A play on the infamous “Bridezilla” persona, the Bridechilla podcast is about taking the stress out of wedding planning, employing the honest advice of industry experts and connecting with couples navigating the big day. In 2020, founder Aleisha McCormack hit pause, until 2024, when the London-based Aussie sent the project overseas to Leah Haslage, producer for Cleveland’s Evergreen Podcasts. With McCormack’s help, the host of Weddings Unveiled with Leah and producer of Patrice Catan’s Tales From Behind the Veil took the mic and gave the show new life. As Haslage’s Bridechilla enters its honeymoon phase, we ask about the experience.
Cleveland Magazine: What makes Bridechilla different from other wedding podcasts you’ve produced and hosted?
Leah Haslage: I think, really, with it being the OG wedding podcast, what separates it still is the no-nonsense, unfiltered advice and humor. And the community is amazing. We encourage couples to call in with their dilemmas and questions if they want to share a story about what they're going through. We want to hear everyone, so I think that community and conversation with the listener is the biggest difference. You want the expert advice, but you also want to hear from your peers that you're not alone.
CM: Is there anything new you’d like to do with the podcast?
LH: We are gearing up to launch a YouTube channel because we're always recording episodes as videos; broadcast is the largest growth in podcasting right now. Weddings are also a very visual thing to begin with, and we have these amazing guests that we want to showcase. With video, we can show things that we're talking about.
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CM: Do you think Cleveland has a thriving wedding industry?
LH: Absolutely. I know a lot of wonderful vendors, and we have some world-class venues. I can't speak highly enough about places like the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, the Cleveland Museum of Art and great DIY spaces like 78th Street Studios and Gordon Green. And we just got our own chapter of the national Wedding Industry Professionals Association, so we really do have a strong wedding community here.
CM: Given all your experience, what is your most valuable piece of wedding advice?
LH: Communication is key. We preach it on every episode in some way, shape or form. Like any other aspect of your relationships, you want to be able to communicate what you need. It can be really easy to have all the voices in your head of what everyone else wants and needs or what they think is best for you, and it can be very easy to get caught up in going down the rabbit hole of Instagram and Pinterest trends. You have to really get real with your significant other, family, friends and your vendors and stay firm in your vision, knowing what you truly want and sticking with it.
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CM: Who are your dream guests to have on the podcast?
LH: Mindy Weiss and Sharon Sacks; they’re two of the top wedding planners in Hollywood and have done all the celebrity weddings you can think of. If I could get either one of them on the show, my nerdy celebrity-wedding brain could just find out everything. Randy Fenoli from Say Yes to the Dress has become so iconic in weddings, and I'd love to have Vera Wang, too. With the trajectory of the wedding dress — from what it used to be, come the early 90s — she just changed the game.
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