tiring it is to work with weddings and the high expectations people have on you. So have a break, go for a yoga class or just simple talk (read: rant) it out to your close friend. - Always have Plan-Z
As a precautionary effort for future wedding projects, we know wedding vendors always have a plan-b on their pockets. What if the worst happens? That's where plan-Z comes in, anticipate the very worst wedding crisis and think of the possibilities to tackle them. This way you can quickly make amendments to the mishap. - Let it go
The song by Idina Menzel for Disney's 'Frozen' says it all. No matter how much you've screwed up, leave it be. What's done has been done so there's no need to get emotional and feel the resent. Eventually the wedding is not going to be catastrophic. Let it go, let it go!
In the wedding industry, even a tiny mistake can cause big troubles too. Have you ever made a minor or major mistake that has affected your client's wedding? Tell us your story and how you overcame it on the comment box below!
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