LuAnn de Lesseps: No Longer a Countess, Still Never a Princess

[ryebread]

16 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

Why can't you just go to a flipping wedding, eat some food, have some cake and it not cost you anything?? haha I love wedding food and good wedding cake. Our family loves birthday cake so much that sometimes we just order a birthday cake from the cake lady and tell her to put on it It's someone's birthday today! She makes the best dense moist cakes and old fashioned fluffy icing for weddings and birthdays.  None of that slimy buttercream stuff. Anyway I am babbling and getting off track. haha

Especially if the bride and groom have money.  Just throw a damn party.  If I was richer than the D'agostino's and in my 50's, y'all can keep your check books at home.

Aaannnnnd....LMAO at your family's love of the cake lady's cake.  I've never thought of that.  Why the hell not?  Because, yeah, I love cake but don't eat it.  But if I do, from now on?  I want it to be local cake lady cake.

[WireWrap]

Sneak peek of the wedding via People. https://www.yahoo.com/news/peek-wedding-real-housewives-star-052911985.html

[biakbiak]

4 hours ago, ryebread said:

Especially if the bride and groom have money.  Just throw a damn party.  If I was richer than the D'agostino's and in my 50's, y'all can keep your check books at home.

Aaannnnnd....LMAO at your family's love of the cake lady's cake.  I've never thought of that.  Why the hell not?  Because, yeah, I love cake but don't eat it.  But if I do, from now on?  I want it to be local cake lady cake.

I don't know I have had friends who tried to go the no gifts route and it's the guests who have had an issue with it and ignored that caveats got them a bunch a stuff they didn't want or need so they recommended to others to at least do the charity thing though friends who have done that have still gotten gifts they didn't want or need. One friend did a reverse shower, a party she threw for her friends and gave us all one of her gifts that she hadn't wanted in the first place (they moved out of the country two days after the wedding so the gifts were a legitimate hassle).

[chick binewski]

5 hours ago, WireWrap said:

Sneak peek of the wedding via People. https://www.yahoo.com/news/peek-wedding-real-housewives-star-052911985.html

Dorinda looked pretty in the interview and Jill looked much nicer than she did in the pictures. Kelly's rotisserie chicken tan has taken on  greenish undertones.

Luann looked good. Except for her insane stilted smile trying to convince herself and everyone else that Tom is Soulmate 2.0. 

[Diane Mars]

It's time to change this topic's title, because she's not a countess anymore ^-^

[Lisin]

4 hours ago, Diane Mars said:

It's time to change this topic's title, because she's not a countess anymore ^-^

I took a crack at it, but if you all have better (funnier, shadier) suggestions let me know and we can start a poll or something. 

[Baltimore Betty]

I am giggling about the clip of Tom and Lu entering the ballroom for the first time, in the corner on the floor inside the doorway as they enter it looks like a chafer sitting there like the wait staff left it there after the cocktail hour clean up!

The dress, hmmm...just not flattering at all thru the mid section and I was disappointed in her choice for her hair after the ceremony. Actually I was not crazy about the reception dress either, I am hyper focused on these things since my son is getting married in September, not that we will be featured on any reality show or People Magazine but it is a country club wedding and I want us all to look our best. By hyper focused I guess I mean hyper critical, lol.

Jill looked good, Kelly looked done.

[Baltimore Betty]

Oh, wait, that was one of those over used up lites, purple of course, fitting for an (ex) royal.

[Giselle]

25 minutes ago, Lisin said:

I took a crack at it, but if you all have better (funnier, shadier) suggestions let me know and we can start a poll or something. 

Luann D'Agostino: From Pirates to Prenup without Propriety

Edited January 5, 2017 by Giselle

[Almost 3000]

1 hour ago, Baltimore Betty said:

The dress, hmmm...just not flattering at all thru the mid section and I was disappointed in her choice for her hair after the ceremony.

Yes, I thought it was a fit issue but after seeing better pictures I think its a design issue. The waist has two shirred type seams that are sort of Grecian like but they don't flatter her. So many of her clothes seem to have fit issues since she started her clothing line and she seems less toned the last year or two too.

[Celia Rubenstein]

Luann should have had one of those one-shoulder dresses she used to wear all the time made up in white and called it a day. She looked awesome in that cut/style. 

