A married couple who featured on Don’t Tell The Bride have lifted the lid on their experience and shared what really goes on behind the scenes.
Fern Weston-Bennett appeared on the show in 2010 with her then fiance Ryan, where he was given £12,000 to organise and plan a wedding in three weeks.
Speaking to Zingo Bingo, Fern and Ryan unveiled why they decided to go onto the show and discussed the reaction they received afterwards.
They also lifted the lid on whether the producers tried to influence Ryan during the wedding planning process, and also explained what Ryan would change if he was given another chance to plan another wedding.
Speaking to Zingo Bingo, Fern and Ryan said:
What made you decide to go on the show?
Fern:
So we’d been together for 3.5 years before we actually got onto the show. We met quite young. I was obsessed with Don’t Tell The Bride and I watched it every week. It was me that actually sent the email just randomly one night trying to apply. Then we got an interview and went from there.
Did you have a proper chat before the show to decide what sort of wedding you wanted?
Fern:
We knew we wanted to get married. But it was all so quick. I was 21 years old and just was honestly so desperate to be married. I wanted something really special.
What did it feel like afterwards when you reunited with each other?
Fern:
I think there were a lot of questions I wanted to ask you, weren't there? When we finally got back together, I wanted to know for instance why you didn’t get the invites out. He prioritised his fun a lot.
Ryan:
I was young at that time as well. I was 23 with the brain of a 16 year old. I was living with my best mate.
Fern:
You had a really good, fun relationship with the film crew as well. You were loving it.
Did you get any negative feedback?
It was all really positive actually, because it was quite a big thing then as well, especially for Doncaster where we were from. We didn’t have any social media back then, so it could have been so much bigger and better. We went to a festival after the episode aired and people were later recognising us.
Do producers try to push the grooms to make it as disastrous as possible?
Ryan:
Luckily for the producers, me and my best man are entertainers anyway, so we gave them what they needed easily. There was always banter and stuff like that, so we needed very little prompting. We went to Prague for the stag do, and there was me and 20 other guys. I was pretty wild back then.
Was your wedding legal?
Ours was legal because we got married in a church. I believe some people get married in weird places on that show.
How did you feel when the show was aired?
Ryan:
We noticed after our series, the people who went on the show were so much more extra with their wild wedding ideas. What’s wrong with a good traditional wedding? That was the problem because it shouldn’t be so weird. It’s more about the people themselves.
Weddings are a lot more expensive nowadays - do you think you were lucky?
Ryan:
The costs are ridiculous now. The £12,000 budget would get you nowhere these days, you'd have to have probably do three times that amount, which is mad. No one should have to take out that much finance just to get married.
Ryan, looking back, would you change anything or would you leave it as it is?
Ryan:
Obviously it was for enjoyment purposes. But if I changed it now, I'd do it completely differently because I'm different now.
Fern:
How would you do it completely differently?
Ryan:
I wouldn't be so self-absorbed and be a party animal, you know.
Fern:
I'm really grateful you said that.
Ryan:
I'd spent more time thinking about how to make everything perfect. I’d focus more on the meaning, basically, rather than having as much fun as I could.
Fern:
My hen do wasn’t great. There was no budget left for my hen do. I had no makeup artist and no hairstylist on my wedding day. My mum ended up doing my hair last minute!
Have you let Ryan plan anything important since?
Loads of things! We've moved countries, so loads of teamwork. Ryan is very good at ticking boxes and where there’s paperwork. Whereas I'm more of a visual, emotional feeling kind of person. The journey since Don't Tell the Bride has been quite a bit more interesting than the journey before.
