Someone else has to be watching this- I think my favorite line is the princess bride who said that her guests can take the centerpieces home - so that they will remember her wedding forever.

Next week's bride looks great. I've never understood women who full on open their mouth's to burp and think that's funny.

I watched! I'm not sure yet if I like Tutera, but he has good taste. That Hempstead castle place was gorgeous!!! Especially the view for the ceremony, that alone was to die for. They lucked out with this bride. She didn't have particularly good taste (stereotypical Long Island working class), but she was openminded and very likeable.

I'm not sure if I like him yet either-I'm torn between screaming "My God-let him fix you!" and thinking that he robs these brides of their individuality and puts them (and their families) totally out of their element.

Side note- the green and purple mardi gras wedding? Apple core candles? Where do people get these ideas from?

She did seem likable. And how sweet was her Dad?

Yeah, I'm not sure I really like him. These are women who have made themselves very vulnerable to him, I didn't enjoy watching him make fun of Jennifer after she and her sister modeled their original dresses. All in all it's just another wedding show.

On the fence on this show, still, but the episode with the Princess Bride... I agree that she was very likable, but she looked so much like Julia Roberts when she smiled, it freaked me out!

I thought he was very kind, in general, and the princess bride was sweet. She was a fast learner, and seemed pretty grateful and nice. It must be weird to have someone come in and completely reverse all your choices. She looked so pretty--far more touching than any dumb reality show has a right to be.

Casting this must be so hard.

So glad to see a thread for this!

I saw the first two eps and one thing that struck me was what happens to the money that has been laid out for the orignal venue/gowns/invitations etc?

Wedding gowns that were already purchased (let's assume they cost at least $1500) are replaced with [more expensive]designer gowns, people put deposits on a reception venue which is replaced... the invitations which have the name and address of said venue (before the change) are worthless and there's reletively little time to pump out new ones for every guest. Are the people who participate reimbursed for the money they spent if they go along with the event makeover?


That being said.... overall, I like this show. There are some pretty tacky brides out there and someone has to step in to prevent future wedding photo mortification!



I don't think it robs them of their "individuality". Most of these people never planned such a major event and aren't seeing the forest for the trees when it comes to certain things. My heaven, the bride-to-be, Wanda bought a gown which she did not even like! Apparently one of her friends she went gown shopping with liked it on her (and it was a pretty dress), so she caved and bought it. That's nuts! She gave up on her "individuality" before David came on the scene! For them to be a bit out of their element gives them more options they never would have considered. Both brides seemed to love the changes and didn't feel compromised by David's taste.





Reading too many bridal and BHG mags I guess! David was right when he said the original bridesmaid's dresses were "prom" dresses. What annoyed me were the flashing ice cubes Wanda was planning to put in the drinks! Who does that for formal events like weddings?

He was awesome! So nice and happy for his daughter.

I like the show so far. Both brides really did need help and their weddings turned into really beautiful affairs.
Why should they be reimbursed? They're getting a bigger, better, more expensive wedding. That is, if the show covers ALL the expenses of giving them all new stuff. The money that the brides spent would have gone to a wedding anyway, so I don't see a need to be reimbursed.

I feel more sorry for the vendors who only got deposits and maybe missed out on booking another client because of one of these brides and they lost out on something.

I have one complaint about the first bride. She definitely needed a new wedding address, no question. However, when she went to try on the new dresses, there was clearly one that she liked more than the others. I think that David should take that into consideration when he picks. The dress that the first bride ended up with didn't fit her right. She wanted a dress that showed off her figure and she was stuck with that one. Of the three she tried on that was my least favorite. I hated it so much that I couldn't enjoy the rest of the show.

I'm just chiming in as someone a bit torn about David Tutera.

On one hand, it's great that he comes through for these brides and gives them amazing wedding that they would never have gotten otherwise. But on the other...Wendy, the first bride with all the random stuff for the tables (light up ice cubes, etc)--all stuff that DT was pushing on his other show ("Get Married" on Lifetime). So it's kind of crappy of him to dismiss it as trashy here (not that it isn't trashy, I'm just saying).

Also, the NY bride seemed sweet, but completely out of her element. And so were all the guests. She would have had an amazing day even without DT, and he seemed to make her feel really inadequate.

I didn't get that impression at all. She seemed to love what he picked out and was genuinely grateful for the advice on table etiquette and not smoking. I love that he stayed true to her Princess Fairytale theme while diplomatically steering her away from the fake flowers and cheesy decor. Would she have had fun at the original wedding? Of course. But David helped her feel and act like a real princess of instead of someone just playing dress up.

