''Bridezillas'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series that airs on

WE tv We TV (stylized as WE tv) is an American pay television channel. Owned by AMC Networks since its September 1997 launch, it is oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming. As of February 2015, approximately 85.2 million Ameri ...

and debuted on June 1, 2004. It chronicles the lives of women

engaged An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

to be married, casting their busy schedules in an emphatic and sometimes humorous fashion. The word "bridezilla" is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsbride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bride's future spouse, (if male) is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, brides ...

with the fictional rampaging beast "

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

" to indicate a difficult bride. The word was first used by a ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' writer named Diane White in a 1995 article about difficult brides.

Format

A typical episode presents the stories of two brides-to-be, splitting time between both brides. The story begins as the bride and groom are introduced, and they describe how they first met and fell in love. The bride then explains what she has envisioned for her wedding. The remainder of the story shows the events leading up to the wedding, centering primarily on the bride's interactions with members of her family, her groom's family, members of the

wedding party A wedding reception is a party usually held after the completion of a marriage ceremony as hospitality for those who have attended the wedding, hence the name reception: the couple ''receive'' society, in the form of family and friends, for t ...

and even the wedding's various service providers (wedding planners, caterers, etc.). The interactions are generally negative, exposing the featured bride-to-be as uncontrollable, bullying, emotional and using whatever means necessary to get what she wants. The story ends with the wedding, the reception and a final concluding interview with the now-wedded couple. Episodes are intended to run in sequence, as a single bride's story is told over two episodes. For example, the start of Bride B's story will be presented in tandem with the conclusion of Bride A's story. On the next sequential episode, Bride B's story concludes while Bride C's story begins.

Production

In 2003, filming began on the first season for a show initially entitled ''Manhattan Brides'', with the premise that cameras would follow a majority of young,

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, wealthy residents of New York as they prepared for their wedding days. However, with the completion of filming, the footage was edited to emphasize the women's bad behavior and it was renamed ''Bridezillas''. Consequently one bride, Julia Swinton-Williamson, sued the producers for misleading her about the nature of the project. The first season was co-produced by MetroTV and September Films with the first two seasons aired on MetroTV.

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

aired a one-hour ''Bridezillas'' special culled from Season 1 in January 2004. In the summer of 2004, the show began airing on

. Since the second season, it has been the highest-rated original program on

. After the first season, the show has diversified to include older couples, more ethnicities, and financial statuses, as well as filming in different states coast to coast. In the third season, the show's first male bride was introduced — referred to as "Gayzilla" - Jon Taylor Carter, who was planning a wedding for himself and his partner, Isaac in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

(which was the first US state to legalize

same sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

). In March 2013, WE tv renewed the series for a 22-episode tenth and final season plus a spinoff titled ''

Marriage Boot Camp ''Marriage Boot Camp'' (also known as ''Marriage Boot Camp: Bridezillas'', ''Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars'' and ''Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars Family Edition'') is an American reality television series which debuted on May 31, 2013, on W ...

'', which follows five couples who were featured on ''Bridezillas'' that have come together under one roof to save their marriage. Episodes of the series will be offered in

broadcast syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

beginning September 16, 2013, mainly from the fifth, sixth and seventh seasons.

have officially announced the return of the program for an eleventh season airing on March 2, 2018 and a mid-season premiere on June 1, 2018. On July 7, 2018, a special edition spinoff called ''Bridezillas: Scared Fit'' was aired and hosted by personal trainer Donna Sexton. The show returned for its twelfth season on March 15, 2019. On August 27, 2020, it was announced that the thirteenth season will premiere on September 24, 2020.

International broadcasts

In the Middle East,

MBC 4 MBC 4 is a television channel in the Middle East. It was launched on 1 February 2005 at 5:00 P.M. (GMT) and is owned by the Middle East Broadcasting Center. MBC 4 airs international programmes with Arabic language subtitles. Programming is ta ...

broadcast the show. The show also aired on

ITVBe ITVBe, stylized as itvBe, is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first announced on 12 February 2014 and launched on 8 October 2014. ITVBe broadcasts reality and unscri ...

in the United Kingdom.

Series overview

References

External links

*
First season site at MetroTV
{{WE tv programming 2000s American reality television series 2004 American television series debuts 2013 American television series endings 2018 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2010s American reality television series 2020s American reality television series American dating and relationship reality television series Wedding television shows