David Tutera is a wedding fairy godfather, making dreams come true for couples planning their nuptials. On his WeTV reality show "My Fair Wedding," he brings fantasy to life for brides who have more imagination than their budgets allow.
Tutera doesn't turn anyone down, there's no idea too big for him, and no bride too bossy. But the famed wedding planner apparently has a preference that is quite evident on his show. He recently spoke about his affinity for African American brides, a result of his inner city upbringing, Eurweb.com reports.
I think my passion comes from my upbringing. I went to a school that was lower middle income and either you were with the in-crowd or you weren't, because it was a white thing or a black thing and if you showed up on the wrong day, you were in big trouble. So, I managed to manipulate my way through life and as a gay kid, I was challenged, so I had multiple things going on. I see myself as a minority and I see myself as a kid who was bullied and challenged, so I think that that's the connection. I had a talk with someone from VH1 after the first season aired and they asked, 'So why are African American women so in love with you?...why do you show such passion? Because you see only the women that’s sitting in front of you.' I didn't realize that it's how I grew up. So, I was given that path and didn't realize it was the path that would lead me to where I am today.
The celebrity wedding planner, who was also had a hand in helping celebrities like Star Jones and Usher jump the broom, has used his fame and influence to make changes in the bridal industry: namely the lack of black brides on magazine covers. He opened up about the details of his groundbreaking accomplishment as the first male to ever be on the cover of a national bridal magazine.
"But that's not the exciting part," he said. "I only agreed to do this if they allowed me to have a black woman standing next to me. In the history of national publications of bridal, there's never been a black [bride]. I'm really excited about that."
As an event planning veteran, Tutera shared his advice with HuffPost readers. During an exclusive interview, he said brides should hone in on their own identity to truly achieve their dream wedding.
"Try to plan your wedding before going to all these outlets," he told The Huffington Post. "Try to go back to when we didn't have all this information, and find out who you are. I think if you find out who you are and you realize what you want, then you can go look at the information, and find out what it is that you need, and not have the information dictate to you what your wedding should be."
Tutera also dished on what he thought of other reality stars that have made waves both on television and the wedding world. He spoke about Kim Kardashian and the fallout of her public wedding to Kris Humphries.
"Don't even get me started on that," he said. "I was asked by my publicist to stop my rants about the wedding. They make me so angry, I get tongue twisted. I hated the wedding and I can't stand her."
He also spoke about whether or not he would ever plan a wedding for Atlanta housewife NeNe Leakes.
"I'd have to meet her, because I don't know her," he said. "But if we're going off what I've seen on television, I'd say no. I don't know if that's the person that she is, but...I don't have the time in my life to add drama to my life and if that's who she is, I'd have to say no."