Best-Kept "Big Day" Secrets

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It's smart to hire a wedding planner. On a day when so much potentially can go wrong, it's a relief to have someone whose sole responsibility is to make sure everything runs smoothly. But while the vast majority of professional planners have brides' best interests at heart, there are a few things they'd rather keep hush-hush. From hiding things to spare your feelings to concealing shady business practices, read on to find out wedding planners' best-kept secrets.

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1. I have to stop guests from ruining the day.

It's not that your friends and family want to rain on your parade. It's just that some make honest mistakes. "A best man once left the wedding rings on top of a car, and it drove away," says Alexandra Rembac-Goldberg of Sterling Engagements in Los Angeles, CA. "I had to borrow a ring from a local jeweler—the bride didn't realize until long after the ceremony." Other guests, however, don't know how to behave themselves at formal events. "I received complaints from servers about an elderly guest who was groping them," says planner Wayne Gurnick of Moments by Wayne in Los Angeles, CA. "I implored the guest to leave the party immediately. It wasn't until the end of the night that I told the couple what happened. They hadn't noticed anything."