All this makes me want to go to the courthouse!

That's cute.

Although you know he's bringing that up every time he messes up from here on out.

Too true! Hahaha, "Mary and Herman"!!!

That's so sweet!

And poor honeychile! I can't even imagine. I would likely throw a fit if my wedding was going that way.

Most of my wedding went pretty well so a couple of the bad things were fairly minor:
- I HATED the corsages and boutenniers for the parents. They were hideous. The rest of the flowers were fine, but those things were ugly. When I talked about creating something custom, she should've just said "I can't do that" instead of "sure!".
- Our wedding was outside in August, so we handed out fans in our wedding color (red). I hate being hot. Well, it didn't rain, but it was a little cool. So really it was comfortable- but made the fans useless.

However, one bad thing did happen that completely shadowed the entire day:
- I got a migraine. I'd suffered from them off & on for about 7 years and because they were relatively infrequent (every few months) I didn't have any medication. Well this was one of the worst- including my first experience with intense nausea and heat chills. My hair & makeup person was so great about it- as I was huddled in the chair with my eyes closed, she was trying to pin my updo as gingerly as possible. We have a picture of one of my bridesmaids running to the venue with saltines and coke. I remember my bridesmaids and friends from out of town coming in so exuberant and excited, only to be told "shh, she has a migraine!" and sit huddled at the edge of the room. All that delicious food we had tasted terrible, my dress was miserable because it was hot and heavy, the last thing I wanted to do was have a first dance (and really I only made it about half the dance)... you get the picture. I'm not an overly outgoing preson, but I was feeling less than social that day.

I also wound up getting a migraine on leg 2 of our honeymoon. It started to hit on the flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago, and fully manifested in the Santiago airport. If anyone's been to Santiago, they have a very lengthy customs process. Not only do you have to clear customs, but you also have to pay tax for visiting. Two extensive lines. By the time we finally got up to customs, the agent looked at me so sympathetically when I asked where the bathroom was... it was a good 5 minute walk past customs. My husband stayed there to get stamped while I stumbled for the bathroom... I was very fortunate that customs agent was so nice. My first day in Chile was less than pleasant.

I got a prescription for migraine medication as soon as we got back. I've had other very unfortunate times (like when we had my family over for Christmas or 10 minutes before my friend's bridal shower), but those definitely took the cake.

On the bright side, you can't tell how miserable I was in most of the pictures.

I have been HIGHLY entertained reading things. Thank you, everyone. :)

honeychile gets an award. A big, shiny, gold award.

I just realized something. We've been to several weddings recently and the MOB, MOG, (grandmothers were dead) didn't wear flowers. So much nicer, in my opinior, than wearing a giant flower that looks like a third boob.

I'm glad I entertained y'all. I did think I'd mention that my story is on pages 3 AND 4, though. (And my guy marvels at my non-bridezilla attitude! Maybe I'll let him read why.)

ETA: I'll throw in one thing that didn't happen, but I recently saw a picture of it and maybe I'll share it. We were talking to the florist and somehow, the traditional of the cake smashing in the face came up. Whether it's urban legend or not, she mentioned a bride who had warned her husband not to smash the cake or else. Of course, he smashed the cake, and she picked up the cake knife and stabbed him! I turned to my then-fiance and said, "and let that be a lesson to you!" In all of the cake cutting pictures, you can tell that I have a death grip on the cake knife!

I'm still trying to figure out who Mary and Herman were!

wrigley and I had dinner tonight, and I mentioned the infamous "Herman and Mary". I'm bumping this as I compose "Bad Wedding Karma Deux".

At least the groom was right this time around!

Oh honeychile-- I am in TEARS laughing (or is it crying) over your day...

My anniversary is in a few days and this thread got me "re-living" my day... the highlight(s) of my seemingly very smooth wedding included:

A drunk in-law who got up at our rehearsal dinner and proceeded to tell a very funny yet very touching story-- the only problem was the story was about my DH and his old college girlfriend… (can we just say awkward?)

A Groomsman knocked on my DH’s hotel door 10 mins before they needed to be at the church saying he had lost a shoe??? (HOW does one even do that?) Since my husband couldn’t “fix” this problem the guy thus came down the aisle with one “tux shoe” and one brown loafer— (WHY oh WHY wouldn’t you just wear TWO shoes that matched instead of one and one???)

