Don’t Tell The Bride: How Do I Apply & How Much Do Couples Get Paid?

Don’t Tell The Bride is one of the most unmissable shows on TV.

Over the past 15 series, we’ve watched couples tie the knot on a rollercoaster, pig farm, and even underwater at the local leisure centre.

There’s been full Beauty and the Beast fancy dress, a skydiving bride, and a Men in Black themed day with an alien conducting the service. Plus, let’s not forget THAT Vegas wedding. To be honest, we think the couples deserve a prize for getting to their first wedding anniversary.

In theory, we’d all love to be handed a huge chunk of cash to design our dream day. But when you’ve only got three weeks and all the planning is down to the groom, it’s fair to expect some bumps along the way…

So how exactly does Don’t Tell The Bride work? Are Don’t Tell The Bride weddings real or staged? How much money do the couples get? We’ve answered all your Don’t Tell The Bride questions and found out some behind the scenes secrets just for you.

How Do I Apply For Don’t Tell The Bride?

Image: E4

Couples can apply for Don’t Tell The Bride via an online application form. In the form, you’re asked to attach a recent and clear photo of the two of you.

You’re also asked for links to your social media accounts, whether you have children and whether you live together.

You’ll need to tell the production company about your proposal, why you want to take part in the show and anything else about yourselves. You can speed up the process by sending them a five minute video of you as a couple too!

What’s the Deadline?

Currently, applications to appear on Don’t Tell The Bride are open and there isn’t a set deadline. Fancy saying ‘I do’ on screen?

How Much Money Do They Get On Don’t Tell The Bride?

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Couples are given £13,000 to plan their wedding day on the show.

There’s no restrictions on what the money can be spent on (as long as it’s for the wedding), hence mega expensive stag dos and only £200 left for the wedding dress! The grooms aren’t given any guidance on what they need to plan for either, hence plenty of episodes where the groom forgets to hire wedding cars for the bridal party…

When is Don’t Tell The Bride On?

Don’t Tell The Bride airs on E4 on Sundays at 9pm.

Are Don’t Tell The Bride Weddings Real?

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The premise of Don’t Tell The Bride is this: a couple are given money for their wedding ceremony, but every aspect must be organised by the (often hapless) groom in just three weeks with no contact from the (very stressed) bride. Yep, that’s the dress, the hen do, the venue, everything – yikes!

The DTTB couples are genuinely not allowed to plan anything in advance; they have to sign a contract saying so.

If the production crew get wind of the fact they may have conferred about any part of the process, they stop filming. So yes, everything you see in the programme is real.

As for the ceremony, the vows the couple exchange aren’t legal. It’s written into their contract that the ceremony is not legally binding and to head to their local registry office to make it legal at a later date.

There’s only been one wedding so far where the couple have decided not to make their wedding legal. Last series, groom Craig planned an Oktoberfest-themed day for bride-to-be Sofia. She refused to “let him make a fool of me” but eventually relented and they held their ceremony for the show. It was revealed at the end that they decided not to have a registry office wedding later.

READ MORE: 17 Thoughts Every Groom Has During Wedding Planning

Are Don’t Tell The Bride Couples Really Not Allowed Any Contact?

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Absolutely none. Producers make them shut down their Facebook pages, hand over mobiles and any phone numbers. They’re given a basic phone with no wifi for the three weeks’ filming so they can’t contact each other. It’s very strict.

It goes beyond the bride and groom too. All phone calls between the bridal party and the groom are filmed to make sure nothing gets leaked about the big day. It really is a complete surprise to the bride!

What’s The Don’t Tell The Bride Filming Schedule Like?

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If you’re considering signing up yourself, be aware it’s a big commitment (although not as big as marriage, of course). The couples who apply can be contacted by the production company and expected to start filming and planning just a week later.

Some couples have had a cameraman follow them around from 8am-midnight almost every day for the whole three weeks, so it’s a huge undertaking.

The poor camera crew also spend three whole weeks away from their families to do the filming so the couple and the crew really are all in it together. The same crew film the bride and groom so they have the tricky task of not letting any details slip!

How Many Don’t Tell The Bride Couples Are Still Together?

The majority of the couples are still happily together, but there have been a few disasters on the show. As well as Sofia and Craig, who didn’t legalise their Oktoberfest wedding, it was recently revealed that Bianca and Adam – who appeared in series 12 of the show – split after 18 months. At the time, Bianca labelled their nuptials “the world’s worst wedding”.

The heavily pregnant bride wanted a destination wedding but instead was subjected to a ceremony on a plane at Bristol Airport before a Full Moon party-inspired reception in a warehouse full of sand. Bianca was distraught with her £140 dress from the internet (she labelled it “a cheap bit of tat”) and wasn’t too impressed with her bridesmaids’ £10 dresses that turned out to be see-through.

READ MORE: 11 Things Only Couples in Long-Term Relationships Know

If you want to know if you’ve found the right one, check out our 13 signs he’s husband material. Does you partner tick all the boxes?