Click here to view the embedded video.

Celebrity wedding planner David Tutera’s latest challenge was a Texas bride who was planning a cowboy themed wedding complete with a collection of cowboy boots (to use as vases for sunflowers), wagon wheels (to lean against tables), mason jars (to use as drinking glasses) and horseshoes. All of which David found to be a little kitchy.

Here is what David did to change the wedding from cowboy kitchy to country chic:

Set the wedding at MD Resort in Aurora, Texas, a guest ranch and Bed and Breakfast.

The ceremony was outdoors and set to look like a backyard wedding. He hung ribbons is from the trees which blew in the wind and added movement and color. The aisle was sprinkled with flower petals. The seating was an electic mix of old chairs and pews.

The bride, in a gown by Jorge Perez that David chose, and wearing her purple rose boots, arrived in a horse-drawn carriage with her parents. Because she did not have bridesmaids, David used this as a way to create a dramatic, theaterical moment that usually comes with a procession.

The reception was in a barn at the resort. The ceiling and columns were filled with lights and ribbons and sunflowers hung from wagon wheels on the ceiling.

David wanted the tables to look like someone went to grandma’s cupboard and pulled out whatever they could find so assorted little jars, mason jars, and soup cans tied with burlap and lace were gathered together. Each had one flower, a sunflower, tulip, peony, or ranunculus, so it looked like someone went to the garden and picked flowers to bring to the tables. Plates were a mix of vintage china patterns. Linens added color and texture to the tables.

The wedding cake was rolled fondant painted plaid and decorated with gum paste flowers. The grooms cake was made to look like a fishing tackle box. The cake designers/bakers offered three flavors; white cake with white buttercream filling, almond cake with blackberry cream cheese filling and white cake with raspberry liquor buttercream filling. The bride had selected white with white buttercream and the baker suggested she have different flavors on each tier. She just should make the anniversary topper, which the bride and groom will eat on their first anniversary, the favorite flavor.

The dance floor and band were setup outside the barn.

The video above shows the wedding with all of the details and you can go to the WEtv site for a full list of the vendors.

 On the last episode of WEtv’s “My Fair Wedding,”celebrity wedding planner, David Tutera, was faced with a bride whose wanted, ” a swamp, frog-related outdoor oasis.”

She was obssesed with frogs and wanted them to be a part of her day. She also was very allergic to flowers and did not want them at her wedding. (Something you might have to face at some point are brides and grooms who are very allergic to flowers or particular types of food.)

David gave her an organic styled outdoor wedding. The ceremony took place outdoors and the reception indoors in a tented pavilion, both spaces are part of  The Liberty House Restaurant, who filmed the video below of David Tutera and the venue.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Since he could not use flowers, David decorated with vines, curly willow, mosses, ferns, all elements that could be found in a forest and had lights hanging from the ceiling that looked like falling stars.  Centerpieces included runners of moss, pods, candles and leaves. Each place setting had a lily pad that held a menu card (see top).

The favors were frog placecard holders which could be used later to hold small photographs. ( I didn’t see the frog placecard holders on the vendor’s website but they did have a good selection of placecard holders and other wedding favors.)

The wedding cake was tiers of cake decorated to look like tree stumps with butterflies, ivy, flowers and lily pads – you can see it in the video above.

Whether or not you have been watching the Bravo TV show, “Bethenny Getting Married?”, you might want to watch tonight’s episode in which Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy actually tie the knot.

Bethenny was a controlling client who initially didn’t trust wedding planner Shawn Rabideau but with only four weeks to plan a wedding, she needed help. Shawn has been able to get her the wedding venue she fantasized about and give advice on the wedding dress, cake, table settings, marriage license and much more.

You can see a preview of tonight’s show on the BravoTV website. The site also lets you see full episodes that you might have missed which are worth watching to see how an experienced planner deals with a very stressed, controlling and famous bride.

One thing you might want to be aware of as you watch Bethenny and Shawn work with the different wedding vendors, the vendors were given promotional consideration when they participated. In other words, they may have donated their services in order to get on the show and get publicity. Nothing wrong with that, they would not have been allowed to participate if Bethenny didn’t like them.

