Tonight is premiere night for the three hugely successful wedding planners starting on VH1’s new series “My Celebrity Dream Wedding.”
Source: Sharod Fields / Majore Photography
Courtney Ajinça, Lance Devereux and Tori Williams are each incredible event planners in their own right, but on their new series “My Celebrity Dream Wedding,” the trio come together like Voltron to transform basic budgets into mindblowing marriage ceremonies, styled after some of the most extravagant celebrity weddings we’ve ever seen. Check out the trailer below:
BOSSIP’s Sr. Content Director Janeé Bolden spoke with Courtney, Lance and Tori ahead of premiere night to learn a little more about what to expect from this brand new show.
After getting a sneak peek at the first episode, we had so much fun watching the three planners at work that we couldn’t help but wonder whether their relationship was a result of doing the show together or if the show was the result of them having a great relationship!
“I would say it’s a combination of both. Lance and I have known each other for about five years now,” Courtney told BOSSIP. “We worked together and collaborated on events together and then we met Tori, it was like instant chemistry. We all just kind of got along instantly and it flowed from the moment we met each other we knew it was perfect.”
“I would agree,” Tori chimed in. “They knew each other first, but we met when we were doing the chemistry test in L.A. The chemistry was amazing between the three of us. You would have thought we’d known each other for years. On top of that we’re all Scorpios!”
On each episode, Courtney, Lance and Tori meet a new deserving couple who share their vision for their dream wedding, inspired by a lavish celebrity ceremony. After listening to the couple’s wants and hearing the budget they’ve prepared to pay, the three Atlanta-based elite wedding planners pitch their plans to the lucky couple. After hearing all three plans, the brides select their favorite planner to lead the production of their wedding, while the others are demoted to assistant status. The planners then collaborate to execute everything from the dream ceremony to the show-stopping reception.
Wedding planning during the pandemic has made for some pretty drastic shifts for couples who planned to tie the knot in 2020 and 2021, but the “My Celebrity Dream Wedding” squad say these tough times have simply called for a lot of creativity and flexibility and ultimately they’ve come to embrace many of the changes wrought in the COVID era.
“I’m all about the micro-weddings,”Lance told BOSSIP. “This time has given us the opportunity to show people that just because you can’t have as many people as you originally wanted doesn’t mean the event can’t be just as fabulous. It also doesn’t mean the love can’t be greater. Sometimes when there are a smaller number of people in the room, the love is stronger because it’s more intimate, there is a deeper connection, so I think in some ways it’s elevated couple’s experience. When it comes to the show, we’re on a tight whip, when it comes to COVID precautions and keeping everyone safe.”
“VH1 and Entertainment One have done such a great job of making sure that we’re protected as well as the couples and their guests, with testing and mask wearing, so that’s something I’m definitely planning to implement going forward with my weddings,” Courtney added.
Source: Sharod Fields / Majore Photography
On “My Celebrity Dream Wedding,” viewers will learn tips to plan a million-dollar wedding for a fraction of the price. The series’ lavish weddings are inspired by celebrities such as Gabrielle Union & Dwyane Wade, Priyanka Chopra & Nick Jonas, NeNe & Gregg Leakes, Chance the Rapper & Kirsten Corley, and more, with a twist.
“We also have a couple more Housewives that we’re going to be featuring on the show,” Courtney teased, “You’re going to have to stay tuned because there’s a lot more in store this season.”
“We pretty much get along as far as us, we’re human, we do bump heads every now and again, but we love and respect one another, and it’s not about us anyway, it’s about the brides,” Tori told BOSSIP. “The drama comes in trying to pull off these million dollar weddings with these limited budgets, you’ll see me doing a lot of yelling and cussing because I’m not exceptionally happy with a lot of these budgets but we find a way to make it work at the end of the day.”
For all the couples out there who weren’t able to get picked for “My Celebrity Dream Wedding” the planners said the biggest tip they could offer couples looking to cut wedding costs is to whittle their guest lists as leanly as possible.
“People don’t really understand the more guests you have the more expensive your wedding will be,” Courtney told BOSSIP. “Like Lance was saying, the micro-weddings, you’ll get more bang for your buck but when people come in wanting 150-200 guests you’re not going to have as big of an impact with your decor, it’s going to have to go into food and other items to make sure that your wedding goes off without a hitch.”
That’s great advice, how many folks will follow it though?
Tune in to Vh1 at 9pm EST for the premiere of “My Celebrity Dream Wedding”.