Fern Weston-Bennett, a bride who appeared on the BBC reality show Don't Tell the Bride in 2010, has revealed that her dream wedding was left in tatters despite receiving a free £12,000 ceremony. The show, originally airing on BBC Three and now available on Channel 4, tasks the groom with planning every detail without any input from the bride.
Groom's Planning Sparks Chaos
Fern, then 21, and her now-husband Ryan were one of the show's most memorable couples. Ryan was given a £12,000 budget but misjudged Fern's dream dress entirely, opting for a simple £1,000 princess gown that left her furious, as she had yearned for intricate details. The planning process was marred by chaos, with Ryan seemingly prioritising his best friend, dubbed "Fernando," over his bride, sparking numerous "bromance" dramas.
Despite the mishaps, Ryan managed to pull off a grand, Hollywood-style ceremony with a show-stopping helicopter entrance for the bride. However, Fern now confesses that she felt her dream day was "taken away from her."
Bride's Candid Confession
In a chat with online bingo provider Zingo Bingo, Fern confessed: "As much as I'm so grateful for the opportunity and we had our wedding paid for, which really did a huge favour to us, I've always said that I never feel like I had the wedding in terms of what it was supposed to feel like."
She added: "Personally, all of that was taken away from me. I never had my own vision come to life. I never had the emotions of what a bride should experience when they're getting married. It was more about creating a TV show and getting what they needed to get."
Pressure of Filming
The reality TV star, now a mother of two, also revealed the pressure she faced while being on the show, admitting it was "overwhelming" at times. She explained: "It was overwhelming because I didn't move in with my bridesmaids or my friends. I moved back in with my parents for the duration of filming. I've been used to not living with them for 3 years. So during those three weeks it was an intense situation and not having any contact with Ryan was hard."
She concluded: "I must have been quite difficult to work with because I don't really like showing too much emotion and they needed emotion from me. I felt quite under pressure."
Reflections on Reality TV
Discussing how her views on reality TV have evolved, she further commented: "I just think you've got to be so aware of what you get into and don't expect it to be normal life. You're making entertainment at the end of the day and getting that balance of what's natural and not natural."