Can you plan a “laid-back Caribbean vibe” wedding on a budget of $5000?

This is what the wedding designers on last week’s TLC television show, “Battle of the Wedding Designers,” were asked to do. Three Southern California wedding designers battled each other for the opportunity to give a couple the wedding on their dreams on their $5000 budget. The designers had to present a theme, ceremony site, reception area, food, flowers and cake.

The first designer, Linda Ly, chose the theme, “City Chic Meets Bahama Bliss”. Her venue was the Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach, California. The couple loved the view of the beach from the rooftop ceremony site Linda presented until a helicopter flew overhead and they realized that the noise would ruin the romantic feeling of their wedding. The were also concerned that the outdoor space was windy and cold. (These are things you need to think about if you plan an outdoor wedding.)

Due to budget constraints and the way she allocated the money, Linda was only able to present a light menu of small “tasting” foods which the bride and groom felt was inadequte for their guests. And while they liked the signature cocktails she had created and named after them, the fact that those were the only cocktails they could offer their guests disturbed them.

The wedding cake was a big hit, the groom thought it tasted incredibly good. To save money, the beautiful cake was made of styrofoam. Only the cake they would cut into during the cake cutting ceremony would be real.  The guests would actually be eating from less-expensive sheet cakes cut in another room. (Planners often suggest this as a way to save money.)

Wedding designer Summer Simmons (I could not find a website for her) chose the theme,”Tropical Nightclub Romance.” She selected the all-inclusive venue, The Mark for Events, in Los Angeles. (All-inclusive venues often help save time and money.) The bride and groom loved the ceremony design ideas with rose petals and hurricane lamps lining the aisle, palm trees (rented to save money) at the altar and curtains that allowed the bride to make a grand entrance.

The rum bar stocked with bottles of inexpensive juices and rum was a big hit but the designer missed the mark on the cake. To save money, instead of one large wedding cake, she presented “cake shots,” individual glasses filled with cake. The couple didn’t know what it was and was concerned their guest would not either.

The third wedding designer, Michael Willms, presented the “Chateau Uber Chic” theme. By calling in lots of favors from his connections in the wedding business, he was able to design a grand wedding on a $5000 budget.

He presented his ideas by giving the couple a taste of what it would be like to have a wedding at his venue, Taglyan Hall, in Hollywood. He greeted them outside with a Calypso band. He hand the bride a bouquet and had her practice walking down the aisle to her groom as a piano played in the background. (Helping a bride visualize what it would feel like to work with you will help you get more clients.)

The reception site was a grand ballroom with an amazing chandelier. Drinks were red or white wine and some hard liquors. The cake, which looked like a stack of Tiffany boxes, also got good reviews.

Spoiler alert!

The winner was Michael. No one thought he could keep within the budget but by selecting vendors whom he knew, he was able to do it.

When celebrity wedding planner David Tutera met his Dallas, Texas bride, Sheena, on the show “My Fair Wedding,” her concept was, ”Beyonce, meets Lady Gaga, meets tropical, meets Cajun, meets New Orleans, feathers and parrots.”  Which David called, “a disaster” and even her groom said they needed someone to, “pimp our wedding.”

The bride said she wanted something out-of-the-box and wanted to feel like a diva, but without the attitude. David gave her a “crazy, off the charts, nontraditional wedding” that brought out the diva in her and her bridesmaids and made the wedding memorable to the bride and groom and all of their guests.

What David did to transform this wedding was big. These ideas are probably beyond most budgets but you can get inspiration for the weddings that you plan:

Attire

David didn’t change any of the dresses, as he usually does in most of his shows. Instead he gave and bride and all of her bridesmaids sequined party dresses for the reception that brought out the diva in all of them.

Entertainment

David had a special photo shoot with the bride and her attendants in which they got made up and dressed like a diva and her divaettes and acted like women from the movie, “Dreamgirls.” He later used the photographs at the venue and showed a movie that he had created of the women doing their photo session.