I agree. She seemed very uncomfortable. She was absorbing everything, but the look on his face when she was eating was a tad offputting. She was very stressed by him and had to take a ciggy break and talk to her mens to get grounded. It helps that she is very pretty and was a good canvas for him, but I thought that he could have made it more Princessy without making her feel like she was lacking. YMMV

I've really enjoyed David's wedding makeovers so far -- although the tattooed Marilyn Monroe impersonator was my least favorite. Her wedding makeup and her extensions were both tacky and terrible.

I still laugh out loud whenever I think of Long Island Princess and her desire to learn dining "etiqwette" and her belief that the purpose of the intermezzo sorbet was to clean your "platelets." It was very kind of David that he didn't even crack a smile.

I'm know, I'm old-fashioned, but I had to laugh at the irony of the etiquette lesson with the NY bride (cleaning her platelets). I'm a baby boomer who grew up with a liberal Catholic Southern belle of a mother and a lot of the stuff is still embedded in my psyche. That being said, having a big, splashy, wearing-white wedding is definitely an etiquette no-no when you have already have a child, no matter who is the father of the child. I guess if David T. paid attention to that little part of Emily Post or Amy Vanderbilt he wouldn't have much of a wedding business.

I thought David did an amazing reception for the Marilyn Monroe bride (and I thought she looked so much prettier with her tattoos hidden), but her hair looked hideous! She should have kept it curled like it was when he first met her. Her wedding hair did not say 1950's Hollywood starlet at all. I was surprised he went with that. The cake was ugly, but perfect for the bride - she obviously loved it and that was a sweet moment. That starburst dress didn't do her any favors. The other three all showed off her figure better. That also a wtf? The ceremony looked amazing, but he pretty much obliterated the interior of the hall which seemed to defeat the sentimental value of having it there at all. Strange that both grooms have been plumbers.

It is hard for me to understand how some of these tatted up women in these bridal shows choose huge, glamorous icons to emulate such as Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe, then feel insulted whenever someone suggests to cover up their tattoos, or take away anything else tacky that they knew damn well Audrey or Marilyn wouldn't be caught dead with. Anybody watch Whose Wedding is it Anyway with the former drug addict that was going for the Breakfast at Tiffany theme? Bitch please.

I'm going to cleanse my platelets of all shame and admit to watching the entire marathon of this show last night. It kind of walks an uncomfortable line with the tossing out of everything tacky the brides come up with, but hey, they signed up for this show. And I might have sniffled a little when Sheria(?) got to wear the dress her mom picked out to the service before changing to the couture gown.

Also, the last bride, Colleen McIrishLass? Was it just me or did her final updo with the bit on the side look like all her hair was supposed to be up but random clumps had fallen down? Loved the horseshoe though. Maybe the next wedding show could be American brides learning to incorporate the culture traditions of their immigrant ancestors.

The Irish bride was supposed to have her hair down on one side. That was one of the style choices. gulp. I'm helping my daughter plan her wedding, and, having not been to any weddings in a long, long time, I don't know if some of the choices we're making will be tacky or not. We're not ordering junk off the internet, so I guess that's a good start. I would love to have someone like David come in and critique what we're planning. I'm really surprised David didn't change Irish bride's dress, I wonder why? He's done that with all the other brides. (Greta, I'll join you in cleansing my platelets of shame too.)

I watched the marathon, too. Then, I added it as a Season Pass on Tivo. Feel my shame.

I find it interesting that David seems to hate everything the brides have chosen (often with good reason) but still manages to incorporate the bride's basic color schemes and ideas while making it 1000x better. I'm on the fence as to whether I like David though. Sometimes the smug gets to be a bit much.

Oh, I know- I just thought it ended up looking wrong, less like tendrils cascading down and more like she'd lost a couple of hair pins and these pieces fell down from the updo. Maybe it just didn't film well?

irishlulu, best to you and your daughter:) I think you'll do fine. The main things to avoid that I'm getting from this show are fake flowers and substituting lots of cheaper stuff for one big expensive thing. I think if DT really had to work on a budget he'd go for a simple vase from the dollar store or a department store that had clean lines in place of a Waterford piece, rather than a really ornate cheap vase with light up candles and multicolored ribbons (in shades of pink and turquoise bedazzled with diamonds!) and scented plastic rose petals.

Question: my friend used real flowers in pots as centerpieces at her recent summer, fairly casual wedding. I liked it. Would y'all? Would DT and/or assorted wedding planners on this network?

