Katherine Heigl: I didn't want to be a real-life bridezilla!

The 29-year-old 27 Dresses star shares the secrets behind her wedding to musician Josh Kelley last year

Wednesday, 3 September 2008

How are you finding married life so far?
I didn’t think anything would change that much, aside from actually living together, but it’s been really wonderful so far. There’s a sort of steadiness to our relationship that wasn’t there before. That sounds really boring, but I think in our lives and professions that’s a great thing. It’s a really safe and wonderful thing to have this person you know is with you for the long haul and has made a commitment to you. I feel like I can just be me with Josh. I don’t have to worry about impressing him, I don’t have to worry about pleasing him all the time. It’s a very comfortable relationship.

How soon did you realise Josh was The One?
Pretty early on. I started talking about marriage about nine months into our relationship. But I didn’t bring it up thinking he wasn’t on the same page – I’m not a masochist! But I knew early on how much I adored him and when I thought my life without him, well, I couldn’t. I didn’t want to have to imagine life without him. It felt good and real and very right pretty early on. Of course, we went through those first few months where everybody is on a tightrope, like: ‘Is this serious? Is it just a flirtation?’ But we became comfortable very quickly. I knew I
wanted to move in that direction in my life. Marriage and family is important to me, so I didn’t really want to just date. I wanted to move forward so I asked about marriage.

Did you really?
Well, not exactly, but I brought it up. I forced his hand [laughs].

Did planning the wedding go smoothly?
I’m usually terrible about planning ahead, but I got very organised for my wedding – all of my nail appointments and hair appointments and dress fittings. I’d put them in my phone and on my calendar. Now it’s all over I’ve gone back to having no idea what I’m doing on any given day!

Were you a Bridezilla?
I tried very hard not to be a Bridezilla! I don’t know why everybody makes such a big deal. But I refused to give in to that whole wedding racket. As soon as you mention the word ‘wedding’ you find the cake goes up from a couple of hundred bucks to a couple of thousand. It’s crazy and frustrating. That’s the only time I got edgy – when I sensed that people were trying to take this one day out of my life and turn it into the most expensive, crazy thing. I kept telling myself: ‘Stay grounded. It’s eight hours of your life and that’s the best you’re going to get, so enjoy it.’

In 27 Dresses you’re always the bridesmaid but never the bride. How many times have you been a bridesmaid?
Just once. I was my sister Meg’s maid of honour in October last year and I’m not going to be a bridesmaid ever again. I was excited when she asked me, but the pressure! Just getting her to pick a wedding dress was a nightmare. I was like: ‘You’ve got to do it. This is your day.’

How many bridesmaids did you have?
Four – my sister was maid of honour and I had three really close friends that I’ve known since I was 14.

You had to wear some terrible dresses in the film. What sort of design did you choose for your own bridesmaids?
I was originally going to go with gold – my theme was ivory and gold because it was a Christmas wedding – but then I figured it was kind of cruel to expect them to pull off a gold dress! So we went with cranberry red Oscar de la Renta cocktail dresses because that fitted into the Christmas vibe. I didn’t want them to hate their dresses. I’ve never understood why a bride would want her bridesmaids to not look as good as her on her wedding day. It seems so petty.

How do you find Hollywood?
Certainly there’s pressure to look a certain way. If you go to your door in your pyjamas and someone paps you, the media just crucifies you. If I’m going out shopping or I know I’m going to be photographed I try to pull
it together. But there were time when that was really hard for me to do. Thankfully one of my bridesmaids is a great stylist and she would help me put together outfits. But there are days when I’m just going to the pharmacy for cough medicine and I’m going to be in a sweatshirt and pyjamas.

27 Dresses is about fashion – or lack of it. Who are your favourite designers?
There was a time when shopping was so exciting that I’d buy something every chance I got. I still love to do that but I realised very quickly that styles come and go and you spend a lot of money on something that maybe you won’t wear again. It seems so frivolous. So I’ve stopped buying clothes and started investing in furniture. That feels better because I can justify it!

Now you’re happily married, what advice would you give to a girl who’s still looking for Mr Right?
Never try to hard. I had enough of an ego and enough self-worth that I wouldn’t pursue any guy who didn’t really show interest. I wasn’t going to put myself in that position. It’s a little too self-deprecating. I
felt in that case I should move on and find someone else who was more interested. Any time you try too hard to get someone’s attention, it lessens your value. And all us girls should value ourselves.

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