[islandgal140]

On 1/3/2017 at 2:45 PM, izabella said:

It makes sense to me.  Bravo video cameras would turn it into a spectacle, while People is just a photographer, and People would get Lu's happy wedding version out there (instead of Bravo's going in for the kill type of coverage).  Bravo would also probably want their pick of HW's there, the same HW's who made Lu and Tom's engagement all about them (looking at you, Sonja and Ramona!) in order to show much drama, Sonja getting the sadz, and Ramona having vapors and dissing both Tom and Lu at their own wedding.  Plus, whatshername would insist on showcasing her SkinnyCrap products at the reception.  If I were Lu, I'd say NO FUCKING WAY, too.

I think the funniest line I heard surrounding this debacle was that Ramona would consider an invite to the wedding as another date with Tom. LOL!

I can't stand Wendell Williams. She and Andy are close so I wouldn't be surprised if she was just passing on the earful she heard from him. 

I say good on Luann for doing her wedding on her terms and not wanting any hint of the usual Bravo fuckery on her big day. 

I think she could have done better with the dress though. 

[Almost 3000]

10 hours ago, Lisin said:

I took a crack at it, but if you all have better (funnier, shadier) suggestions let me know and we can start a poll or something. 

No longer a Countess but still a brand.

[zoeysmom]

Here is the almost 24 minute People Entertainment network special.  It is quite tastefully done.   http://people.com/pen/00000158-3295-d6e5-a15b-f79d34930000/00000159-6a9b-d8c1-ad79-ebbb1e030000/  Unfortunately, they included Bethenny Frankel.

I am thinking the $20,000.00 is a rumor and one  meant to demean Luann and Tom.

[Lemons]

On January 2, 2017 at 1:36 AM, ryebread said:

She's 22. The article said 28. I corrected my post. Still too damn old for a damn flower girl basket. Lol. 

Dropping petals as she walked down the aisle with her little basket, looking almost as foolish as her 50+ year old mother wearing that veil on top of her head

[UsernameFatigue]

OMG! Just saw the People mag article and pics. WTF is Victoria wearing?  She looks like a child dressed as Little Bo Peep. Flower Girl?  Dumbest thing I have ever heard. Well, tied with Noel being the ring bearer. Apparently Tom gifted Noel with a compass. Again. WTF??  The funniest thing was the cake topper which had the likeness of LeAnn towering over Tom. Then I realized that he is supposed to be lifting her. (As if). Last but not least was the Marilyn Monroe impersonator who jumped out of a cake to sing to Tom. I wonder if he met up with her later? 

[smores]

Isn't Luann usually one of the holdouts each season, over the money in the contract?  Usually it seems like she isn't in the first episode or so because she still hadn't signed the contract because she thought if she held out they'd pay her more.  So, I can totally see her selling out to People for more money than Bravo offered (if they offered any), without really thinking about the bigger picture and what that will mean for her future as a housewife.  Are they entitled to your entire life? No, but you can't claim you want privacy and then turn around and sell off access to that same event to another media outlet just because they'll pay more.  That's not privacy, it just means you think you're a more expensive famewhore.

I wasn't a fan of her dress or veil.  Dorinda's dress was really pretty, though.

My mother remarried when I was about 7 years old.  Even though I was a fairly young child, she still felt I was too old to be a flower girl (I really liked the idea of being able to drop flower petals along the aisle), and so I was a bridesmaid along with my sister who was a year younger than I was.  I mention this because there's no way in the world that Victoria should have been a flower girl at an age where she's old enough to be a college graduate and a bride on her own.  WTF Luann? You couldn't spring for another bouquet and let her be a bridesmaid?

[biakbiak]

3 hours ago, smores said:

I mention this because there's no way in the world that Victoria should have been a flower girl at an age where she's old enough to be a college graduate and a bride on her own.  WTF Luann? You couldn't spring for another bouquet and let her be a bridesmaid?

I seriously don't get this, she wanted her kids involved and so she did. Fuck tradition it's their day.  I vote for cute and fun. Stepparents giving gifts is a thing has been since I was a kif. He gave Victoria a key with some schmaltzy message and Noel a compass so he can always find his way back home, cheesy as hell but pretty standard in the wedding world.