We'll try to stay away from those!! ;)

I think the flower pots are a great idea for a casual, country-ish wedding. And they can be used afterward instead of being thrown away. DT may not like it, probably not "grand" enough. But if it fits the location and style of the wedding, why not? What did you think of it?

Shak__ and Dawan were really cute and the bride's younger sister was adorable! I loved the costume gowns and David did a good job of matching up the right gown with the right body type. He should have upgraded the bride's reception gown too - it looked quite plain next to the bridesmaids. The cake was fantabulous!

I've gotten shamefully addicted to this show - as has my fiance. We're planning our wedding now and have become regular watchers of all the WE wedding shows...it's embarassing, but they're so addicting.

I loved the look on the cake baker's face when the Marilyn Monroe bride described her perfect wedding cake as being pink and girly and shaped like a big cupcake...and covered with spiders. Her reaction was like "okay, yeah, girly, gotcha, wait - WTF? Spiders??." Awesome.

I think of everyone he has worked with, she seemed the most gracious and open to his changes/ideas. By the end, she came off very sweet. Her finance seemed sweet enough, but honey he is missing a critical tooth and I just could not get pass that.

I agree that Dawan looked like a total thug, but he seemed really sweet and I liked how he described himself as a carpenter, "I just build things."

I agree. I think this last bride was probably my favorite. She seemed genuinely excited and grateful about everything David showed her.

I was curious though why, for the second episode in a row, they didn't touch the bride's dress. I thought particularly the Irish bride could have used a swap.

I agree about the Irish bride's dress - that looked like a cheap polyester dress and wasn't at all flattering.

I too liked Dawan and Bayyina! They are my favorite couple from this season. They were both so sweet and nice and seemed to be so happy. And they seemed to be so in love with each other. Their wedding reception looked like fun too. I cracked up when I saw David on the dance floor.

I wasn't excited when she was showing her bridesmaid's dresses and described the colors, but they actually looked really nice together. I'm so glad that David moved the wedding. I know people get what they can afford, but after seeing Bayyina and Dawan and feeling their spirit, they really needed something better. I'm glad David could do it for them.

As for David, I like him. He's a bit smug, but since I agree with most of his decisions and have similar reactions, he's cool with me.

One thing I wish he would have changed was the sister's hair color, but it didn't bother me as much by the time the wedding came, though she'd seemed to have added pink to it.

It wasn't on last night! Is the season over already?

I was sick in bed on Sunday and caught a mini-marathon of three episodes of this show.

I thought the weddings for Jennifer (Princess Bride) and Wanda (West Palm) were gorgeous. Either theme could have been ridiculously over the top but I think David made both of them look elegant and warm - - not home magazine cold. I think he listened to each lady carefully about what their wishes were and gave them what they wanted. In each case, I think both brides look infinitely better in their new wedding dress, versus the ones they originally chose.

I don't think David made Jennifer look foolish or made to feel inadequate. Learning etiquette on camera just days before your big wedding would have been nervewracking for anyone. I think Jennifer was anxious to learn and she was agreeable to everything David suggested - - which surprised me because I pegged her to be a demanding diva who would butt heads with him in the beginning.

But Mandy (Marilyn Monroe impersonator) . . . oh Lord, where to begin with her. First, I will admit off the top that her style wedding is not my style. AT ALL. I'm not a lover or appreciator of kitsch and her wedding seemed more kitschy than anything to me - - from the friend decked out in leopard marrying them, to the over-the-top ensembles of the bridal party, to the "cat and kitten" wedding vows, to the beer-flavored groom's cake to Mandy's painful giggling during the ceremony. Her wedding dress was very simple and pretty and David was absolutely right for her to airbrush her tattoos but her hair and makeup was absolutely atrocious. She would have looked much better with her hair pulled back and/or up for the ceremony and letting it down for the reception (and with the different dress).

While I liked the dresses that David chose for the bridesmaids (and Mandy's Maid of Honor Mona looked stunning in all of them she tried on), I did not like the gold number chosen for Mandy during the reception. I thought she looked prettiest in the first dress she tried on. The gold number looked like she was trying too hard and I don't think it flattered her coloring or her figure nearly as well as the others did.

And spiders on the wedding cake? Good Lord, I won't even go there. Bless the cake lady who not only designed a kitschy, pink polka-dotted wedding cake, but a groom's cake shaped like a cupcake, with spiders and beer flavoring.

I had seen the Irish themed wedding episode on a previous day and I concur with the posters who said they were disappointed that David did not choose another wedding dress for her. I agree. I don't think her dress flattered her at all. And I was disappointed that the bride's father nixed having the cocktails outside before going in for the reception. The outside tent area was absolutely beautiful.