I lost so much weight due to stress that my dress had been altered within an inch of its life- I then proceeded to lose more before the wedding and on the day of it didn’t fit!!!! The only solution my mother could come up with was stuffing the top with socks… thus taking me from a (somewhat hopeful A cup to something akin to Dolly Partton) - the dress fit but guest (and husband) reactions were rather priceless….

I ended up HATING my photographer and my only bridezilla moment came when I yelled at him in the church to “HURRY THE “cuss word” up or just get the “another cuss word” out”… thus appalling all involved, being yelled at by my mother like I was a 4 year old and DH and I ending up with no photos of the reception as he actually did “get the “cuss word” out…. ".

Our limo driver who was from out of town assured us he knew where the country club was … he didn’t… (he was lucky I had gotten my frustrations out on the photographer- AND that the car was stocked with champagne)

A bridesmaid who was an “I had to ask” bridesmaid- got very drunk and proceeded to tell anyone who would listen what a bitch I was because the monograms on her bridesmaid gift were in blue and I KNEW she hated the color blue and picked that color because I hated her…. (oooookay I actually did it because they matched the dresses- but I guess I did that to spite her too…)

However now ALL of these things provide wonderful laughs— but I do tell my husband “we should have eloped”….

Keep these stories coming!

My wedding day went pretty well overall! My 4 year anniversary is next month. We were getting married outside in mid-June at a country club. The day of the rehearsal, it is of course very hot outside! The day of, it was actually quite pleasant. Some clouds started to roll in just before the ceremony and there was a nice breeze!

They say that if it rains on your wedding day, it's supposed to be good luck. We got most of the group pics in of bridal party and family and a few of just DH and I prior to a thunderstorm rolling in. I had wanted to go out onto the golf course and take a few pics there, but the rain prevented that. However, we still got some decent photos of us on the front steps of the country club where we were covered from the rain.

The only thing that sticks out in my head about something going wrong the day of my wedding was that the 3 1/2 year old son of one of my bridesmaids (this was the friend my DH and I had met through), somehow got a hold of an epi pen and stabbed himself with it at home. They had to take him to the ER. (Most importantly) he was ok, and she was able to make it in time to get ready at the venue. Wedding went on as planned. It was more something going wrong for the bridesmaid.

My dear husband and I had an interesting day.

My father showed up. I do not have a relationship with him. He thought he would be playing a role. Um, yeah, not so much. His very thoughtful wedding gift? A $40 "silver" tea set from Service Merchandise that was impossible to return because there was no receipt.

My sister broke up with her boyfriend the day before she flew into St. Louis for the wedding. She was a hot mess the entire weekend, and I was thanking God that I only had to deal with 1 bridesmaid.

Our florist was suffering from the effects of HIV, and passed away not long after our wedding. A week before the wedding, however, he was no where to be found and he had not contacted the caterer to get into the venue to set up a decorating time. Our caterer got us another florist for wedding flowers - I had two sets when the original florist showed up. Thank my lucky stars I have a wonderful mama who just said quietly to the second florist "let me get you my visa card and I will pay for all of this. Thank you for coming on short notice".

Our wedding cake was wrong. It had tiers. I did not want tiers. It was tasty and delicious none the less. We have a very funny picture of my husband and I getting ready to cut the cake and he finally looks at it. He's got the greatest "wtf" look on his face.

It rained. Not a gentle rain. A torential downpour. It started the afternoon of our wedding and continued raining until Wednesday of the following week. Yeah yeah good luck and all, but the pictures inside the church were very very dark with no sunlight outside.

My husband spilled red wine on my wedding dress at the reception. I have no idea to this day if it came out.

Our honeymoon, if one could call it that, was the real kicker. Remember the rain above? My husband decided we should go to Chicago for a couple of days after the wedding. It was snowing in Chicago. It was the coldest May weekend on record and I had not planned on cold weather clothing having never been to Chicago before. All I wanted was to sleep, and my husband thought we should be up at 6 every day to sightsee. It is a wonder that we stayed married after that weekend.

He did make it up to me. We took a real honeymoon in Grenada after we had been married 5 years.

20 years later, we're still going strong.

...the hell? Anyone who thinks there is any possibility that I'd be up at 6 EVER is not a person I'd marry in the first place.

How did you not know about this before you hitched yourself to this ...person?... for life?

(Please note that I am posting this at ~4:30 am. I have not yet slept, and am heading to bed. I am a big-time night person. Morning people are welcome to do their thing at whatever time, and bless their happy little morning hearts, but the one who tries to force me to join them to do anything at 5:55? Will get their arm ripped off, and then I will beat them to death with it. I'm only kind of joking. Sorta.)

