So I am a hobbyist. I've done four weddding cakes and scores of others. I agreed to do a wedding cake for the daughter of a gentleman my husband works with and did my best to handle everything professionally. I requested and received a detailed email from the bride early on with date, address of reception hall, contact names and phone numbers. Her email said set up for the reception wase from 430 to 530 pm. At 505 pm as I am pulling up to the reception hall the bride and groom were in the car behind me!!!
The wedding party was waiting in the entry way, and the guests were waiting in the reception hall with drinks. I apologized to the bride, but reminded her what the email said. She didn't seem bothered at all and asked if I needed help. I enlisted a teenage boy to help me carry it all in. I assembled four tiers and stuck in the gumpaste flowers in a hurry with an audience watching. I didn't get to pipe the bead border betweeen tiers. I did take a minute to snap a picture.
The DJ who was keeping things running, apologized and told me that things had got moved up an hour and to take my time, and he wouldn't introduce the wedding party until I was done. Glad I wore an apron today so at least my cotton shirt and capris were clean. I saw the tables for the food but no sign of food or a caterer.
Holy Cow...they moved it up an hour and didn't tell the vendors!!! Wow...yeah, they better NOT complain! UGH!
As stressed as I know you were, at least it sounds like the bride was agreeable and wanting to be helpful. Not that I would want an audience watching me assemble a wedding cake, but it could have been worse. Sounds like you did well under the pressure.
That kinda happened to me once on a catering. It was for a Christmas party for a club/organization. My notes said set up at 5:30 .... dinner at 6:30. I get there at 5:15. My contact guy is all frazzled and said, "oh thank god you're finally here!" I looked at him and said, "My file says I'd be here at 5:30 .... I'm actually 15 minutes early."
he THEN told me, "Oh.....we moved the dinner back and hour so everyone is expecting to eat in 15 minutes."
I said, in my best southern gramma voice, "Darlin', when you change the time, you've got to TELL me that. Let everyone know that *YOU* made a mistake with the time, that we are not eating at 5:30, but I will have it up and running as quickly as I can."
I mean holy freakin cow, it takes those chafers at least 20 minutes to get to the steaming point, which is where I want them BEFORE I put the food in them!
Folks ... you've got to let the vendors know! This aint' brain surgery for cryin' out loud.
LOL...you are so polished to have kept your cool Debi...I can hear the honey dripping from your voice! LOL!
I, too, have learned (the years I have been an event coordinator) to put a smile on my face and fake the patience I do not feel with people when THEY screw up...but it's not easy. Wish I could put on some Southern Charm but no one here in Cali would belive it! LOL! So I'm envious of you!
Sure hope these guys don't decide that this was somehow her fault...obviously no coordinator there!
Cat
not telling the food providers/caterers/bakers the time has changed.. 
that is what one would call dropping the ball. So sorry that happened to you. good job on keeping your cool and getting the job done.
story telling time.. I delivered a cake, told them what time i would be there. I get to church..no one is there.. an 45 min to an hour later still sitting at church...no one there.. I get out my contract call the bride ask what is going on..that no one is at the church. do I have the right church? She freaks out on me!! What do you mean no one is there!! Yup.. her people who were supposed to be setting the church up, setting buffet tables etc.. were supposed to have been there two hours earlier.. they were running late. That wedding did not start on time, grandmother told me it started 2 hours late. Thankfully it was the one time, I was not contracted to serve the cake. 
Another one..... I'm ready to head out the door to deliver a cake and the phone rings. It's a groom (and I had been working wiht the groom more than the bride on this one), and not the one to whom I'm delivering the cake today. He's asking,"Where are you?"
I said, "Getting read to deliver a cake." He said he thought I'd already have dropped his cake off already. I said, "Your wedding is NEXT weekend!" I had his file laying on my desk .... rechecked it real quick, and the date was for next weekend.
He tells me he sent an email to change the date to THIS weekend, but come to find out, he SOMEHOW got ahold of an old hotmail email address that I never check and sent it there .... NOT to my business email. I asked, "Did you get a confirmation that I got the email and that the change was ok?" Of course not.
I had to tell him, "Well, honey, you're not getting a cake from me today. My records show it's for next weekend."
I dont' know what they ended up doing.
I don't understand why people send emails and that somehow they just expect the recipient got the email and is ok with it all. I guess they have never heard of servers going down, emails never making it there etc. It's like they think if it goes into cyberspace, then I have no further obligation! That's just science fiction not reality. 
I had one girl change her date from Saturday to Sunday and not tell me. I showed up with the cake and they told me it was for the next day, while I was standing there looking at the contract with Saturday's date on it. Must have slipped her mind to mention it. At least she didn't change it from Sunday to Saturday!
Got an email from the bride, they loved the cake. No mention of the delivery issue. The bridal party had already hit the beer keg by the time I delivered the cake so maybe that helped.
Still wondering what time they got to eat food...
It is frustrating. I did a wedding cake for a friend. In my state, you do not have to be licensed selling under the cottage food laws, but many big sites require licensed vendors. So I only do the small weddings, etc. until I get licensed. Well I went to the church where she told me to deliver the cake. I'm 30 minutes early just in case something happens. I get there and they tell me that the cake needs to go to the reception site which was at a big hotel about 15 minutes away from the church. I was so ticked. I was going to leave the cake there and told them to go take it themselves. I had it already stacked and assembled. She begged me to do it and gave me more money to cover my gas. Well I was nervous, because I was not sure this site would take my cake as I am just a cottage food industry baker and not a licensed one. They did and the coordinator there was wonderful, so it worked out. But the situation was just so irritating and it just bothered me that whole day. 
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