New bridal drama lacks material, writes Sarah Lang.
When I got married last year, finding a wedding dress was no stress. I bought one from Sophie Voon Bridal within an hour, and having it adjusted by a dressmaker was equally painless. But not every bride finds the process so easy.
Local observational series Meet The Frockers, which premieres on TV One on New Year's Day, introduces nine Kiwi brides "from all walks of life; the old and the young, tasteful and trashy, traditional and just plain freaky". They've got good talent, then. The spotlight also swings onto seven "Frockers", the folk who alter and customise wedding dresses for the perfect look and fit.
This eight-episode series sounds like a workable recipe for escapist TV. Judging by the success of Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and similar shows, it's not just brides who like a bit of wedding voyeurism. So Eyeworks NZ and reality-TV doyenne Julie Christie decided to document the drama on both sides of the bridal counter.
The narrator doesn't exactly extol the virtues of marriage. "Marriage - gay, straight, gullible, desperate, arranged, deranged, shotgun - it's a dangerous business," he informs us. His voice is familiar, and he turns out to be Bill Kerton, who's voiced commercials for 20 years. "Forget the in-laws, forget the forthcoming kids, forget the eternity of diminishing sex." he adds encouragingly.