I didn't understand the Irish bride's father's objection to cocktails in the tent, either. The tent was gorgeous! The reception hall was nice, but not so fabulous that you'd want to miss a minute of being inside.

I totally agree with you about Mandy's wedding style.

What's the saying?? "You can take a girl out of the neighborhood, but you can't take the neighborhood out of the girl", or some such. David can dress these girls up and give them big fancy weddings but they're still who they are underneath.

I think he has come a long was since his previous party show where he used fake plants and flowers in a New York loft party, fake rose pedals at another function. It is not hard to look good with the brides he is helping now. I was blown away by the make-up used to hide the tats.

In defense of fake rose petals a lot of churches and clubs will not allow thrown petals because they ruin carpeting and rugs. I am told they are second only to poinsettias in the amount of staining/clutter to be found for weeks. And supposedly using white isn't a help either since they get ground up underfoot and basically act as glue for dirt/crumbs. Fake plants though- yikes, hope they were used for screening a good distance form th eparty goers and no too close.

Robroy I agree about the carpet staining, I just don't think they should be used on the tables. Another wedding show the planner was going to loan her 5,000 rose petals to the bride for their tables and I had the vison of her scooping them up from the church floor to re-use and re-use. I guess I am just over the rose petal thing too.

I'm on the fence for this show. In some ways I love David Tutera and he does seem to care about these brides he is just meeting but at the same time he has this way of looking down on the brides because they don't have the same type of experiance and ideas that he has.

I've always been addicted to wedding shows but now that I am engaged I'm watching them 24/7. The only thing is watching them makes me feel as if I have no taste because I swear that everything I'm going to have they are putting down. I'm in no way like the brides on Bridezillas who bring tacky to a new level, but I'm also on a VERY tight budget and I live in a small farming community so some of the things that go with very high class weddings just don't fit for around this area. We will be having silk flowers that I am doing myself due to cost, but I've done many weddings and every time people ask if the flowers are real until they touch them because I find ones that look real. But oh my if anyone even mentions silk flowers on any of the wedding shows it is "plastic" and tacky.

It would be nice to see a show about weddings with people on real budgets that don't make those people look like backwoods hicks.

Carpedi7,

I got married October 11th of last year and, like you, I've always been fascinated with weddings. However, I was also on a budget. I really felt like I had to go that extra mile because of everything I'd seen on wedding shows. I love them all: Bridezillas, D. Tutera, Platinum Weddings, etc...I got some great ideas from watching, but in the end, I realized it wasn't all about the bells and whistles. I felt as though I'd worked myself to death when I really didn't have to. My wedding turned out absolutely beautiful in spite of what I thought it should have been. You can have a Platinum Wedding on a silver dollar budget, but ultimately, its all about you and your hubby being man and wife. I wish you and your's all the best!

I just watched this show (mini marathon) for the first time and really loved it. I really liked the brides, they seemed open to suggestions and eager to take advice and guidance. David came across to me as super likable and diplomatic. He also seemed truly invested in these families and their big day.

It was a refreshing change from a truly heinous season of Bridezillas.

I'm watched all five episodes today. I'm so happy to find forums!

Liking or disliking a dress is so subjective. I didn't care for the original pink bridesmaid dress either (Jennifer's), because anything poufy like that is not my style. But it looked exactly like a pink version of Kevin Costner's new wife's dress that was featured on one of those "10 best wedding dresses" shows, so I was surprised that he found it so dated.

All the brides looked beautiful and seemed like nice people.

I liked how David was respectful to all the brides, even if he didn't like their dresses or venues or whatever. He did seem to care about them and that they would have a beautiful wedding. I'll be tuning in again.

At first I really didn't like Caroline but then I loved her at the end. I felt for her during the bridesmaid dress session ... all of the ones David picked were ugly!! I didn't like any of them and I could feel her sitting there thinking, "Oh shit what did I get myself into?" Her gown was gorgeous though and she made a stunning bride. The room decor was some of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

I found it ironic that someone who runs around in Ed Hardy (fugly) tshirts was so horrified by a bride's tats.

I just saw some of the older episodes this past weekend and I found Mandy to be just irritating. I *could* have loved her style, but wasn't quite there. She was more like a bad drag queen than like Gwen Stefani.

Some of these girls are just so lower middle class that nothing David does will class them up. I'm always surprised when he's shocked by the taste level of middle class Jersey/Long Island girls. He can be a little condecending, but he works so hard and has such beautiful results, I love him anyway. I especially liked that he relented on the bride whose mom had bought the wedding gown and she didn't want to hurt her mom's feelings- how sweet.

