What is the craziest, most unbelievable, strangest thing to happen at one of your events, and how did you respond?

“The craziest thing that ever happened at a wedding is that a dad drowned in a pool in Jamaica, and we had to revive him! He did live but was in the hospital hours before the ceremony began. He called and asked if he could attend. We had him arrive via ambulance and with a nurse so he could see his son get married. I responded by running to the villa, overseeing his recovery, and getting him the best hospital in Jamaica. I did not alert the groom, who was playing golf, until I had assessed the situation. The key is to remain calm, assess, and don’t push the panic button until you have to.”- JoAnn Gregoli, MWP™, Elegant Occasions, New York“At a wedding in the late 1980s, the priest, photographers, groomsmen, groom, and myself all wore bulletproof vests, because the groom’s mother had threatened that if the couple married, she would come in and ‘blow us all away.’  I was pretty much scared (beyond belief). My reaction, when I was told the Monday before the Saturday wedding, was to call the local sheriff.  He loaned me the vests, because the mother had a ‘history of violence.’"- Teddy Lenderman, MWP™, Bearable Weddings, Terre Haute, Ind.“En route to the wedding reception, we found ourselves stranded on a flooded highway. With bumper-to-bumper traffic behind us, and four-feet of deep water ahead, there was no way to get to the venue. The thought of missing the reception felt downright awful. We arrived more than two hours late, and luckily for us, so did the wedding party. We stayed a few extra hours for free to capture the reception as planned.”- Ashley Biess, Artistrie Co., Chicago“The tent at a particular wedding was pitched on a slight incline. A storm left a river running under the dance floor.  My staff at the wedding, and the caterers, spread almost 20 bags of mulch around the yard to soak up water. The DJ moved three times to avoid electrocution, but the bride, groom, and her mother did not let anything ruffle them or let the water spoil the day. Instead, they enjoyed the day, setting the tone for guests, too. The caterer and I still refer fondly to the day as the ‘mulch wedding.’”- Gwen Wilson, PWP™, Nuptiae, The Wedding & Event Planners, Rantoul, Ill.“The bride’s mom was fighting with all of the bridesmaids, so she locked herself and the bride in a room at their house and cut off all communications with everyone. Meanwhile, the groom, groomsmen, family, and guests were all waiting at the venue for the ceremony to begin. Three hours after the scheduled ceremony start time, the bride, bridal party, and mom finally arrived. As they exited the limo, the bride’s mom and groom’s sister got into a fist fight, and a brawl broke out between the bride’s and groom’s families!  The police were called, and the guests retreated inside the venue. While the police were breaking things up, we opened the bar for the guests and had the caterer serve the food. Shortly thereafter, we calmly organized the ceremony to take place in the reception room. Remarkably, the families and wedding party went through the ceremony as though nothing had ever happened.” - Christine Terezakis, MWP™, Dreamday Weddings & Events,Palm City, Fla.“The New Year’s Eve wedding was over, and my team was staying in the hotel at which the event and guests stayed. As I was lying in bed unable to sleep, a man walked past my window—but I was on the 16th floor! What happened was that the groomsmen were pretty smashed and had somehow gotten a window open and were daring each other to walk this tiny little ledge. To say the least, when I called hotel security, they didn’t want to believe me. I had to pull the wedding planner thing and drop a manager’s name to get them to respond. I know my aching feet, which is why I was still awake, saved someone’s life that night!”- Elisa MacKenzie, MWP™, Elegant Events, Cincinnati“We had a caterer get stuck for five hours on the interstate due to a manhunt. Police were checking each vehicle—and the catering truck had all of the reception tables on it! We threw an impromptu pre-ceremony cocktail hour party and moved the quartet onto the lawn. All of the vendors onsite pitched in to place the reception decor in a flurry, and when the guests arrived, no one had any clue!”- Laura Helm, Ashton Events, Lakeland, Fla.“I received a call from the florist, an hour and a half before the ceremony, telling me that the van with all of the ceremony and reception flowers had been stolen. I quickly called all of the florists I have built relationships with, and they gave what they could to make the arrangements the way the bride wanted them and transport them to the locations on time. The bride had no idea.”