Edited January 7, 2017 by biakbiak

[essexjan]

I hope Luann will be happy but every time I see her and Tom together I always think that she is far more in love with him than he is with her. I think he will break her heart. 

I didn't like her wedding dress - I thought it made her look thick around the middle and those bands going round her waist just accentuated it. But she was glowing with happiness, and it was obviously a lovely day for her. But give it a while and something about Tom will come out that will reflect badly on him,  I suspect around money or business dealings, or another snog in a late-night bar with some floozie. Luann once said on the show that she makes more money than Tom. I don't know what business interests she might have outside RHONYC, but I hope she has a good pre-nup, if that's the case.

[ryebread]

On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 2:07 PM, stewedsquash said:

@ryebread before I post, were you the one who mentioned going to Cary? Not sure which thread.

Cary?  Not me, Stew.

[ryebread]

The cake topper looks like it was lifted from SATC's Charlotte and Harry's cake.  Except Charlotte wouldn't be caught dead wearing those shoes. 

I am amusing myself by scrolling over this picture but stopping just enough to cut off her feet. It does, indeed look like Lu is towering over, and canoodling with Dr. Evil in a tux.

[chick binewski]

3 hours ago, essexjan said:

I hope Luann will be happy but every time I see her and Tom together I always think that she is far more in love with him than he is with her. I think he will break her heart. 

I didn't like her wedding dress - I thought it made her look thick around the middle and those bands going round her waist just accentuated it. But she was glowing with happiness, and it was obviously a lovely day for her. But give it a while and something about Tom will come out that will reflect badly on him,  I suspect around money or business dealings, or another snog in a late-night bar with some floozie. Luann once said on the show that she makes more money than Tom. I don't know what business interests she might have outside RHONYC, but I hope she has a good pre-nup, if that's the case.

I was cringing through the whole clip @zoeysmom posted earlier. Tom looks like he's physically & mentally bracing himself when Luann swoops in for a kiss. She's waxing about loving his skin (?) and the 'classic great love story' (not) while Tom says he's fallen in love many times in his life and he 'briefly knew about the HWs from years before'. Between her shrill gleefulness and him hanging at the Regency I don't see this ending well either. Which is too bad because their second honeymoon (which either Tom will weasel out of or Luann will have to pay for) sounds AMAZING. Would flove to tour on the Orient Express.

I don't mean to sound down on love but if Lu is on this season I will worry for her no matter how obnoxious she gets. I've always felt her financial situation is precarious and she's married to a guy who is not used to sharing his (suspect) income. Recovering from an economic downturn in your life is hard. Doing it in your mid-50s is fucking brutal.  

[UsernameFatigue]

10 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I seriously don't get this, she wanted her kids involved and so she did. Fuck tradition it's their day.  I vote for cute and fun. Stepparents giving gifts is a thing has been since I was a kif. He gave Victoria a key with some schmaltzy message and Noel a compass so he can always find his way back home, cheesy as hell but pretty standard in the wedding world.

What is pretty standard in the wedding world is having an adult daughter as your maid of honour and adult son give you away. Not act as flower girl and ring bearer. LOL. And yes, presents from step parents are normal. A compass not so much. Hilarious though. 

Edited January 7, 2017 by UsernameFatigue

[zulualpha]

On 1/6/2017 at 8:33 AM, zoeysmom said:

Here is the almost 24 minute People Entertainment network special.  It is quite tastefully done.   http://people.com/pen/00000158-3295-d6e5-a15b-f79d34930000/00000159-6a9b-d8c1-ad79-ebbb1e030000/  Unfortunately, they included Bethenny Frankel.

I am thinking the $20,000.00 is a rumor and one  meant to demean Luann and Tom.

looks like they took that video down

[WireWrap]

55 minutes ago, zulualpha said:

looks like they took that video down

It's still there. You have to wait for it to appear at the top of the page, it looks like a commercial starting up at first but it is the video.

[ryebread]

19 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

Okay it must be some other poster. I was going to give you the website for the cake lady I use if you were the one who visits the town of Cary.

