Grooms have 'invaded' the wedding industry, according to celebrity wedding planner David Tutera
- Celebrity wedding planner David Tutera told Insider grooms recently have become "very vocal."
- With more grooms sharing their opinions, Tutera sees couples clashing during planning.
For over 30 years, David Tutera has been in the event planning industry, planning elaborate star-studded celebrations for celebrities like Elton John, members of The Rolling Stones, Matthew McConaughey, Zendaya and countless others. He was also tapped by WeTV to host "My Fair Wedding" (later changed to "David Tutera: Unveiled" and "David Tutera's CELEBrations") for eight seasons.
When Insider spoke with Tutera, he told us that, after years of focusing only on brides, it's high time for grooms to get their due in the wedding planning process. In fact, he told Insider that grooms have "invaded" the industry. "They've invaded the experience," he continued.
"I think over the past 10 years ... grooms have become very vocal," Tutera said. "They've definitely had much more of an opinion than I've seen over the course of my career."
In the most stereotypical sense, wedding planning has been left up to the bride. "It's sort of, it just goes with history," Tutera said. "I think in time it's always been about the mother of the bride, the bride, the bridesmaids, the girlfriends. It's always been a girl thing, which I think is a misrepresentation of where we are today."
This is especially true when you take into account that weddings aren't just between men and women anymore.
Also gone are the days where grooms invest less time in their wedding prep and fashion. "It's not a one-sided equation any longer," said Tutera.
He told Insider that he sees more and more grooms getting facials before their big day, or are more vocal about their suits than they might have been a decade ago.
Although grooms opening up and expressing their opinions might take some pressure off of their partner, Tutera made sure to mention that grooms should still be respectful and they need to be mindful of how their tone comes across.
"It's alleviating some of the stress," Tutera said. But sometimes "they tend to get a little too vocal, a little too aggressive." He continued that sometimes he sees friction between some couples now that it's trendy for grooms to participate in wedding planning.
But that doesn't mean future grooms should be totally discouraged from expressing their desires for their big day. Tutera stressed that it must be an equal partnership, with communication going both ways.
"I think it's important in our society that there's a 50/50 equal involvement" in the wedding planning process, Tutera said. "They may not ... have been touching [planning] because they feel like it was not the male's position," but with ever-evolving gender roles "anything's possible."