Food

The bride had wanted to honor her fiance with something from New Orleans, his home city. David did this by working with the caterer to create a Cajun style menu. (A nice way to incorporate the groom’s background.)

Venue

The bride had chosen to have her ceremony on a rooftop of a venue which meant she and her groom would be reciting vows against the noise of overhead jets and the traffic on the freeway. Something to really consider when planning outdoor weddings.)

David relocated the wedding to the historic Lakewood Theater. The marquee stated the event was “One Night Only” and “The Wedding of Sheena and Cedric.” The movie posters were from the diva photoshoot.

The groom and groomsmen arrived in a black limo. The bride and her attendants got made up and dressed in a star trailer and made their entrance in a white limo. With a red carpet and guests at the entrance  lining the velvet ropes, calling the bride’s name and taking photographs, the couple got a taste of stardom.

The ceremony took place on the stage with the guests already seated at their reception tables.

The stage later became the dance floor (the floor was lit by LED lighting).

In last night’s episode of “My Fair Wedding”, David Tutera didn’t find a whole lot wrong with the bride’s zen wedding theme (she and her fiance had recently converted to Buddhism) and fashion selections. However he did think the bridesmaid’s attire lacked a unifying look, all of the girls’ shoes were a different styles, and personality. He brought in a stylist to accessorize the bridesmaids and the mother of the bride. The stylist gave them jewelry of natural shapes, such as tree branches and flowers, and shoes and bags, all in a mixture of metallic shades. You might want to have a fashion or bridal stylist in your vendor network to help the bride with selection of attire and accessories if you do not want to or cannot do it alone.

Below is the Kenneth Jay Lane designed bracelet cuff that the bridesmaids wore. (I found it online at saksfifthavenue.com.)

Of course David also changed the venue and designed the reception for the bride and groom. He took her zen theme and came up with a design that incorporated nature and all of the five senses. The tabletops (below) were covered with a mirror to reflect the eco-friendly soy candles and had natural pieces of wood in the center of each table.

The most dramatic decoration was a tsunami water screen on which David was able to project different images including fire, considered a symbol of life energy in Asian culture.

You can read about the vendors on the WE tv website.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In Friday’s episode of  TLC’s “Battle of the Wedding Designers”, three top professional wedding designers were charged with designing a wedding for a couple who wanted a “rocker vintage chic” wedding that was “dark, rock and roll and romantic without being goth,”  for their 120 guests on a budget of $30,000. The designers needed to come up with theme, ceremony site, reception site, food, flowers and cake.

Here are their interpretations:

“Rolling Hot Cars and Rooftop Wedding Bells”

Set in the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, the designer wowed the bride and groom with the rooftop ceremony site, red, black and white color scheme, classic guitar music, chic cocktail lounge, beautiful cake and the use of a Lamborghini to leave the venue after the wedding.  

But the couple didn’t like the smell of the tar pits on the trip to the location and the reception food. There was only one passed hors d’oeuvre, that they didn’t like, and very small-sized food which would mean guests would need to go back to the buffet table several times before they would get full.

“Two Tickets to Paradise”

The designer chose Paradise Cove in Malibu as the venue and the bride loved the beach, the food and the fact that the designer made the ceremony and wedding all about her. However, on the ride to the location, the bride was shocked to see a mobile home park and port-a-potties and was in tears by the time she reached the parking lot of the site. You’ll see her crying in the video above. The groom was hesitant about having their wedding outdoors because weather is unpredictable.

“Royal Rock Wedding”

Set at The Music Box in Hollywood, the wedding design was a non-traditional theme that the designer choose to appeal to the bride and groom’s rocker side. The couple loved the movie marquee outside the building, the food, which was a “royal feast,” and the flowers, red peonies, calla lilies and roses.

The designer had go-go dancers as part of the entertainment because the groom had mentioned it would be fun. It was definitely something the bride did not want.

Th couple chose the “Royal Rock Wedding” theme. The bride said it was because she knew the designer, Steve Kemble, could turn the venue into exactly what she wanted, “sexy, vampy, rocker chic and still romantic.”

