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Wedding day can sometimes change into a day of pressures for the couple themselves. Various unexpected issues can wash away the smiles on either their face or their family's. As wedding planners, you should have beware of the worst possibilities with A-Z precautions.

Here are several common unexpected problems on the wedding day, and how some experienced wedding planners take the solutions.

Technical issues
From lighting problem to screen troubleshooting, those electronic's problems can possibly happen. For Cynthia Octaviani from Chandani Weddings, it is important to assign a responsible committee directly to some vendors. Thus, if a problem occurs, it can be handled as soon as possible since the internal parties will give hands.

Item discrepancy
Not only vendor's, but sometimes a miscommunication between planner and bride's family can also cause item's shortage, or even unavailability. Sparing a time to check all items before the event begins is how Renate Selena and her team at Artea Organizer avoid that issue. If there is a discrepancy, they will ask helps from vendors. Therefore, it is very important for wedding planners to have a wide vendor's connection.

Rundown modification
A shift in the schedule or the whole rundown commonly happens, and it causes by various factors. Renate follows several steps to work on that. For example, spare 30-60 minutes in the rundown to anticipate an urgent situation. Other than that, Plan B is also needed if the initial plan did not work out as it should be. Since there are a lot of parties involve in the wedding day, Renate also never forgets to send a reminding messages to vendors regarding the rundown when D Day is approaching.

Internal family issues
Cynthia and her Chandani Weddings' team understand if each family's needs are different. Therefore, they never hesitate to ask them to fill questionnaire forms to make sure that there will be no internal needs missing, especially during the D Day. If a family relative takes a role as a committee, it is also possible that they cannot be contacted on the D Day. In order to prevent this issue, Cynthia always asks for an alternative relative's contact for emergency.

For Chandani Weddings, family factor is the most challenging factor during the wedding celebration series. Different arguments between the soon-to-be newlyweds and their family sometimes cannot be avoided. Hence, the wedding planner should have a good communication skill in order to make a mediation. "An interpersonal communication skill is also necessary because a planner is not only the event leader, but also a personal assistant and a best friend to the bride and groom," Cynthia explained. Not only that, Cynthia also believes that a great time and stress management from each of her team is highly desired since on-field condition on the D Day can be overwhelming.

Different from that, Artea Organizer confessed that the rundown detail is the most challenging part on the D Day. Coordinating with a lot of parties demands the team to maintain agile, initiative and creative, so everyone feels comfortable in collaborating and presenting the best results. "A good teamwork is the basic thing to always be agile on the field during the entire wedding party," Renate added.

D-Day CHALLENGES During NEW NORMAL WEDDING

During the new normal era, the challenges for wedding planners are increasing. Hendro Gotama from Hilda by Bridestory shared his experiences while handling weddings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Limited Wedding Venue Capacity
Due to the capacity limit of the meeting halls and ballrooms across the country, the bride and groom are need to reduce the number of guests or split the event into different times. In addition, in accordance with the national regulation of large-scale social distancing, social-related events are only allowed until 9:00 pm. The problem occurs when the first shift's guests arrive late which delays the next session. As a solution, the crew will remind the master of ceremony to close the session and announce the guests that the reception is finally coming to an end.

Tight Rundown
Because of the new regulation of event restriction during PSBB, all vendors must be able to work effectively and faster. If there is a vendor who is incapable, the wedding organizer team must step in, even if it is not their job. "I have experienced when there was a decoration vendor who was unable to finish their work on time. To prevent a rundown delay, we decided to be involved in order to finish the installment," Hendro described the situation which has caused the vendor's credibility to decline.

Less D-Day Crew
"We usually have 12 staff on the D-day, but during a new normal wedding, we can only assign six people," Hendro admitted. It is indeed more challenging since one staff needs to work multi-tasking which is causing the lack of attention on some items. It can also happen among other on-duty vendors. To tackle this, vendors need to support each other, even though it is not their responsibility, to perform the best efforts for a successful new normal wedding.

Guests Missing Covid-19 Test Results
Many couples ask their guests to have a COVID-19 swab test independently, and they can attend the wedding by bringing the test reports showing negative results. However, what might happen was some guests arrive without test results, whereas the WO team did not provide any medical personnel on site. It has forced Hendro and Hilda by Bridestory team to spontaneously provide an on-site rapid test facility.

Vendors and the Couple's Family Declared Covid-19 Positive Before The D-Day
It was a real story for Hilda by Bridestory. Once, a vendor, who will work closely to the bride-to-be, was declared reactive based on his rapid test result. Soon, he needed to take a PCR swab test to make sure he didn't have an active virus in his body. If the result is negative, the vendor was allowed to continue to work. However, the case will be handled differently if a family member tested positive for COVID-19. Since they still wanted to continue the wedding, unfortunately, Hilda by Bridestory decided to resign as a D-day wedding crew. Furthermore, each team member was obliged to take tests and do self-quarantine.

Undoubtedly, every wedding planner or wedding vendor has different on-field challenges. These challenges also depend on the party size and specific requests from the clients. If you have a different experience, do not hesitate to share your story on the comment box below.