Groom Guru – Straight Talk For The Boys

This month, Confetti’s straight-talking groom guru offers his support on behalf of every football crazy male in England.

Images clockwise from top left, all from the Confetti shop: wedding cufflinks | sporty groom cake toppers | personalised football team mugs | football favour bags

Men, how do you save your wedding day from a World Cup disaster? If your big day falls on vital World Cup dates you’ve got to be prepared for absentees.

Football fan first and groom-to-be second? Not to your fiancée of course, but anyone who loves the beautiful game as I do, knows the real truth.

In my experience, the only thing to do if a wedding day clashes with a crucial football match is to join the two glorious events together. I speak from first-hand experience.

When Liverpool and West Ham met in the 2006 125th FA Cup Final, I ditched a friend’s wedding in favour of attending in Cardiff. (Ladies, I can hear your gasps of disapproval!) And I wasn’t alone. With the wedding location in Liverpool, the bride, a Liverpool fan and the groom an Everton supporter, a significant number of the guests left after the ceremony to watch the game in the pub. Tricky maybe but, for the male of the species, football will always come before a wedding (except, however, if you are the best man or possibly the groom. That is a little more tricky.)

A week before said wedding, I covertly acquired some hot tickets from an old mate and then had to break the news to my wife, who didn’t’ take it very well. It went along the lines of “What do you think you are (expletive!) doing?”, “all my other friends are taking their partners”, yarda, yarda, yarda…. you get the drift.

Thankfully a major domestic was avoided when the day arrived and the groom, being an Everton fan, didn’t care and I got about five calls from the wife asking for running commentary throughout the game.

The answer? Suck it up and wave the England flag for at least a portion of the day. You’ll have a much better day. Trust me.

So, how do you save your wedding day from being a World Cup disaster?

• Save time: substitute the father-of-the-bride speech for a short thank-you from the groom before the game kicks off. Possibly pre-record the speeches to ensure that they don’t run over.
• Stick to a schedule: as the half-time whistle blows the best man kicks off with no more than 14 minutes leaving time for partners to get drinks from the bar.
• Make it a feature: hire a large pull down cinema screen to have behind the wedding table with the sound off.
• Communication is key: offer radio mics to most fanatical guests, one ear piece only – they need to look like they are enjoying themselves.
• Comfort factor: allow guests to pre-order drinks for the second half so they don’t have to get up when they run dry.
• Wedding party pundits: it would be great if the bride and groom did some post match analysis. Possibly rewind some bits and check out the action. Perfect!
• Added extra: some football favours would be beneficial, ie. chocolates, England shirts, flags etc… you can buy from Kitbag.

Final thought: If your big day falls on June 12, 18, 23, July 2, 3 or 6 there’s not a lot you can do about it now. Embrace what could be England’s finest hour.

Come on England!

Over and out…

Guruoom

You’ll find lots of inspiration on our Groom pages!