Ohhhhh - I get it now. No, I'm not visiting Cary anytime soon.  But I did think it was funny - then brilliant - that you guys order cake from the fancy cake lady for no particular reason, other than you want good cake.  That gave me the idea that next time I've got a hankering for cake, I'm calling our own local Detroit cake lady.  I love dense cake with a good buttercream frosting.  And coffee.

[Celia Rubenstein]

So does anyone know what business Tom is actually in?  And how well he is doing?  Because I don't understand Luann claiming he is much wealthier than the grocery store family and then turning around and saying she makes more money than he does. 

Something does not compute.  

[biakbiak]

8 hours ago, UsernameFatigue said:

What is pretty standard in the wedding world is having an adult daughter as your maid of honour and adult son give you away. Not act as flower girl and ring bearer. LOL. And yes, presents from step parents are normal. A compass not so much. Hilarious though. 

And I find that creepy and inappropriate but hey of its what the couple wants. Still team cute.

[zoeysmom]

14 hours ago, chick binewski said:

I was cringing through the whole clip @zoeysmom posted earlier. Tom looks like he's physically & mentally bracing himself when Luann swoops in for a kiss. She's waxing about loving his skin (?) and the 'classic great love story' (not) while Tom says he's fallen in love many times in his life and he 'briefly knew about the HWs from years before'. Between her shrill gleefulness and him hanging at the Regency I don't see this ending well either. Which is too bad because their second honeymoon (which either Tom will weasel out of or Luann will have to pay for) sounds AMAZING. Would flove to tour on the Orient Express.

I don't mean to sound down on love but if Lu is on this season I will worry for her no matter how obnoxious she gets. I've always felt her financial situation is precarious and she's married to a guy who is not used to sharing his (suspect) income. Recovering from an economic downturn in your life is hard. Doing it in your mid-50s is fucking brutal.  

Don't worry about Luann's money she has plenty and doesn't need his.  Luann probably pulls down over a million bucks a year, she was smart, she negotiated when necessary and is still on every season.  Regardless of Bethenny try to make him sound down and out he has a company that is doing fine.  Luann has her Hamptons house, he has a place in NYC and West Palm Beach.  If they were concerned about money they would not have had a three day wedding.  They had a yacht and a party for 85 people, the wedding and a brunch.  I don't see Luann throwing around that kind of money if she was concerned.

 

23 hours ago, smores said:

Isn't Luann usually one of the holdouts each season, over the money in the contract?  Usually it seems like she isn't in the first episode or so because she still hadn't signed the contract because she thought if she held out they'd pay her more.  So, I can totally see her selling out to People for more money than Bravo offered (if they offered any), without really thinking about the bigger picture and what that will mean for her future as a housewife.  Are they entitled to your entire life? No, but you can't claim you want privacy and then turn around and sell off access to that same event to another media outlet just because they'll pay more.  That's not privacy, it just means you think you're a more expensive famewhore.

Why would Luann do a Bravo wedding special?  She is involving very little in the way of the other RH.  Tamra Judge got married had a special and an article in People.  Bravo used the People photographs and Luann has explained Bravo has access once the exclusive expires.  I am quite certain Bravo did not have any expectation of exclusive rights to the wedding.  This has come down to certain people making stuff up.  Luann explained it, there are no hard feelings.  Bravo is not a news outlet, they are just a network and get free publicity for the show and their network.  It is more of a win-win situation.  Luann's wedding got a blurb on the cover of People, right above the cover story of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. 

4 hours ago, Celia Rubenstein said:

So does anyone know what business Tom is actually in?  And how well he is doing?  Because I don't understand Luann claiming he is much wealthier than the grocery store family and then turning around and saying she makes more money than he does. 

Something does not compute.  

At the time Luann said that she had just been told by Bethenny about his behavior.  Bethenny was the one saying Luann had assets and Tom relied on wealthy women.  I don't think Bethenny realized he was not connected tot he grocery store money.  When Luann wrote her blog after the episode she claimed Tom was wealthier than all of the women combined.  That was way back in February, since then Luann has gone through the pre-nup phase and probably has a better idea of his net worth.  So this is not a news flash about Luann's claims.