- Arielle Gavin. Wedded Perfection, LLC, Columbus, Ohio “We once had a drunk person, from another wedding at our same hotel, stagger into our event and pass out alongside the bar after trying to order a cocktail! As he went down, he broke several of our crystal candleholders. Needless to say, we were mortified! We called security and did our best to hide the man from public view using a tablecloth. Soon after, we instituted an emergency action plan for our team. It was a wake up call for us to always be prepared for the unexpected!”- Merryl Brown, CWP™, Merryl Brown Events, Santa Barbara, Calif.“We were 30 minutes into the reception at an outdoor venue when there was a huge explosion about a mile away and everything went dark. It turned out a tree had fallen and hit a transformer, leaving us without power. By flashlight, we escorted guests to their cars—about a half-mile walk. Meanwhile, we contacted the bride’s favorite restaurant and arranged for them to make enough space for the party to continue there.”- Stephanie Aspinwall, Pretty Entertaining, Bristow, Va.“At the rehearsal, our groom was very sick.  The next morning, as the bride arrived to get ready, we asked how the groom was feeling and, to her knowledge, all was well until they found out an hour later that the groom was at the ER and was awaiting surgery for appendix removal. We delayed the wedding ceremony and served dinner as guests arrived to allow the groom to arrive after recovering.”- Michelle Kaiser, Town Square, Paola, Kansas“The strangest thing that has ever happened at one of my events was at a Sunday, daytime wedding near a park a few years ago. The wedding was a success, and the guests were departing, when I was alerted that there was a homeless woman hounding guests for money in the parking lot. Since she had a steak knife in her back pocket, people were concerned. Before my [911] call could be connected, a police car came flying up beside the building. He stepped out of his car and pointed a shotgun at the woman and yelled, ‘Get down on the ground!’ She did so, and he proceeded to remove the knife and handcuff her. All of this occurred as I, the bride and groom, and the guests stared in shock. The groom said, ‘Well, it ain’t a real party until the cops are called!’”- Staci Mandikas, UNIQUE Weddings & Events, Tampa, Fla.“During one wedding, a three-tier cake plummeted to the bottom of the fridge, the bride’s grandfather passed away the morning of the wedding, and the grandmother collapsed while standing in the buffet line, later carried out in a stretcher.  My team was outstanding—we contacted our preferred bakery to completely repair the cake, offered to reschedule the wedding at no additional cost due to the death, and entertained the guests while Emergency Medical Services facilitated the pickup.”   - Stephanie Hafer Shaak, Reading Public Museum, Reading, Penn.“My couple stood at the altar exchanging vows, elated by the emotion of all their efforts leading up to this moment. My phone rang. The reception venue was evacuated due to an electrical fire. It held all of our event’s needs minus catering. I had one hour to move venues, coordinate vendors, re-establish a timeline of the evening’s events, redirect guests, and tell the bride. Success!”- Jodi Gagné, AWP™, Simply Perfect, Toronto“Having performed a lovely wedding ceremony with the bride’s and groom’s family and friends in attendance, I immediately drove to the post office to mail the marriage license, as I usually do after each ceremony. Upon arriving home, my phone rang. It was the groom. He wanted to know if I had mailed the license, which I had. He was upset and wanted to retrieve the license because he wanted an annulment! The couple had lived together for five years before their wedding day. I told him that once I pronounced them husband and wife, they were married. He understood but planned to call his attorney to see what could be done. The reception was still in progress, and the bride had no idea what had transpired. It was crazy!”- AnnaMarie Wintercorn, MWP™, Elegant Weddings & Events,Stuart, Fla.“One bride asked if she could have black swans on rhinestone leashes. I explained that was possible only if she had a 'swan wrangler' in charge of clean up. The other and most recent [strange request was] a bride who asked if her very large pet turtle could be her ring bearer. My answer was, ‘Of course!’ The turtle's favorite snack was rose petals, so that is how he made his way down the aisle!”- Brenda J. Morrison, PWP™, Bavarian Inn, Shepherdstown, W.V.