My husband and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in July. I didn't sleep a wink the night before the wedding, because I was anxious about everything that could go wrong. However, it all went off without a "hitch."

The only major issue occurred right before the wedding, when we realized that my husband's ring wasn't attached to the ring bearer's pillow. I was a traditionalist, and I felt that if there is a ring bearer, he really should bear the ring. Plus, he was a bit older than is typical (8) and his flower girl sister was 6 -- they were neighbors I had babysat since birth and I was very attached to them (so it wasn't just a "courtesy pick"). It wasn't his fault...the ribbon and pin were still attached, so the adult who "attached" it must not have done a good job. Anyway, everyone was seated and we were ready to start, and unbeknownst to the guests and our parents, the wedding party was running around the rest of church trying to find the ring! The ring bearer's dad had actually pulled his own band off and we were going to use that instead, when someone found it in the parlor, where we'd taken many of the pictures. Whew! I attached the ring to the pillow myself, and away we went!

During the service, the ring bearer and flower girl kept moving closer and closer to us, so they could get a better view. My MOH sister was trying to quietly signal them them to stay in place, but it didn't work. They ended up standing right in front of us throughout most of the ceremony, and you can see the flower girl scratching her bottom during the video. We all got a laugh watching that! I actually found this to be charming...most of the time the kids are bored, but they were really into it!

It was probably a good thing they stood in front of us, because we needed them for camouflage. During the service, my husband's face was sweating PROFUSELY. We were facing each other during our vows, and I was trying to subtly back away so he wouldn't drip face sweat on my silk ballgown-style dress! Ewwww...I was shooting him dirty looks during the vows, as if he could control the sweating. We had a good laugh with the minister afterward. Seriously, though, it was gross.

We had a very nice country club reception, and there was supposed to be a shrimp sauce over the chicken, but the kitchen forgot to plate the meal with the sauce, so they brought it out in gravy boats. Nowadays, people would probably assume that was intentional, to accommodate those with food sensitivities, but I don't think we were that enlightened back then.

I had a morning wedding and afternoon reception, because I liked the British idea of wedding timing, with morning suits and the "wedding breakfast" luncheon (influenced by the televised royal weddings in the 1980s). There was another reception scheduled for the evening, and their baker delivered their cake and set it up while we still had a half hour left. It was really tacky to bring it into the ballroom while we were still there. Plus, it was ugly...white with bright blue frosting trim. It really bugged my dad, who was the country club president at the time -- he had some words with the club manager about that later.

Although that still annoys me, I have a bit more empathy now. The bottom tier of my sister's wedding cake collapsed during delivery, and her baker had to quickly go home, re-bake, and rapidly cool the replacement. The baker was really worried it wouldn't work. None of us were any the wiser, but after she told us the story afterward, I had a little more understanding of how tricky wedding cakes are and how vulnerable they are while being moved. I'm still mad that cake showed up during my reception, but I do understand why it couldn't be stored in another room and moved. Kind of.

I attended the weddings of my ring bearer and flower girl within the past couple years. My parents attended both weddings and were recognized as the "longest married couple" both times. They just celebrated their 60th anniversary in December. :)

My five year anniversary is coming up. My wedding day had a few things that I was not happy about.
1) Some of my bridesmaids didn't show up to the meeting place to take the limo ride. They did show up to the church but still made me irritated.
2) The DJ showed up an hour late. He didn't even have a valid reason. Couldn't even get a refund. He closed down a few months later. He was highly recommend.
3) My cake....my sister had her friend make it. I was so disappointed. The price I paid was not worth it. It was small. The only good thing about it was the flavor.

Some crazy heifer named Amal knocked me down, stole my dress and went to the wedding in my place. So annoying.

Well played. Very well played!

Just got back from a big, fun outdoor wedding for one of my cousins where one of the cousins from the Scandinavian side of the family sang a song his family had written for the occasion. He was probably a little buzzed and he messed up, and said, "Aw, F***!" into the microphone, to the horror of the bride and some of her father's very prim relatives.

The bride said, "Don't use that word! " he asked which word and somebody explained. He said, "I said that? Shit!"

He finished up the song and the bride looked PISSED. Those of us with a sense of humor thought it was one of the highlights.

^^^ Hahaha...you just know that's what everyone is going to remember.