[Celia Rubenstein]

Sounds like Luann claims whatever best suits her purpose at any given moment when it comes to describing Tom's finances. When it suits her narrative to have him be rich, he is. When she wants to have the upper hand, suddenly she's the one who is rolling in dough.

I wonder if she even really knows the truth about his finances.

[zoeysmom]

1 hour ago, Celia Rubenstein said:

Sounds like Luann claims whatever best suits her purpose at any given moment when it comes to describing Tom's finances. When it suits her narrative to have him be rich, he is. When she wants to have the upper hand, suddenly she's the one who is rolling in dough.

I wonder if she even really knows the truth about his finances.

When Luann said that perhaps she had more money than Tom, that was long ago and Carole and Bethenny were trying to get her to break it off with him. So her subsequent comments may be more reflective of the true situation or not.  Money doesn't seem to be an issue for the two of them.  Ramona and Bethenny seemed to be far more interested in his finances.  I hope going forward there won't be a lot of discussion about Tom in the show.  They all need to calm down about Tom.

That is what pre-nups are for-they declare their assets and liabilities.  As long as Luann keeps her assets separate and doesn't incur any debt on his behalf she should be fine.

[motorcitymom65]

On 1/7/2017 at 1:04 AM, smores said:

Isn't Luann usually one of the holdouts each season, over the money in the contract?  Usually it seems like she isn't in the first episode or so because she still hadn't signed the contract because she thought if she held out they'd pay her more.  So, I can totally see her selling out to People for more money than Bravo offered (if they offered any), without really thinking about the bigger picture and what that will mean for her future as a housewife.  Are they entitled to your entire life? No, but you can't claim you want privacy and then turn around and sell off access to that same event to another media outlet just because they'll pay more.  That's not privacy, it just means you think you're a more expensive famewhore.

I wasn't a fan of her dress or veil.  Dorinda's dress was really pretty, though.

My mother remarried when I was about 7 years old.  Even though I was a fairly young child, she still felt I was too old to be a flower girl (I really liked the idea of being able to drop flower petals along the aisle), and so I was a bridesmaid along with my sister who was a year younger than I was.  I mention this because there's no way in the world that Victoria should have been a flower girl at an age where she's old enough to be a college graduate and a bride on her own.  WTF Luann? You couldn't spring for another bouquet and let her be a bridesmaid?

Yep, Lu tends to hold out and usually it works out well for her. She seems to be a good negotiator. 

My guess is that what Lu wanted was a wedding special, like the one Tamra got. Despite how horrendous Bravo can chose to treat the gals in the general editing process, they tend to treat them well on the Wedding shows. We don't see the same kind of snark that we usually do on the show. I believe Tamra mentioned that financially it was an extremely lucrative deal for her. Lu probably wanted it, and Bravo said no way babe. Maybe they are tired of doing them. I can see Lu walking away from Bravo and wedding footage after that, then selling to the highest bidder, which I guess was a mere $20K from People magazine. Folks can say all day long that she didn't want Bravo and their editing to be involved on her special day, but I call bullshit from someone who has done the other stuff to embarrass herself on camera. If you let them film you cavorting with a Pirate while engaged to someone else, why not let them show you ending up with your Prince Charming? 

[WireWrap]

22 minutes ago, motorcitymom65 said:

Yep, Lu tends to hold out and usually it works out well for her. She seems to be a good negotiator. 

My guess is that what Lu wanted was a wedding special, like the one Tamra got. Despite how horrendous Bravo can chose to treat the gals in the general editing process, they tend to treat them well on the Wedding shows. We don't see the same kind of snark that we usually do on the show. I believe Tamra mentioned that financially it was an extremely lucrative deal for her. Lu probably wanted it, and Bravo said no way babe. Maybe they are tired of doing them. I can see Lu walking away from Bravo and wedding footage after that, then selling to the highest bidder, which I guess was a mere $20K from People magazine. Folks can say all day long that she didn't want Bravo and their editing to be involved on her special day, but I call bullshit from someone who has done the other stuff to embarrass herself on camera. If you let them film you cavorting with a Pirate while engaged to someone else, why not let them show you ending up with your Prince Charming? 

Just a thought but maybe Tom told Luann/Bravo "No" to filming their wedding. After what happened last season, I can see him turning them down more than Luann.

