Imagine it is your wedding day, and you are swept up with the emotions and enthusiasm of getting married. You are distracted, nervous, excited. You are anticipating that you will have the best day of your life.  If you are like I was on my big day, wedding checklists are probably the last things on your mind. I was so thrilled to be getting married; I didn’t worry too much about the wedding planning and preparation. All I knew was that all my dreams were coming true. I was marrying the man that I loved, and nothing could go wrong.

My mother had suggested to me about 8 months before my wedding day to make wedding checklists, and I ignored her. I thought to myself, “How unromantic! Isn’t that just like my mother always trying to follow rules and regulations!” She was always trying to tell me how to plan a wedding. 

However, if I had listened to my mom and created a wedding checklist, I would have been a lot better off in the end. I would have saved myself from my wedding being a total disaster as in the end, not only did I not get to have a wedding, but I also lost thousands of dollars. I didn’t create a wedding checklist, so it didn’t occur to me to get wedding insurance. As a result, I am still making payments on my credit card towards a wedding day that I never experienced.

So you are probably wondering by now about what happened. We had rented a fabulous elegant reception hall. My husband and I had really splurged well beyond what we could afford. We wanted to make our wedding memorable for everyone. The night before the big day, all the decorations, gifts, my wedding dress, etc, was carefully arranged. The caterers had prepared some of the food, and put it in the refrigerator of the hall.  

We live in California, and my wedding was during the time forest fires were taking place all over the state. The night before our wedding, this beautiful wedding hall burned to the ground because of some local fires. This big fire happened so suddenly, and we really had no advance warning. When we showed up the day of the wedding to make the final last minute preparations, we realized the building had been destroyed along with our entire wedding. 

My friends and family tried to comfort me as I cried hysterically.  People kept saying to me, “Well at least you have wedding insurance, so you can get your money back and plan another wedding date.” I was so embarrassed to admit that since I never created a wedding checklist, it had never occurred to me to get insurance. I am writing this to tell you, don’t make the mistake I made.  Create a wedding checklist, and follow all the rules. Trust me, it is better to be safe than sorry.