Recently, with my husband and two children on an early morning flight from Los Angeles to the Midwest for a family visit, I encountered a situation that was a cruel reminder that there’s rarely such a thing as a safe travel plan. Particularly when it comes to wedding travel plans and related events, you should allow extra time as a buffer for ‘the worst’.
A Cautionary Tale
On our trip, which we expected to be a routine flight, we had a brief layover in Phoenix, Arizona. We’re always cognizant of climate challenges and try to book southern routes during winter months to avoid any foul weather – the weather that day was sunny and clear. In Phoenix, we had time for coffee and a cinnamon roll, but we soon queued up for the second leg of our flight. When the gate agent took her place at the podium, she announced that the flight had been canceled due to a maintenance problem. Pandemonium ensued with everyone scrambling to secure a seat on the next available flight.
After queuing up (Southwest does everything based on your flying sequence), we learned that we’d be stranded in the Phoenix airport for another 8 hours…with our 2 young children. Suffice it to say that it was a long day, but the events set the stage for learning today’s lesson.
As folks were milling about waiting for the evening ‘replacement’ flight, commiserating over the loss of a day, I heard a story that stopped me in my tracks. A husband and wife mentioned they were traveling to attend their daughter’s wedding the next day, but they had just missed the rehearsal dinner. They weren’t extremely concerned about it, although it undoubtedly stressed the bride and made the rehearsal a bit cumbersome. They also missed the dinner that they had organized and paid for, the father’s toast, the photographs and the joys of the night.
Wedding Travel Plans
When you or your wedding party are making travel plans, emphasize to everyone to allow extra time. You only get one shot at sharing those special moments, taking photos and enjoying one another. If you are the bride, you don’t want the added stress, and if you’re in the wedding party, you certainly don’t want to be the cause of it!
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