The top 10 things that WILL go wrong at your wedding

You step out of your bridal car and the heavens open, your celebrant is an hour late, and your mother won't stop micro-managing the flower arrangements.

What started out as a fairytale wedding is quickly turning into a nightmare, but there's no need to turn into a runaway bride.

Gold Coast marriage celebrant Josh Withers has shared the top ten things that can go wrong at your wedding, and why you should not lose sleep over the small stuff.

Photo: tea length wedding dresses

Wedded bliss? Marriage celebrant Josh Withers has shared the top ten things that could go wrong at your wedding - from rain to running late

1. Your mother is a bridezilla

The bride's natural predator is their mother.

'Nine out of ten mothers (an unverified statistic) believe that they, and they only, know how their children should celebrate their marriage,' Mr Withers said.

'They've planned the horse-drawn carriage and the perfect cake and their children absolutely hate it all.

'The truth is, mums, is that your children aren't having 'a wedding' or any old wedding or even your wedding.

'They are celebrating their marriage, which is a once in a lifetime marriage and it's celebration will be wholly unique.

'Now that we've said that, are you still cool to cover the bar tab?'

2. It pours with rain

When you have an outdoor wedding planned, the thought of rain is enough to send you in to a fit of panic.

But while you can't control the weather, it doesn't have to stop your day being perfect either.

'If you're a smart cookie you've planned or even booked a wet weather option that is comparable to your outdoors ceremony venue,' Mr Withers said.

'My tip is to find your closest dollar store and buy those clear umbrellas that sell for under five dollars.'

3. A baby is bawling

A baby wailing just as you're about to say 'I do' is not the fairytale most couples dream of.

'If the baby is yours and it's crying, then break from the formality of the moment and take some time to be parent before you're anything else,' Mr Withers said.

'As for guests' babies, why not hire a babysitter for the day and enjoy yourself?'

4. The ring-bearer and flower girls get it wrong

Kids will be kids, and weddings are no exception.

Not all flower girls and ring-bearers want to play the game, but setting them a simple task can prevent disaster.

'Set the participating children up so they can have a win,' Mr Withers said.

'We don't want to be rousing on them in the ceremony, so maybe we need to have lower expectations and maybe don't give them thousands of dollars of rings.

'Secondly, we're showing our kids that this is how adults do really important things like marriage and relationships, so I'd love it if they walked away with a sense of equality, responsibility and most importantly, fun.'

5. Your DIY arbour falls to pieces

Weddings are expensive, so injecting your own style in to the big day through DIY projects can seem like a no-brainer.

Just be careful not to go too far in your bid to be thrifty.

'If you're anything like me you are probably also a terrible decorator, designer and set constructor and all those hours on Pintrest and Youtube won't save you when it all falls apart on the wedding day,' Mr Withers said.

'Hire a professional so that you don't have to spend the night in emergency when the arbour falls on you (yes that's happened to me).'

6.You forget your vows

It's the stuff viral YouTube videos are made of, but remembering your vows can be as simple as writing them down.

'Some of the most enjoyable parts of weddings I've seen on Youtube have been when a celebrant or minister asks a bride or groom to repeat after them, and the words all fall apart,' Mr Withers said.

'Instead of trying to listen and repeat vows, write them down and read off a card? Genius, right?'

7. Your guests get drunk and rowdy

He's the uncle everybody loves - until he's had one too many at your wedding.

Mr Withers advised anyone planning their special day carefully consider their guest list - and not invite anyone you don't like sober or drunk.

'So many people put drunkenness at wedding receptions down to serving alcohol and food liberally, or too liberally, and although that's a contributing factor, let me throw you a side hook and say you're probably inviting the wrong people to your intimate celebration of your marriage if they're going to be your definition of a fool in a few hours,' he said.

'Let your guest list truly reflect your favourite group of humans.'

8.You hate your photographer

Deciding whether you want staged photographs or candid snaps before your big day will avoid disappointment when you received your wedding album.

Mr Withers said in his opinion there were two types of photographers: the journalist or the director.

'The director will set up shots, move people around, push celebrants out of the way and get angry if a guest has mobile phone up for the perfect bride-and-guest-aisle-selfie,' he said.

'Your journalistic photographer is capturing what actually happened and is way more chilled.

'Choose the one you'll feel more comfortable with because this photographer will be hanging out with you all day.'

9. The ceremony is boring

Choosing the wrong celebrant can be a big mistake.

The ceremony, Mr Withers said, is the most important, valuable and exciting part of the wedding, and everything afterwards is simply a celebration of the exchanging of vows.

'Your marriage celebrant is the person leading the charge through the ceremony,' he said.

'Choose an awesome one. I tell people that my biggest competition is the beer.

'I want to be better than the beer, instead of people sitting through a boring ceremony just hoping there is a cold gold ale pouring out a tap somewhere soon.'

10. You're all running late

The most common thing to go wrong on a wedding day is people being late.

Celebrants being late, brides being late, guests being late - but there is a rock-solid strategy to fool proofing it all.

'Invite everyone to be there an hour early and put on a few drinks before hand, that way all the guests are there on time,' Mr Withers said.

'As for your professionals like your celebrant and photo booth and other associated people, hire the best.

'The best have that reputation for a reason: they turn up.'

In a step away from tradition, Mr Withers suggested the bride and groom meet up before they exchanged vows, get some photographs together and wed on time.