[motorcitymom65]

32 minutes ago, WireWrap said:

Just a thought but maybe Tom told Luann/Bravo "No" to filming their wedding. After what happened last season, I can see him turning them down more than Luann.

Hadn't thought of that, but it could make sense. My thoughts are we will know when we see the season. If he films a lot, and we see lots of before wedding prep and after wedding stuff, and he has no real issues filming or being part of the show, than I think Bravo wouldn't pay up. If he attempts to distance himself from the show based on what a mess he got into last season, you have probably hit the nail on the head. It wouldn't be the first time a husband/boyfriend came on the show not realizing how intrusive it would be, then pulled back the next season to get some of their privacy back. 

[Almost 3000]

44 minutes ago, WireWrap said:

Just a thought but maybe Tom told Luann/Bravo "No" to filming their wedding. After what happened last season, I can see him turning them down more than Luann.

He never comes across well on Bravo and even the wedding pixs don't flatter him. Maybe Tom's finally figured out he's one of those awkward types where media is concerned so what Wirewrap said would make some sense. You just know as kind as Bravo has been on other HW Bridal specials that they'd probably highlight something like a moment of his mom that seemed to show her glaring at LuAnn. Good for him if he said no.

[WireWrap]

14 minutes ago, motorcitymom65 said:

Hadn't thought of that, but it could make sense. My thoughts are we will know when we see the season. If he films a lot, and we see lots of before wedding prep and after wedding stuff, and he has no real issues filming or being part of the show, than I think Bravo wouldn't pay up. If he attempts to distance himself from the show based on what a mess he got into last season, you have probably hit the nail on the head. It wouldn't be the first time a husband/boyfriend came on the show not realizing how intrusive it would be, then pulled back the next season to get some of their privacy back. 

I agree, I think how much we see Tom early next season and who he is filmed with will say a lot. I suspect that if he did film a bit, it was without Bethenny, Carole, Sonja and Ramona. That may be another reason he/Luann would say no to Bravo, they did not want those 4 at the wedding and Bravo insisted they be invited.

[smores]

I don't know that Bravo would insist that all of the hos be at the wedding, though.  The most recent wedding special was Ryan Serhant from Million Dollar Listing NY.  He had Luis at his wedding, but Frederik was not invited.  When Frederik got married, it was part of the show's normal season (which, I guess they could have also done with Lu), and no one from his cast was there.  

In fact, it would be a bigger storyline, really, who is invited? Why isn't this one invited? Will Lu relent and invite that one? 

[ryebread]

Duplicate post.

Edited January 10, 2017 by ryebread

[motorcitymom65]

1 hour ago, smores said:

I don't know that Bravo would insist that all of the hos be at the wedding, though.  The most recent wedding special was Ryan Serhant from Million Dollar Listing NY.  He had Luis at his wedding, but Frederik was not invited.  When Frederik got married, it was part of the show's normal season (which, I guess they could have also done with Lu), and no one from his cast was there.  

In fact, it would be a bigger storyline, really, who is invited? Why isn't this one invited? Will Lu relent and invite that one? 

Agreed. They don't tell the gals who to invite to other events, why do so for a wedding? 

[HunterHunted]

17 hours ago, motorcitymom65 said:

Agreed. They don't tell the gals who to invite to other events, why do so for a wedding? 

When Bravo pays for the event (trip and some of the finale parties), they prohibit the nominal hostess from disinviting a castmate. It's also why the women have to get a doctor's note to skip a trip--Aviva skipping Kristen's trip and Kim Z skipping the Africa trip. The Atlanta ladies were especially irritated with Kim because they specifically rescheduled the trip so she could come. When they found out that she was skipping, they talked to the producers and then basically kicked her out of the cast. The counterpoint is Bethenny and her Mexico trip. That was being paid for by Beam Suntory. Bethenny was free to take whichever castmates that she wanted to take.

If Luann had Bravo pay for some of the wedding, Bravo might have insisted that some or all of the cast attend. It's also how Scheana on Vanderpump Rules was able to not invite Stassi and Katie to her wedding. Bravo didn't pay for anything, but Scheana hustled to get discounts and comps.