Last week’s episode of BravoTV’s “Bethenny Getting Married?” showed Bethenny Frankel meeting and working with her wedding planner, Shawn Rabideau.

It was quite a stressful experience for Shawn and you don’t want any experience with your client to be like this:

-Bethenny asked Shawn if he knew about the cotton candy at The Four Season Restaurant, he said he knew, but she realized he wasn’t telling the truth.

-She wanted her wedding at  The Four Season Restaurant, or at least a classic, iconic New York location, and he took her to a “white warehouse.”

-She wanted a “social restaurant” or “club” atmosphere and he didn’t agree, suggesting instead traditional round tables.

You may be thinking, “Didn’t he listen to her?” “Why did he always disagreed with her?” “These can’t be the right things to do!”

True, clearly you should be honest with your clients. You won’t know everything and people can easily tell when you are lying. And, taking your client to a place that is the total opposite of what they wanted and constantly disagreeing with them is not helpful and could probably put you out of business pretty quickly.

Shawn addresses all of these issues in his blog. He explains how he typically works with his brides and how this situation of planning a wedding in four weeks, in front of a television camera, with a client he didn’t even know (her assistant found him on The Knot) caused him to do and say things that were out of character for him.

In tomorrow’s episode, Shawn has to tell a stressed, time-crunched Bethenny that she needs her divorce papers in order to get a marriage license. Also, he suggests he take control of the wedding planning and she refuses.

You can see the preview of the show below (sorry about the commercial – I can’t get rid of it).

Thanks to Nicole at BravoTV for providing the video.

Brides sometimes wonder why they should hire a wedding planner to help them with their weddings. One big reason is because you can take  ideas and, working with your team of wedding vendors, design a wedding with personality and elegance.

On the last episode of “My Fair Wedding” with David Tutera, a bride had a vision of creating a 1920’s wedding using feathers, especially peacock feathers, pearls, flapper headbands and an assortment of items from craft stores and costume shops. David took the concept from kitschy costume party to glamorous “Great Gatsby” wedding.

Here are some of the things David, using the things the bride loved:

White ostrich feathers

• Adorned centerpieces
• Were part of the decoration on the 7-tiered wedding cake

Peacock feathers

• Were attached to the program and menu
•  Adorned the bridal bouquet
• Were attached, along with calla lilies, to the clutches the bridesmaids carried in lieu of  bouquets
• Bridesmaids also wore small headpieces with  peacock feathers and the groom had a peacock feather in his boutonniere

Pearls

• Peacock blue napkins were ringed with pearls
• Chandeliers and centerpieces were draped with pearls
• Hurricane lamps were ringed in strands of pearls
• The dance floor was a pearl white

The bride’s transportation was a white vintage Rolls Royce.

You can learn more about the vendors for this event on the WEtv website.

Get to know your vendors so you can work with them to raise the level of elegance and sophistication of the weddings that you plan for your brides. And don’t forget you should also be studying design and fashion, along with wedding planning, to enhance your ability to offer suggestions to your clients.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tomorrow, Friday, June 18, 2010, is the series premire of TLC’s “Battle of the Weddings Designers.” This show has three top wedding planners competing to plan the wedding for an engaged couple on a budget. You’ll get to see the three wedding designers select a location, theme, and menu and see their ideas for decor. Then you’ll watch as they “sell” their concept to the couple and find out who gets selected to plan the wedding day.

The task for the designers on tomorrow’s episode is to plan a Greek wedding on an $18,000 budget. As you can see from the preview clip of the show above, the designers are very competitive. And though you may be competing in the future for clients, you do not want to make the catty comments about the other planners that they do on this program. It makes for great, fun television but don’t do it in real life!

The concepts the designers present might give you ideas for weddings that you plan in the future. One of them came up with the theme, “Urban Oasis Meets Timeless Tradition.” You can catch a glimspe of it in the preview clip below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Many thanks to TLC for providing me with information about their show and the links to the clips.