I think Caroline was one of the lovliest brides David Tutera ever "rescued." I agree with the poster upthread who wasn't sure about her at first, since her choices were pretty meager and homemade-looking. However, she really stepped up to the challenge and at the end of the episode, looked so amazing even I teared up a bit. That dress, hands down, was the most beautiful dress I have encountered on absolutely ANY of the current bride reality shows, SYTTD, Bridezillas, Masters of Reception, and even Platinum Weddings. You could tell that Caroline and David had created a bond, and she trusted him completely to take care of everything. The only thing that grated to me was her accent. Too bad David couldn't have done a Henry Higgins on her!

Because money automatically buys class? Clearly you haven't watched enough Platinum Weddings and My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding to know that more money also equals more tacky shit.

What's the deal with this show, financially speaking? Do the brides pay for David to re-make their wedding or is it a gift from David/the network? Some of the makeovers he's done can't possibly be cheap ... I'm especially thinking of the season premiere, the bride's decor and centerpieces and everything were all very homespun and DIY, so the bride was clearly on a pretty tight budget (well, what would be a tight budget in New York/New Jersey, but that same amount would go way WAYYYY farther in a less expensive area of the country). So I'm wondering who paid for it. I'm assuming the bride/groom didn't pay for it themselves, but I really don't know.

I suspect that all of the items they get are free in exchange for being mentioned on the show. If you notice from the episodes last year, all of the items are mentioned by name, for instance the couple that got the elegant place settings, they mentioned the rental company and said they were provided by them. Same would go for the dresses. There are plenty of people with the money to pay for them who are watching this show who will now say, "I want the dress I saw on...." Even if they sell one wedding dress, it pays for the advertising, at least that is what I think. I don't know for sure.
I didn't see the end of the episode last night but plan to watch my DVR later this afternoon. I thought that all 3 dress choices last night were stunning, though i thought the 1st would have been my choice. I imagine he chose the 3rd, he caught her reaction, I don't think he is trying to do the opposite of what they want.

I really enjoy this show, and think he has great taste, and face it, these girls need help. Those fake blue flowers for that girl that bought everything on the internet? and the cake topper and the centerpieces from last night, Oy!

I got married this past July, and when I was planning my wedding I noticed they were doing casting for this show but you had to be married by May 2009. I would have tried to get on just because I really do think this show isn't so bad and I like him, but honestly, I really did love our wedding. Other than lighting and dressing up the pavilion where we had our reception, and maybe having real glasses and flatware and plates (we had a picnic menu so the paper plates worked just fine) I wouldn't have wanted him to touch my dress or the bridesmaids dresses. All that decor is just extra, and if you can do it right, ok, but if not, less is definitely more, IMO.
I should add that IF by some miracle I had applied and gotten picked, my husband would probably never have agreed to do it. He loathes these shows, but since he is such a great guy, he will occasionally watch with me if and only if, I have not seen the episode before.

Yeah, I figured the sponsors gave the items for free in exchange for being mentioned on the show. The "diamond white" wedding was gorgeous, but probably would have cost upwards of $200,000 with all those elaborate centerpieces and the professional lighting.

I'm also wondering about the wedding gowns that the bride tried on. Like many viewers, I'm also getting married soon (July 2010) and when I went to try on wedding gowns, the store had one of each style in one size that was usually between a 6-10. I'm a smaller gal and most of the dresses were falling off me to the point that the "clips" wouldn't even help and the saleslady had to hold them closed. Then when I ordered my dress I was told it would take 7-9 months for it to come in the store, which is pretty standard ... but the bride from this episode looked like she was pretty much able to fit in all the gowns at the store even though she also looked smaller, and she was able to get one pretty much immediately. I wonder if that store will be giving away all the gowns for this show, like if they have some kind of partnership with David to have the bride's exact size gown in the store when she goes to try on dresses.

David could re-make our wedding as much as he wanted especially if I didn't have to pay for it, but I'll be honest, I'd complain if he made me pick a different dress, haha.

I really enjoyed Nicole, the bride with the Jamaican themed wedding. David did a wonderful job of making her wedding special. I actually liked dress #2 better (sort of a grecian looking top), but she looked lovely in the dress he chose. Does he always go with the bride's preference? He seemed to on this episode.

Yeah he definitely picked everything the bride liked. She was so likable! Such a contrast from Bridezillas, which is on before. I too liked the second dress, with the straps.

I also really liked how he bedazzled the bridesmaids dresses. Finally something he didn't want to completely ditch!!

And I really want wedding cake & cannoli flavored gelato now.....

Double post.