Edited January 10, 2017 by HunterHunted

[AndySmith]

I thought Kim just walked off of the show, literally, in the middle of a lunch with the girls when they confronted her about not going on the trip?

Edited January 10, 2017 by AndySmith

[motorcitymom65]

1 hour ago, HunterHunted said:

When Bravo pays for the event (trip and some of the finale parties), they prohibit the nominal hostess from disinviting a castmate. It's also why the women have to get a doctor's note to skip a trip--Aviva skipping Kristen's trip and Kim Z skipping the Africa trip. The Atlanta ladies were especially irritated with Kim because they specifically rescheduled the trip so she could come. When they found out that she was skipping, they talked to the producers and then basically kicked her out of the cast. The counterpoint is Bethenny and her Mexico trip. That was being paid for by Beam Suntory. Bethenny was free to take whichever castmates that she wanted to take.

If Luann had Bravo pay for some of the wedding, Bravo might have insisted that some or all of the cast attend. It's also how Scheana on Vanderpump Rules was able to not invite Stassi and Katie to her wedding. Bravo didn't pay for anything, but Scheana hustled to get discounts and comps.

Yea, but there is so much dispute on what Bravo pays for and what they do not. We never really know (Kyle on the BH show swears they pay for nothing, but often negotiate things for them). 

There have been tons of examples over the last few years of folks not getting an invite, and my guess is that Bravo would have preferred the situation be otherwise. I think they would have liked for newbie Heather to have invited Ramona to London, but she didn't. I have zero doubt they were salivating at the idea of Sonja going head to head with Beth in the Berkshire's last season, but she didn't.  As far as I am aware, there is no credible evidence of Bravo forcing one HW to invite another. Do they get pissed when someone just refuses to participate in the trips, such as Aviva? They most certainly do. The trips will always be where the drama is, and they want as many of those ho'wives there for that as possible. It also makes the other HW's unhappy, since they have all said the trips are the most grueling part of filming. They raise all kinds of shit when one doesn't come and the rest feel like they have to. Carole talked about this after the Montana trip. No one wanted to go but they felt like they needed to and it pissed them off that Aviva was refusing to attend yet another group trip. At the end of the day, Bravo likes to pretend this is reality, and we all pretend to swallow this premise. It would be really hard for any of us to swallow the idea that Lu wanted to invite Beth to her wedding, and even more incredible that Beth would actually want to attend. 

The one thing I am certain of is that Bravo wasn't going to pay for Lu's wedding. Maybe the most adamant I have ever seen Andy was when the accusation was made regarding Gretchen and Slade getting a potential wedding special (assuming they ever got married). Someone floated the idea that Bravo would pay for the wedding and Andy said that was beyond ludicrous. He said that they had never paid for any wedding and would never in a million years think of doing so. They do, however, get a very nice chunk of change for filming the show, which could go a long way to paying for the wedding. 

My guess is that Lu would have loved a wedding special all her own. That is kind of the thing that Bravo has been doing, and after all, a big fucking deal was made of Beth's wedding. Bravo probably wasn't that interested since how exciting could it have been? Beth wasn't going to attend, even if she was invited. Carole wasn't going to attend. Maybe Sonja and Ramona would come, but how awkward would that be? I just don't think there was probably a lot of appetite for a Lu wedding special, and she wouldn't get any more money for just including the nuptials in the regular footage. So she went to People and they gave her $20K, and she told her employer to basically fuck off. I will still not be surprised to see Bravo pay her back by making her a "friend of". That would be hilarious. 

Edited January 10, 2017 by motorcitymom65

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, AndySmith said:

I thought Kim just walked off of the show, literally, in the middle of a lunch with the girls when they confronted her about not going on the trip?

 

She did, but it was after the rest of the cast complained to producers that she wasn't showing up to events and wasn't even going on the trip. So much of Kim's footage was her sitting around the house. Everyone knew what was going on. Kim came to the restaurant knowing that the rest of the cast was going to bitch at her. It's the reason Kroy circled the block waiting for the women to finish yelling at her. And Kim just walks out and hops into the car.

[Celia Rubenstein]

Re: the circumstances of Kim's departure from Atlanta .... it is hard to believe she was kicked off the show due to people complaining she didn't go on the African trip.   Didn't Bravo turn right around and give her her own show?  Far from kicking her to the curb, Bravo seems to have just had bigger plans for her.  Or am I remembering the timing of it all wrong? 

