A face, voice, and personality familiar to many wedding TV fans are those of Donnie Brown. This Texas-based wedding guru is known for producing fabulous weddings with an upbeat attitude. Donnie makes any episode of Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? worth watching, thanks to his ebullient personality and the hijinks that ensue whenever he’s around. Donnie is actually the only planner from the first season left on the series. Donnie also has enjoyed success on Married Away, and off-camera as well, as a planner for celebrity events. With new book projects and a new season of Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? in the works, there was much for us to talk about.
Brides Television: I know you like to keep things upbeat, so what is the craziest thing you’ve done at a wedding?
Donnie Brown: I actually walked out on a bride once. It seems terrible – but the issue was incredible, and I just could not continue under the circumstances. She was messed up on something, not alcohol. She was fighting with the groom in the limousine and had broken some expensive crystal inside the car. When they arrived at the reception and she got out of the car, she fell to the ground and then kicked the limo door closed so hard she dinged it badly. The bride and groom spent some time alone, and they seemed to have resolved their problems. But then they began talking during their first dance. She pushed him away and walked over to her un-cut cake. With her bare hands, she grabbed a piece of the cake and then threw it at him. Knowing how volatile she was, he was watching her closely and saw it coming. He ducked and barely missed getting hit with it ... but his mother was not so fortunate, as it hit her in the side of the face. Then the bride went over to the bar, and when the bartender didn’t serve her because she was clearly inebriated to a major degree, she threw a glass behind the bar and shattered a lot of glass on the bar back. It was decided that everything be shut down due to the incredible goings-on. So the groom got in an SUV, and everyone went down to the honeymoon hotel. Clearly, nobody wanted to miss the action of this pay-per-ticket type event. No one called the hotel to say that they were all going down there; the hotel was busy serving other people for dinner. So when they weren’t able to help the wedding party in full with food and beverage – with no notice – the bride got into a fight with the manager. The manager called the police, and the bride was handcuffed with her dress on. However, I fortunately was not one of the gawking guests that made the trip to the honeymoon hotel!
BTV: What has been your biggest nightmare moment as a planner?
Donnie Brown: We had a wedding last year – the maid of honor was ... not nice. She was the "gatekeeper"; she wouldn’t let anyone near the bride. Now, I step away during the actual wedding ceremony, because it’s private – that’s their time for a sacred moment with family and friends. Prior to the ceremony, the maid of honor handed some shoes in a bag to my assistant, for the reception. During the ceremony, it was realized that the groom’s ring was in that bag, hidden under some other miscellaneous items. The maid of honor was horrified, immediately realizing that she had made a mistake and [knowing] exactly where the ring was at this critical moment. So the bride’s aunt handed over a ring from her own finger. Then, after the wedding she told us, “That was made from my grandmother’s teeth.” Weddings are fraught with problems if you are not careful. Which is why details are so important – we are detail monsters. Obviously, there is nothing we can do, though, when a gatekeeper holds us back!
