'Bridezilla' features local family, bride
 |
| Photo courtesy of WEtv |
| Blacklick resident Gloria (Dickson) Darrington will share her "Bridezilla" story on WEtv Sept. 19 and 26. |
When Gloria (Dickson) Darrington began planning her wedding a year ago, she toyed around the idea of applying to be featured on television shows that document the joys and pains of planning a wedding.
One show in particular, “Bridezillas,” caught her eye.
Darrington, a Blacklick resident and former Pickerington resident during the show’s taping, jumped at the chance to be featured on the TV show that chronicles the weddings of women who often take matters into their own hands with a touch of strong will and attitude.
“The thing that attracted me, of course, was everyone wants footage of their wedding,” she said. “I like the show, and I watch it often. I knew that type of attitude probably was going to happen around the time of my wedding because I had a lot of things going on that weren’t going right. I could definitely see myself as a bridezilla.”
Darrington, 26, will be featured on two episodes of the WE network’s hit show, with her story beginning at 9 p.m. Sept. 19 and finishing the following weekend at 9 p.m. Sept. 26.
Camera crews followed Darrington in the weeks leading up to her April wedding to Mark Darrington, a Toledo native.
According to a news release from WEtv, the first episode will feature Darrington forcing her bridesmaids to endure a public weigh in, firing two bridal members and threatening to call the police on her mother and groom.
The second episode on Sept. 26 will show Darrington’s stylist and friend refusing to do a makeover on the day of the wedding and Darrington taking matters into her own hands.
“I think there’s a certain amount of pressure that comes with the most important day of your life,” she said. “There’s pressure, there’s extra finances that come along with it. You can definitely snap. I think that’s the mind frame I was in. I wanted everything to be just right.”
In the weeks leading up to the wedding, her quest for a perfect wedding took some hits, with DJ issues, bridal party disagreements and wedding dress problems creating bumps in the road.
The wedding dress she ordered from a Dayton store didn’t arrive from out of the country in time for the fitting. She instead settled for the store’s display gown.
“And that was about eight sizes too big for me, and they had to cut it down to size,” she said. “They only did that about a week before the wedding. … It was nerve wrecking because I didn’t find out they didn’t have it taken care of until two weeks before the wedding.”
Disagreements through the wedding process also caused her original count of four bridesmaids to be slashed to two.
“I had some issues with some of the bridal party members who didn’t want to participate like they should,” she said.
Despite the tension, Darrington said most of the disagreements have since been resolved.
“Most of them,” she said. “There’s one that’s still a little shaky with my hair dresser best friend. We realized through the whole process that we can’t mix pleasure and business.”
Both nervous and excited for the premier, Darrington said she’s seeing the show for the first time like everyone else Sept. 19. Darrington said she’s also nervous to see her family and friends’ reactions to what she said in personal interviews conducted away from the rest of the bridal party.
“I want to see it for the first time by myself,” she said, laughing. “I can duck and hide for a couple days after that.”
Still, she doesn’t regret doing the show.
“It was a good experience,” Darrington said. “It was one of a kind. I don’t know of anyone who has ever done that. I don’t regret anything. Everything played out how it would have whether the crew would have been there or not.”