Anyway, in the end, it's all about ratings.  If Bravo thinks you are putting asses in the seats, you stay.  If not, you go.  You put TONS of asses in the seats and you get your own spinoff.  Same with choosing what to tape.  If Bravo thought there was a huge audience to be lured in by Luann's wedding, they would have found a way to cover it. I think they sensed a lack of fascination with Lu's nuptials and took a pass.  At least a pass on going to the trouble of lining Luann's pockets in order to be allowed to tape it themselves.  Why spend the money when Luann is happily going to fork over her own videotaped footage for them to use?  They will pick a few good scenes and either be kind or plaster it with voice overs of people taking jabs.  Depends on the edit they have in mind for her next season.

 

1 hour ago, motorcitymom65 said:

I just don't think there was probably a lot of appetite for a Lu wedding special, and she wouldn't get any more money for just including the nuptials in the regular footage. So she went to People and they gave her $20K, and she told her employer to basically fuck off. I will still not be surprised to see Bravo pay her back by making her a "friend of". That would be hilarious. 

I am thinking they might demote her, give her a shitty edit this season, then kick her to the curb altogether.  A "trifecta" so to speak. Bravo can be spiteful like that - once they don't have any use for you anymore, that is. 

[HunterHunted]

@Celia Rubenstein Kim was filming "Don't be Tardy" and "RHoA" at the same time. The reason the women were mad about the trip and other things is that due to Kim's pregnancy, they moved the trip up to like the 3rd week of filming. Everyone had to move their other engagements around to accommodate her schedule and she still didn't go. She wasn't going to any of their events, but her "friends" would have to go to her house to tell her about what happened at the event that she skipped. Meanwhile, she's well enough to film for Don't be Tardy. It really could have been that it was too much for her while being pregnant, but Kim has never been one to turn down money. I don't think she would have voluntarily said no to filming both shows unless it ended up like her stroke, meaning badly.

[zoeysmom]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 3:11 PM, HunterHunted said:

@Celia Rubenstein Kim was filming "Don't be Tardy" and "RHoA" at the same time. The reason the women were mad about the trip and other things is that due to Kim's pregnancy, they moved the trip up to like the 3rd week of filming. Everyone had to move their other engagements around to accommodate her schedule and she still didn't go. She wasn't going to any of their events, but her "friends" would have to go to her house to tell her about what happened at the event that she skipped. Meanwhile, she's well enough to film for Don't be Tardy. It really could have been that it was too much for her while being pregnant, but Kim has never been one to turn down money. I don't think she would have voluntarily said no to filming both shows unless it ended up like her stroke, meaning badly.

Do you blame them?

The trip Kim bounced on was the one in the Caribbean, Cynthia's rewedding.  She said she and her doctor didn't want her out of the country.  The trip took place in late July-to accommodate Kroy's work schedule.   She had the baby early.  The way Nene went on and on you would have thought Kim was six weeks pregnant.  I think everyone was a little surprised the baby came as soon as it did.  Except Kim and she predicted it.

Kim didn't go to Africa because she gets to make stuff up.  she had a infant at home.

Kim said her walk away cost her seven figures, so I think the excuses were real.

Edited January 13, 2017 by zoeysmom

[chick binewski]

Could the Before They Were Housewives episode be leftovers from a potential wedding special? BTWH aired in the summer, it made no sense to any of us that the show was a one-off and Lu was in full A Man Can't Be Stolen (but there are always two-bit whores looking to pounce on my guy) mode.

Whatever the case I think any decision made not to have Bravo at the wedding was Tom's.

[jinjer]

Bahamas for the honeymoon?  Not exactly Sin Barth's as Simon would say!

[Ellee]

From allabouttrh.com

http://www.allabouttrh.com/2017/01/16/luann-de-lesseps-getting-fired-rhony/

[WireWrap]

49 minutes ago, Ellee said:

From allabouttrh.com

http://www.allabouttrh.com/2017/01/16/luann-de-lesseps-getting-fired-rhony/

Nahhhh, they need Luann to go up against Bethenny more. LOL