My husband's cousin had his own father serve as best man. You would think that he could be counted on to give a tactful, respectable toast, free from anything cringe worthy. You would be wrong in thinking this was a safe choice. He thought he was being funny, but it's really not appropriate to mention that you're not sure your son is ready to get married, given the fact that he "still leaves skid marks in his underwear."

That's what I remember from that wedding.

My own wedding was pretty smooth. One of my parents' neighbors fell into the band. He'd been drinking, was dancing, and went into the band. They kept playing, he popped right back up, and kept dancing and everyone cheered. People still remember that, and since no one was hurt, it's all good.

We got married in August and had intended to get married at 7:30 PM outside (in Atlanta), but the night before, decided it was just too hot, and moved the ceremony inside - we had the whole facility rented, and there was a room ready and waiting, so we pulled the trigger at the rehearsal.

My sister... when she got married, the florist was putting the moves on the photographer - full court press before the ceremony. The pictures were so bad, that he dropped off the album at my parents' front door while they were out.

Thankfully, we had tons of friends and family who had taken tons of pictures, so...

The events coordinator that I had been working with for over a year left a few days before the wedding. As such, I ended up emailing back and forth with the both of them up until a day before the wedding. Because of all the emails, the new coordinator missed the fact that I wanted the bar closed an hour before the reception ended. I'm still pretty pissed that the coordinator left a few days before the wedding. Other than that lovely surprise at the end, everything was fantastic.

It's Summer, where are the new stories?

Our family has bad wedding karma, or drama. This is a large Mexican-American family, btw.

* At my sister L's wedding, my sister V decided to leave the church before the ceremony started. She was still hurt and upset that she hadn't been chosen as the MOH and "needed some fresh air". Fearing she wouldn't come back, and upset herself, L asked a cousin to stand-in and walk down the aisle with me. That was fine until V showed up again, minus her bouquet, obviously had been crying, and then insisted on walking down the aisle. The church had plastic flowers downstairs in its kitchen, so that's what she marched down the aisle with. She then started crying during the wedding ceremony, and asked a family member sitting in the front row for tissue (as the ceremony was going on). She was *ordered* to go home afterwards by my father.

* My brother R has been married twice and coincidentally had wedding cake fails both times. The first wedding was in Florida, in April, and his soon-to-be MIL ordered the cake - well, it had some type of meringue or topping on it that required it to be chilled before serving. When it arrived at the house (reception was at the in-laws backyard), it was put in the garage. Well, it melted. It had sat there for hours in a non-AC'd garage with sunlight directly peaking through some windows at the cake. On his second wedding reception, a nephew of the bride wore sneakers with wheels on the bottom and ran into the table the cake was resting on. Only the bottom layer was salvageable.

* My sister E's wedding had multiple disasters. She "uninvited" my sister L because of a spat. She invited my cousin D, who was shunned by my aunt for marrying a black man. Without an invitation (although, we think my father invited her), my aunt shows up at the wedding and decides to sit with BIL's family, who are mostly red-headed Irish. She sat with them with at the wedding AND reception. She DID, however, give my sister a gift certificate for Olive Garden for....wait for it....100.00!! My sister would've been happy with a Bed, Bath and Beyond gift cert for 100.00, but Olive Garden?! Another disaster at E's wedding was that she insisted on a cousin who was mentally challenged (who is now deceased) attend the wedding reception; she didn't want her excluded. Well, said cousin, freaked out during family photos and threw a tantrum. And yet another disaster was that the BIL and his brother, his BM, wore traditional Irish kilts for the wedding; the plan was to change before the reception, but the brother kept his on and mooned everyone during an Irish Celtic dance - his side of the family laughed, my Mexican Baptist family was not happy.

* Finally, my sister V - never to be outdone - decided to marry by Justice of the Peace. My mom offered to buy her a nice new dress...but V wanted to wear something simple; she and BIL met as church missionaries and she didn't want any kind of extravagance. That went okay, actually. But no one had booked a restaurant for the reception, so we end up at Old Spaghetti Factory. After opening gifts, my sister asked for the receipts - she wanted to donate the money to charity. None of BIL's family showed up at the officiating or dinner because my sister called and told them it was going to be in Spanish and they wouldn't understand; they were offended. Plus, they all lived in another state. But here's the real kicker...when my BIL got up at Old Spaghetti Factory to pray, he asked the restaurant to turn off the overhead music so that he could say grace; when he was told that they couldn't shut it off, he said a very LOUD prayer.

No real drama at mine.

In my first wedding (1979) the flower girl stole the show sitting on the steps with her legs dangling, lifting her skirt over her head.

