A BIT ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
Don't Tell The Bride is a show originally shown on BBC3, old episodes can be seen on other channels including Living.
Each episode is around an hour long.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Well the idea of the show is that the bride and groom are seperated for 3 weeks, in this time the groom is given £12000 to arrange everything for their wedding day without the bride knowing anything! The only thing the bride is allowed to do before the wedding day is to try on the dress that the groom has picked out for her.
The bride and groom are to have no contact during the organising of the wedding and you watch the cameras following the grooms as they pick out the venue, the dress, the bridesmaid dresses, the photographer, the hair and make up artists, the shoes, the hen night, the reception and everything else that goes with organising a wedding.
The cameras also follow the bride as she shows the viewers where she would like the wedding and goes in search of a dress that she would pick out for herself.

In most cases the grooms pick the opposite of what the bride would choose, I do think a lot of this seems staged to me.
For example, one thing that often happens in the show is that the couple have been together a few years, engaged for a couple and the bride desperately wants a church wedding, it's very important to her. The groom then doesn't give her a church wedding and opts for a hotel, registry office or some wild and wonderful location. I honestly think that if a couple have been together that long and know each other well enough to be getting married, then the groom would know how important a church would be when arranging the wedding.
Another thing that irritates me a little about the programme is that at the start you often get a sob story about how the couple can't afford a wedding. Often these couples are both working, you see then driving around in flash convertibles and wearing designer clothes. I think there must be more people around who are genuinely struggling to afford a wedding and the majority of entrants on this show seem to be the type who just want to show off and get their mugs on the tv.

THE GOOD
There are some really good ideas on this programme, I couldn't believe the first time I saw a groom haggling on prices. He bought a dress, not only did the shop give it to him at a lower price but they also threw in the shoes, veil and tiara in the price.
He then managed to get a lower price on the wedding car, cake, photographer and band.
What a clever man! Most of them just go into a shop or ring a number, get a price and pay for it. It would never have crossed my mind to even ask for a lower price but this thrifty bloke showed us all how it's done.
A lot of the time the bride picks out her perfect dress only to find out that the groom has picked something which couldn't be further away from her dream dress, only to find that when she tries it on it looks amazing.

A lot of the grooms claim to be "useless", can't do anything, the fiances arrange everything for them, control the finances and have no idea. Many of these surprise themselves and get a bit of a boost realising that they have underestimated their abilities and they can make choices without having to rely on their brides to do everything for them.
THE BAD
Some of these grooms are absolutely clueless, one groom spent half of his budget on a house to have the reception in. It was a celebrity kind of house with a pool and he loved it and booked it for 4 days so himself and his mates could relax in it a few days before the wedding. The bride did love it in the end but he had spent £6000 without getting any food - which his mother had to cook, drink - from the supermarket, dresses, rings or anything else!

One groom decided to go on a foreign holiday for his stag night when he should've been arranging the wedding, others spend their first couple of weeks of freedom drinking with their mates and trying to arrange everything in the last few days (bet thy were in trouble when the brides watched the show back).
A lot of the grooms pick out absolutely hideous bridesmaid dresses, one made the bridesmaids pay for their own dresses as he forgot about them and had run out of money.

THE UGLY
Some of these brides are HIGH MAINTENANCE, that is putting it mildly. One bride was crying her eyes out because she didn't like her make up. There was nothing wrong with it and to be honest she could've just wiped it off and done it herself, the dramatics were painful to watch.
Another bride recently refused to get out of the car because the groom had arranged the wedding at a festival. She had a huge tantrum, crying and hitting him and screaming. Eventually the groom had to go to the car and talk her round. Not only did this spoil her walking down the "aisle" but the way he had arranged it was really nice and all of the guests were complimenting it, the spoilt brat of a bride ended up loving it when she finally saw it. I really felt sorry for this groom!

Some of the brides are just hysterical. Phrases such as "he's ruined my life" are often heard when talking about a bit of sparkle on a dress when she wanted something plain.
OVERALL

A good show, not one I'd be recording or devastated if I missed, but I'll watch it now and again if it's on. It has had me cringing, laughing and crying.
There are some good wedding ideas and money saving tips to be picked up in some episodes and some really unique and lovely weddings at the end of it.
I wouldn't advise recommending this to a bride to be though - I accidentally mentioned the programme to my sister.... big mistake. "It could be worse, I could be like her off 'Don't Tell The Bride'" is her new favourite excuse for being ridiculously demanding about her upcoming nuptials.