Reality TV and Weddings!



On Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending a meeting where the speaker was  the fabulous Debra Sadowski from Premier Bride. Her subject was How Reality TV is Effecting the Wedding Industry.

As many of you can guess, bridezillas are equivalent to garlic to a vampire in the service industry (I have GOT to stop reading twilight books). With all the shows that are on TV it was a very interesting and informative discussion. One of the things that we learned, that should be obvious, reality TV. is not always reality and that much of it dramatized (big sigh of relief for all of the event planners there!). However all of the shows have some really great points that should be taken out of it. Below is part of a handout that Debra gave us and I thought it was very valuable about the bridal shows on TV, what they are about and what we should get out of each of them:

• Platinum Weddings – Over the top weddings. When money is no object, watch celebrities, sports personalities and others dream weddings become reality.
  Watch for: Creative ideas galore! Fun to watch interaction with consultants and the artistic process. Great for trends with wedding colors, themes, products and services.
   
•  Say Yes to the Dress - Process of finding the wedding dress. From initial consultation to the fittings, alternation and how the gown appear on the brides wedding day.
  Watch for: How consultants question and work with brides, family members and friends. The dress is one of the most emotional stages of the wedding process. Watch how hidden factors are revealed that explain odd behaviors and how to handle them.
   
• Bridezilla - Focuses on showing out of control brides. Starts about one to two months prior to wedding and up to the wedding day.
  Watch for: Entertainment value only. Highly edited to show the worst in the brides. Some brides have been accused of acting for the camera.
    
•  Whose Wedding is it Anyway - Watch different wedding planners deal with challenging situations to create a wonderful wedding.
   Watch for: Creative ideas. People skills on working to pull conflicting, competitive or other challenging wedding situations together.
    
•  My Fair Wedding with David Tutera-Creates fairytale wedding for couple in “need” 3 weeks before their wedding.
  Watch for: Innovative ideas created from sometimes very odd concepts and themes from the bridal couple. Good interaction and techniques used between David and the bride to guide her into making some changes that will create a better and more long term memorable event.
    
•  Ace of Cakes / Cake Boss-Creating extremely difficult cakes and the drama behind it.
   Watch for: The creative process and techniques used in creating truly over the top cakes for weddings and other parties.
    
•  Get Married – Educational infomercials targeted directly at brides along with real wedding videos.
   Watch for: Tips by subject, told by professionals in that industry