TLC’s Bada Bling Brides premieres Thursday, November 8
Nothing exceeds like excess, as Italian brides allegedly want three things: drama, attention and over-the-top couture wedding gowns.
From TLC
The D’Agostino family bridal shop, Sposa Italia, knows how to deliver the goods to every Italian princess that walks through their doors.
But what happens when this family’s one and only daughter is getting married? Fuggeddaaboutit. Will the First Family of Italian wedding gowns survive the impending marriage mayhem? Cannoli will fly.
I thought TLC had beat the bridal thing to death, but no. I guess there's still room for one more at the table. I can't figure out if this is a series or a one-time special. Did anyone else watch this?
The D'Agostino family got on my last nerve. I guess the mom Lia was sort of ok, but the father Ron, and the daughter Vanessa - ugh. Vanessa in particular comes across as boorish, self centered, and lazy. Three days before Vanessa's wedding, Vanessa's BFF and Maid of Honor, Annarita comes in to choose a wedding gown for her own wedding. Vanessa is miffed that Annarita would be so inconsiderate as to schedule an appointment right before the wedding, because doesn't everyone know Vanessa is BUSY that week? (Busy being the center of the universe. that is.) Annarita's wedding is 8 months away, so why can't she pick a dress AFTER Vanessa's Big Day? There is one scene When Annarita is standing there in a big sparkly poufy gown (clearly made for someone at least 6 inches taller than she is) and everyone is oohing and ahhing. Vanessa, who presumably is the bridal consultant for Annarita's appointment, gets miffed because all of a sudden someone else's wedding is the focus of attention. Right in the middle of Annarita's appointment, Vanessa drops everything, announces loudly that she has something else to do, and sails out the door. If she can't be the center of attention, she's taking her toys and leaving. It was breathtakingly rude, and Annarita, rightly offended, threatens to resign as Maid of Honor.
The one redeeming aspect of this show is the gowns. They give Pnina Tornai a run for her money. They aren't stripperish, but they are every bit as sparkly, puffy, over the top, and decorated nearly to death.
There is a lot of controversy around Vanessa's dress(es). She has a big white ballgown that she absolutely loves. (It's classy!) Her parents want her to change into a second big white ballgown halfway through the reception. The first gown is Vanessa's choice. The second gown is mom and dad's choice, and has to "represent who we are." (Dad's words.) According to Ron,the first dress is too plain (no it really isn't.) Dad wants the biggest, fanciest, most expensive dress around because his daughter is a walking billboard for the store. Basically Dad just wants to show off all that extravagance to all of their friends and relations. Meanwhile, Ron comes across more like a used car salesman than the proprietor of a high-class bridal boutique. There's a weird juxtaposition between him and all of those pricey dresses. This is the first "bridey" show I've seen where the consultants don't wear black from head to toe. It made me realize how much the all-black thing contributes to the overall polish of these places and the people who work in them.
Dress #2 and was made by the in-house designer, Ruslan, and it was so so so bad. Godawful. Having had a few days to consider it, I now think this was a set up. They took a perfectly fine (and enormous) dress and stapled on giant poufs of tulle and dozens of big silk roses, just so they could take all of that stuff off again and reveal the "made over" dress as even MORE beautiful and dazzling than before!
There was some manufactured drama around whether Vanessa would deign to change into dress #2. They show Vanessa ducking out of her reception to sit alone in a room and think about it. Will she, or won't she? Meanwhile, Mom and dad are taking a smoke break out back and Ron is ranting that Vanessa better put on that second dress, because he didn't haul it all the way to the venue for nothing. Cut back to Vanessa. Alone in a room with nothing but two dresses and her conscience. Vanessa thinks and thinks and thinks, and then finally decides to make mom and dad happy and change dresses. Once she's got the new dress on, she makes another grand entrance to the reception, pausing dramatically in the entry while the crowd oohs and aahs. Mom and dad get all teary while Vanessa basks in the glow of everyone's undivided attention. I've no clue where her new hubby was while all of this was happening. I didn't see him, but I did see the whole roast pig on the buffet. Oink and all.
The show is supposed to be all about how this big Italian family runs the store together. As far as I could see, Mom runs the place. Vanessa floats in and out as she pleases, and Ron's only function is to add his opinion (loudly) where it isn't needed, and maybe fluff out a hem or two. It's hard to believe this joint is successful.
Edited by SleepyJean, Nov 12, 2012 @ 4:04 PM.
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