In my second wedding (1992) the video camera died. A new battery didn't help. At the reception people kept sneaking out to check the score of the LSU game. I blame ESPN for it being rescheduled it to a day game. When we set the date we had checked and planned an afternoon wedding to avoid the conflict.

How am I just seeing this now? Oh! Maybe because of the memories this thread invoke!

Actually "honeychile gets married, part deux" isn't nearly as bad. Please remember that I was in the process of moving from Pittsburgh to Chicago during this time!

-After proof reading the invitations at least four times (by both Jim and me), we managed to omit the time. He emailed everyone that, "Like our love, our invitations are timeless. The Service will be at 2pm." Crisis avoided.

-Two days before the wedding, my MOH & I got locked inside the church, with no cars left for us. We decorated our little hearts out, not realizing that the heat was programmed to 50 degrees after 4:30p (it was December) until we became numb. We could not get to the phone, and our cellphones needed to be charged. THANK HEAVENS that Jim was driving by the church, and wondered why the lights were still on!

-At this point, I still did not know if my brother - my one relative who even considered attending! - was coming into town or not. When I got back to the hotel after the Rehearsal Dinner, I had a voicemail that he was in the hotel, and that he had found a wonderful climbing wall facility, and he would meet me at the church. As Big Brother was once an internationally known rock climber, Climbing Wall obviously trumped Baby Sister's wedding.

-My MIL was sick in the hospital but was to be sprung for the wedding. I found out that she would not be permitted to leave the hospital at 9am on the morning of the wedding. The wedding was at 2pm, but never fear! Both my DH & pastor think it would be wonderful if we went to the hospital prior to the wedding, and have a sort of mini-service!

-The next hour is spent cancelling appointments (massage, nails, hair), and trying to make myself presentable. I was in my wedding dress, veil, gorgeous coat, and sneakers! Other supplies are in the back of the car.

-I only got lost once on the way to the church!

-We got to the hospital, and MIL is wearing black. Head to toe black. I have a cousin who got married in the 1960s, and my mother wore a very classic black and white dress. She did not speak to my mother for over 30 years! I decide to cut MIL a break - happily ever after could be a long time. She never once cracked a smile.

-Back at the church, I realized that the Spanx/pseudo-Spanx I was wearing (to maintain dignity with my dress) does not allow one to use the little bride's room. The little bride's room is also used for the toddler class, so the facilities are very, very low. I basically had to get nekkid and do the limbo to use the facilities prior to that long walk down the aisle.

-The bridesmaids swarmed around me much like you see the Peanuts characters do the Christmas Tree in Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown. My veil, which was to ride very low, ended up perched at the top of my head. My hair was smushed down. A lot. I was trying to fix my makeup when one of the deaconesses popped in and said, "the music is starting!" We literally ran to the sanctuary!

-There were only two hitches to the service: 1) We used The Cord of Three Strands ceremony, but forgot to have something to tie off the braid. One of the photographers graciously donated elastic band from her hair for the cause! and b) I could not stop crying. Not loud, crazy tears, but "I wanted to have my parents here!" tears. Jim had dedicated a special song sung by the soloist for me, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house after that!

-Jim is a Deadhead. We had dated six years prior to getting engaged, and were engaged another ten years. The Best Man stood up and announced, "What a long, strange trip it's been!" Sadly, he continued with one of the best wedding speeches I ever heard, but we have no record of it - the photographer (not the one who donated her hair band), who was to also have the wedding recorded, neglected to tell me that there was no recording until we were literally leaving.

-This was all in December, 2011. We got the wedding pictures in January, 2015.

But do you know what? Other than wishing we could hear all of Eric's speech, and still wishing that my parents had been there, it's all good. I had the right groom this time, and that's what makes it right.

My wish for everyone who reads this finds someone at least half as wonderful as my guy!

And the song at the wedding: I Will Be Here.

My daughter was the flower girl in my husband's sister's wedding. She was almost 3, very precocious, but still, not even 3. She did great going down the aisle, dropping her petals, and the minister even commented on how well she did. She got bored during the ceremony and started singing "Jesus Loves Me" repeatedly. At least it was church-appropriate. My husband and I were cringing.

I was not quite four when I was the flower girl in my aunt's wedding. Apparently when the priest said "Let us pray", I launched into "Now I lay me down to sleep". Fortunately she and my uncle have a good sense of humor . . .

Twenty-one years later, I asked her to read the Psalm when my husband and I were married, so she had an opportunity for payback ;) which she mercifully did not utilize.

