A bridal shop in Stevenage featured on E4’s Don’t Tell the Bride last night, when a stressed groom was tasked with picking the perfect dress for his fiancée for their underwater wedding.
When Gary Dongray joked he could easily organise a wedding in three weeks, his fiancée Lauren applied to Don’t Tell The Bride – where grooms are given £14,000 and sole responsibility for organising their own wedding.
Lauren, 28, said: “We got a call saying they wanted us on the show and could we get married within the next six weeks.
“You cannot speak to each other whatsoever during the filming. The contract took two hours to read and if you break the rules you have to pay back the £14,000 and £3,000 for each day of filming.”
Gary went to Ann Bridal in Stevenage’s High Street to pick the wedding dress. He said: “Picking the dress was the hardest thing. We spent a whole day in the shop, but I knew Lauren would like it.”
Ann Bridal’s managing director, Paul McCullough, said: “We were contacted the day before by the show’s producers and asked if we would like to be part of the show.
“We had our senior bridal consultant on hand to help and also arranged for someone to model the dresses Gary chose.
“Gary looked at quite a few and whittled them down to around four before making his final choice. Our seamstress was on hand to take the dress away and alter it, and it was collected late in the evening to be transported to the venue the very next day.”
When Lauren came to see the dress, Paul said: “She was nervous, but seemed thrilled.”
Gary and Lauren – who live in Harlow, Essex – met on dating website Plenty of Fish, so Gary decided to give their big day a marine theme and arranged for their vows to be said underwater at Sea Life Manchester.
Lauren said: “I spent most of the day in the car and got married at 6.30pm. I love swimming and diving and have swum with sharks before, so got into the water in my wedding dress. Gary had bought two identical dresses, so I had one for the reception at Manchester Rugby Club.” Lauren added: “Gary did a really good job with the budget, but the food wasn’t great. It was very small portions and he hadn’t thought about the vegetarians. People were so hungry.”
Gary, 30, said: “The filming was intense and very stressful, but everyone enjoyed the day and that’s all that matters.”
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