Review of Bride-O-Rama

For many women, the biggest day of their lives can also turn out to be the biggest headache they’ve ever encountered. Wedding planning is an art, and even the most prepared brides-to-be might need a tip or two when it comes tackling last-minute conundrums on the big day. Thanks to Bride-O-Rama, first-time brides can harvest wisdom from real women who’ve already walked down the aisle.

Launched in August 2007 and produced by Kathy Minton (a veteran of wedding and fashion communities) at Next New Networks, the show is the first network where women can share their wedding experiences with the world and in the process help others “get tips on how to tie the knot without getting tied up in knots.” In addition to anecdotal advice, the show is also backed up with expertise from professionals like internationally renowned wedding/event planner Preston Bailey.

Bride-O-Rama features two kinds of episodes rolled out twice a week: Wedisodes on Mondays and Wedding Titans/Bride Guide on Thursdays. The latter is predominately hosted by Preston Bailey (and may feature others later), who dispenses tips on everything from decorating ideas (like how to create rose-petal centerpieces) to pep talks for getting into the bridal mindset (i.e., “don’t micromanage” your wedding day). The advice is good, albeit a little lacking in detail. These videos run only about a minute long, which could be better if half the time wasn’t devoted to simply introducing Bailey’s background and his celebrity clientele.

The meat of the show, however, is Wedisodes, where each week one woman shares her personal wedding experience and at least three tips that could help future brides. You’ll hear from women like Lisa in Michigan, who describes how she color-themed her wedding; and from Wendy in New York, who reminds brides to bring hors d’oeuvres to the bridal suite to avoid forgetting to eat. The real fun, however, is simply watching real people put together and enjoy the happiest day of their lives. As the show’s slogan goes, it’s “her story, your inspiration,” and the site should be enough to get most women, and yes, even some men, feeling a little enlightened.

For more wedding-planning articles and advice, check out the accompanying blog. And if you’re a been-there-done-that bride, Brideorama invites you to submit your story.

Poor Kelly and Don. Self-professed “terrible dancers,” they took an eight-week ballroom dancing class before their wedding, only to have a technical glitch with the music on the big day. So they “winged” their foxtrot and got amusingly rated by their friends with “reall low” scorecards that read “-3” and “√16.” Doesn’t get much better than this.