Happily Ever After

With Proposition
8, which would eliminate same-sex marriage
rights, coming to a voting booth near you in
California, heterosexuals will be sticking their noses
into gay marriage. Of course, gays have been meddling
in straight weddings for centuries. Just ask David
Tutera, the out event planner who’s whipped up
hundreds of glamorous weddings and star-studded
soirees, including affairs for J. Lo, Elton John, the
Rolling Stones, Al Gore, and Matthew McConaughey. But
David’s new reality series, My Fair Wedding,
takes him away from his usual A-list clientele as he tries
to rescue everyday brides on the brink of disaster.
(Well, what would you call Pepto-Bismol-colored
bridesmaid dresses, artificial flowers, and
glow-in-the-dark ice cubes?)

In each episode
David and his team transform nightmare nuptials into a
dream wedding, changing the food, the decorations, the venue
... even the gown. “My philosophy is that the
wedding is a story starring the bride and
groom,” David says. “I could come up with
something I think is fabulous, but it has to have an
emotional connection to the couple. I have to give
them what they want but maybe can’t visualize or have
the budget for.” David chatted with
Advocate.com about the show’s bridal makeovers,
his own dream wedding, and why gays should be throwing the
bouquet.

Advocate.com:One of the celebrity events you worked
on was Star Jones’s wedding. Was that a nightmare
or what?David Tutera: For me, it was basically just another
wedding. The issue came with dealing with all the
paparazzi. Star had the ceremony in St. Bart’s
and a party at the Waldorf, which was very nice. I’d
done parties for her in the Hamptons and I’d
been on The View a lot, so I knew what she wanted.
And she got everything she wanted -- and more. The
brutal word we heard a lot was
“sponsorship.” The bottom line is ,most brides
tell their girlfriends and family members all the
details of their reception. Star just happened to do
it on national television.

What was your take on Al Reynolds? My take on Al ... is probably the same as
everyone else’s. [And] the poor guy went from
being just another private person to being thrown into this
huge media spotlight the whole time they were married. He
was like a deer in headlights.

Star definitely knew what she wanted, but what
about the brides onMy Fair Wedding? How do they handle finding out you’re
changing everything? It’s definitely a shock for them.
They’ve thought about this day forever, and
now, three weeks before the wedding, this total stranger is
rewriting the script. But these brides have no budget
and no ability to tell good taste from bad. They
don’t realize they’re going down a disaster
path. They think we’re gonna alter something
small here or there. Actually, I’m going to get
rid of your wedding dress, show you four new options, and
you won’t know which you’re going to wear
until the day of the wedding.

I would be kicking and screaming the whole time.
How do you get them to go along with it? Honestly, I think they’re so stunned that
I’m able to just swoop in start making changes
before they come to their senses. If there was any more
time, they’d be more resistant.