Bridezillas: The Complete First Season

It's been raining steadily in Seattle for the past two weeks. What better way to while away the hours than to run through my Netflix queue. Watching Bridezillas on DVD is a much better experience than watching it on my Comcast DVR (which in itself is inferior to Tivo - perhaps because it is "enhanced by Microsoft"). Like many talk shows, half the program time of Bridezillas seems devoted to previews and reviews pre- and post- commercial break. The show originally ran on Metro TV in NYC and New York Magazine has a good summary of the various personalities from the first season here. Season One appears to have been filmed in 2002 as a couple of the brides mentioned that 9/11 caused them to consider getting engaged.

Of all the Manhattan brides featured in Season One, I related most to Cynthia - then, a struggling actress. Cynthia has done the best in capitalizing on her brief and sometimes unflattering exposure. In 2005, She wrote and starred in a critically acclaimed, one-woman play called, Bridezilla Strikes Back. The bride whose sanity I questioned the most was Julia Swinton-Williamson. Julia was 43 at the time and spent her life savings (over $100k) on her wedding. It was evident that her maniacal obsession over her wedding (she spent two years planning her wedding and her only regret was that she hadn't spent three) was wearing on the patience of both her mother (who expressed relief that she only had one daughter) and her groom, Allan. Julia later sued the producers of Bridezillas for misrepresentation.

This should be required viewing for all prospective brides.

Wedding Porn

Ever since X and I started discussing getting married a couple of months ago, I've been DVRing a bunch of wedding shows including Real Weddings from The Knot, Bridezillas, Platinum Weddings, and A Wedding Story. By far, Bridezillas(new season began this week) is the most entertaining and probably the most real. It shows brides coping with nerves, limited budgets, and family. In the other shows, wedding planning is shown to be a harmonious, seamless process. We recently watched a Real Weddings episode featuring an Indian couple, who had a traditional Gujarati ceremony that incorporated a western tradition of exchanging rings. All of these shows have contributed to our determination to have a simple, no-frills wedding. According to the NYT (citing Modern Bride), the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is $26,000. X and I would like to spend less.