Wedding planners advise the bride and the groom to be prepared well ahead of time, so they can evade Murphy's Law, which says if anything can go wrong, it will. On the other hand, things going a little off may be what will bolster the memory of a wedding in everyone's mind, especially if that little flaw leads to humor and laughter.

Weddings are deeply personal and spiritual life events. Since life isn't perfect, laughing at its spontaneous flaws allows us to embrace each other with love, laughter, and support.

Here are a few humorous wedding events. Some of these wedding mishaps I have witnessed; friends have narrated the others.

A wedding cake's toppling over used to be so common that most reception hall managers had to learn to take precautions through trial and error. Still, in a few instances, no precaution can prevent this disaster, as it happened several years ago, when we attended a large wedding reception. Over the several steep stairs to the main reception hall, the wedding cake had to be carried rather than wheeled. Two waiters, one on each side, took the cake up the steps. Unexpectedly, a waiter tripped and the cake fell on the floor. The bride's mother fainted from excitement while maintenance people scurried about. Since the reception room was a part of a big hotel, the management arranged several small cakes for the guests to enjoy.

In another incident told to me, the bride tripped and fell into the cake.

Some hilarious episodes have occurred in out-of-doors or garden weddings. In one summer wedding, although there was a canopy, the sun's rays reflected directly on the bride's face and the "I-do" photo of the bride came out as if the bride had no face. She was so horror-struck that her father had the scene repeated later, minus the guests.

In another wedding where flowers and other decorations were hung on the sides of the canopy, a sudden gust of wind ripped the decorations apart, hurling them at the bride's face and at the guests standing behind her. Fortunately, no one was hurt; the bride adjusted her headdress and the ceremony continued.

Yet, in another reception, when the bride tossed the bouquet, it fell into the pool. One of the groomsmen dove into the pool and retrieved the bouquet for one of the bridesmaids who was his girlfriend. That groomsman and the bridesmaid married two months later. Who wouldn't marry a man who would get wet to retrieve a girl a bouquet?

In a Jewish wedding, when the bride's chair was lifted in air, one leg of the chair started cracking. Luckily, one of the carriers with strong arms, reaching to its base of the chair, held the chair and the bride up.

My favorite wedding mishaps involve the ring bearers and the flower girls. One cute little ring bearer and a flower girl, both four years old and cousins, were told to stand behind the bride and groom a little to the side at the altar. When the minister said, you may kiss the bride, the children kissed each other. This occasion must have given another twist to the phrase, "kissing cousins."

Another ring bearer was told to hold the pillow with both hands and never let go. He didn't let the pillow go, but tossed the rings in the air while clutching the pillow. So, the poor best man shouldered the chore of retrieving the rings from under the pews.

In another incident, where the ring bearer and the flower girl were also cousins, they walked down the aisle pushing each other. When they reached the altar, they broke into a fight, with the flower girl emptying the flower petals on the little boy's head.

Weddings are occasions of emotion and a little humor goes a long way. So, we should always look back on them with a chuckle or a smile. No matter what the Murphy's Law and the Law of Etiquette may say, with hilarity, the wedding will remain as one of the most glorious moments of a couple's life.