Wedding is in the details, says stylist Donnie Brown

Should you choose a strapless wedding dress? A sit-down reception? What about the flowers? The music? The food?

Planning a wedding is all about the details — and that's where Donnie Brown comes in. Brown is a Texas wedding planner known for his wacky sense of humor on the Style Network show "Whose Wedding is it Anyway?" (Get a taste of the show at www.mystyle.com/mystyle/shows/whosewedding/index.jsp or www.hulu.com/whose-wedding-is-it-anyway)

Brown also penned his first wedding-planning book, "Donnie Brown Weddings: From the Couture to the Cake."

Brown recently answered questions via e-mail The Modesto Bee.

Q: Tell us about your clients and the budgets for their weddings. How much — on average — do they want to spend on their big day?

A: We are fortunate to have a wide variety of budgets that come in the door. We do weddings ranging from $15,000 to $750,000 every year. I would think the median amount is somewhere in the $135,000 range.

Q: What are, say, the top five ways to save money on a wedding?

A: 1. Create a working budget and stick to it.

2. Trim the fat out of your guest list. Every person that is invited costs money. Have those people you really want at your wedding and eliminate the excess so you can get as close to the wedding you want as possible.

3. Do a Friday or Sunday wedding. Saturdays are premium and you can very often save money on alternate days.

4. Pay for your wedding bills on American Express and use the reward points for your honeymoon travel. I say American Express because as long as you pay it monthly, there is no interest added in that will negate the positive nature of the reward points. [Note: Check your credit cards. They may work in a similar way.]

5. Carefully review the contracts and negotiate. You would be surprised how much room vendors and venues have in their arsenal to work with you on your wedding. If you don't ask, you will never know.

Q: What do you not want to skimp on? Venue? Food? Décor?

A: Skimp on the things that are least important to you as a bride and groom. Everyone is different. Some have their hearts set on better food. For some, it's the gown, and for some, it's the décor or entertainment. Everyone is different.

Q: What one piece of advice do you have for couples while planning their wedding?

A: Hire a good wedding planner if you can. They can save you time, stress and even money by steering you through the process more efficiently, getting better contract negotiations and protecting you from unethical vendors.

Q: Tell us about the celebrity weddings you have done. What was interesting? What was unique?

A: I will always remember LeAnn Rimes and Dean Sheremet's wedding. Although I have done many since, that one has always been near and dear to my heart. Their wedding was spectacular. It was filled with Black Magic roses (nearly 20,000 stems) and utilized champagne fabrics and amazing lighting. It was a truly over-the-top affair.

Q: Any wedding-day disaster stories to share? What happened and how did you solve the problem?

A: Not long ago at a wedding that was being held in tent on a botanical garden grounds in Texas, there was a grandmother that was responsible for purchasing the wedding cakes. The night of the wedding, my assistant and I took time to eat dinner while the guests were seated, eating as well. All of a sudden, Matt (my assistant) went in to check on how things were going and came running out to tell me that the grandmother had cut the cakes.

I jumped and ran in to find that she had apparently gotten tired of waiting on the cake to be cut (even though the guests were still dining on their entrees) and grabbed the silver, engraved cake knife and tried to cut into the bride's cake. The bottom tier being a fake ... she mangled it for a while and then went up to the next tier and cut a slab of it out onto her plate.

She then turned to the groom's dark chocolate cake and without cleaning off the white frosting from the first, she went right ahead and cut a chunk of the groom's cake and plopped it down on her plate as well.

She then placed the dirty knife on the rented, jewel-encrusted cake table overlay, smearing cake frosting from both selections all over it. The cakes had not yet been photographed. Nor had they been cut by the couple, which is clearly the tradition.

Horrified, I went to the bride's mother and informed her of what had happened. Her response was, "Well she bought them, I guess she can cut them, too."

I can tell you it was a first for me! My sweet little grandmother would have sooner cut her own arm off with a dull butter knife than done that at my wedding.

Q: How do you keep up with your wedding business, your book promo and the television show?

A: I work about 15 hours a day. Fortunately, I have a great staff, an incredible publicist, two amazing agents and the will to make it happen. I recently toured Martha Stewart's headquarters and realized how she is able to do it. She has hundreds upon hundreds of people that sort through projects and ideas all the time. I'm not comparing myself to Martha, but I see how she does it. I am thankful to have a team working with me all the time too; just not that large, obviously!