Every bride imagines her wedding day as a flawless experience. To imagine there maybe a minor mishap or even a major problem is just not something we like to think about. However, that does not mean it isn’t possible.

I was a bridesmaid at my brother’s wedding seven years ago. I am lucky in that my brother married my best friend at the time, and now I get to call her my sister. The day of their wedding, I was in a hotel room with Rachel (the bride) and the other bridesmaids, when Rachel’s cell phone rang. We all agreed that whoever was calling her didn’t need to speak with her directly, so I took the call on her behalf.

Our dear friend, Eileen, who generously made the wedding cake as a gift to the happy couple, was on the other end anxiously explaining to me that the wedding cake had fallen over. I asked her to repeat that a few times as I was positive I hadn’t heard her correctly. But yes, the wedding cake had fallen over.

The cake was three tiers of white chocolate-covered cakes, stacked on decorative pillars making it an impressive and stunning display. Eileen explained that she was on her way to the ceremony when the reception venue manager called her and told her the cake had fallen over and was ruined.

Apparently, earlier that day, the venue staff wheeled the cake into their walk-in freezer to protect it from the summer heat.  Unbeknownst to them, the cart that held the cake had settled unevenly as the right side of the wheels rested on a non-slip carpet, and the left side was directly on the tile floor. The uneven weight distribution of the cake pressed heavy on one side of the bottom layer, which broke the (now frozen) white chocolate coating and tumbled to the floor. The top two tiers were destroyed and the bottom cake was damaged.

Eileen pulled a quick u-ey and headed back to the reception hall to assess the damage, find a solution and called me on the way. She wanted to let me know that she would not be able to make the ceremony but would hopefully be able to reveal a cake at the reception.

After I hung up with Eileen, I explained the situation to another bridesmaid. We looked at each other wondering what we should tell Rachel. We decided we just wouldn’t bring it up. Rachel was already occupied and did not need to know about her ruined cake a half hour before she walks down the aisle.

As we left the hotel to go to the ceremony, Rachel turned and asked me “What did Eileen want?”

The other bridesmaid and I glanced at one another until I finally said “She said there was a small problem with the cake and she wouldn’t be able to be at the ceremony because she is taking care of it. It wasn’t a big deal.”

Whether Rachel believed me or not, she put it out of her mind and focused once again on the ceremony.

After the wedding and photos, we climbed into the limo and headed for the reception. The whole journey there I wondered what the outcome of the cake debacle would be. We got to the reception, each member of the party was announced, and as I walked to my seat, I glanced at a beautiful three tier (not on pillars) wedding cake set as the center of the dessert table.

In the end, Eileen had come prepared with extra cakes to set out as they would be easier to cut and serve the guests. With the assistance of the kitchen staff at the venue, she made a few alterations and was able to present a new wedding cake. No one even knew there was a problem.

Events like a crumbling cake are never easy to predict. And as the bride you don’t want to have to think of a way to solve problems if they arrive. Your only wedding day responsibility should be looking gorgeous and getting hitched.

To prepare for the unpredictable, assign an emergency contact person. It can be a family member in attendance or a wedding party member (in this case, it was me). Should any of the vendors (like the cake designer) or guests have an emergency, they can contact that person. The emergency contact person should be provided or should have an intimate knowledge of the schedule for that day, as well as the contact information for the wedding and reception venue manager. The goal is to equip someone other than the bride to handle any problems that arise.

By taking that precautionary step, the happy couple won’t be aware of any troubles and can remember their wedding as the perfect day they always imagined.