My wedding, while ultimately fun, what a disaster because no one stopped to listen to me, not even my now-husband (who turned out to be having some major side effects from a new medication that was really stressing him out. He gets a pass.)

-The church address on the invitations was wrong. I had no idea until they had already been sent, and a family member that was invited enlightened us. The address we had on the invitations was for the woman who was in charge of church operations. All legal documents for the church went to her home, so that's what was listed as the church address. Crisis avoided by sending out a mass email saying that Google Maps/Mapquest was having a hard time finding the location, so here are some directions. We also posted signs.

-My bachelorette party was almost a flop from the start. The MOH, who lived six hours away, declined to come so she could go volunteering with the local dog shelter. I was upset, but I didn't say anything because she lived six hours away and that's a hell of a drive. Then another bridesmaid decided she didn't really feel like going. My now-husband caught wind of it and enlightened both of them to how upset I was and how crummy their reasons were. My MOH, who is a superstar, packed up an overnight bag and drove up. The other bridesmaid came as well, but she and I had a long Come to Jesus about her behavior that night.

-I accidentally threw out my veil. (No, I'm not kidding.) I had put it in a small bag on my dresser, and when I cleaned I must have grabbed the bag and tossed it. I realized it three days before the wedding. At this point I decided to nickname everything National Lampoon's Wedding. I had a birdcage veil (super simple), so I had Amazon overnight some russian netting, and I made one myself with a beautiful silver and pearl haircomb and a single bobbypin. I actually liked this one more than the one I bought.

-We had rehearsal the night before. We skipped the walking in part because we were more concerned about the ceremony. My now-husband thought that the bridesmaids were just going to wait up at the altar the way the groomsmen do and I would walk out with my dad solo. Uh, no. I'm convinced Husband has never been to a wedding.

-Because my now-husband thought this...there was only one song for us to walk out to. The Classic Bridal March, which I did not want to walk out to at all. I had made a CD of the music to be played because I was under the impression from my MIL that our DJ from the reception would play the music at the church (which is extremely old and has no standard A/V setup). Nope. He wasn't there. The best man set up a Bluetooth thing to play the Bridal March song, the only one on his phone. Luckily I had put the music I wanted on my phone as well and sent it in to be played. They played the music from my phone for the bridesmaids to walk in to, then repaired the Best Man's phone and played the Bridal March for me. However, I cannot fault the Best Man for this, because I didn't say I didn't want to walk in to that. I was under the impression we would have the DJ there. MIL got an earfull for that.

-I was late to my own wedding because the bridesmaids and my mom, who had gone up to decorate the church earlier that day, wanted to shower before we went up to the church. Since the Bed and Breakfast I rented for all of this only had two showers, this ate up an extra hour and a half. I was 45 minutes late. Now-husband was irked.

-The fancy eyeshadow primer I bought for the wedding somehow never made it to the bed and breakfast. I used concealer as a base instead. It did the job nicely.

-The gorgeous cake-topper my husband and I picked out never made it on the cake. To be fair, we didn't noticed until after the cake cutting when someone asked if we just decided to go without.

I was very, very happy when it was all over with because I was beyond stressed out with it all. Though no one noticed! People kept coming up to me and my husband and saying how gorgeous everything was, and how happy we looked (We were, don't get me wrong.) They loved the decorations, the food, my dress, etc.

Thankfully my honeymoon went far better and my marriage is going swimmingly. :D

-My bachelorette party was almost a flop from the start. The MOH, who lived six hours away, declined to come so she could go volunteering with the local dog shelter. I was upset, but I didn't say anything because she lived six hours away and that's a hell of a drive. Then another bridesmaid decided she didn't really feel like going. My now-husband caught wind of it and enlightened both of them to how upset I was and how crummy their reasons were. My MOH, who is a superstar, packed up an overnight bag and drove up. The other bridesmaid came as well, but she and I had a long Come to Jesus about her behavior that night.

Nowhere does it say that your attendants have to throw a bachelorette party or attend.

Throw it? No. Attend? No. Would I like the women I consider to be my best friends to be with me on the only bachelorette party I'll ever really get? Yes, I would. I wouldn't force them, and I didn't force them. But of the four bridesmaids I had, the MOH and another were considering bowing out, the third wasn't sure she could come at all due to a work conflict, and the fourth is ten years old and lives with my sister (her mom) an hour away. It just hurt a lot. My MOH I could understand given the distance, but the other I just felt like she couldn't be bothered.