One Wedding, Too Many Dresses

10/23/2009

 

A big challenge for consultants is helping the “reselection” bride, i.e. someone who buys a wedding gown and then starts to wonder if she’s bought the right dress. In these cases, consultants should try and get to the root of what’s bothering the bride, says Joan, director of sales at Kleinfeld’s.

 

After buying a wedding dress, Sarah has decided she hates it and is shopping for a “glamorous” gown with Keasha’s help.  Her previously purchased gown feels too young and is a bit too flashy for her. She says it was “really an impulse buy.” I can see shoes or maybe a coat being an impulse buy, but a wedding gown? With Sarah’s wedding a month away, the pressure is on Keasha to help her find the perfect dress. Her budget is between $3,000 and $5,000.

 

Sarah has done some homework on the dresses she likes, which should theoretically make Keasha’s job easier. Of course it’s not that simple, since the pictures Sarah has brought with her are of two completely different styles of gown.

Downstairs in alterations, Meghan is in for her first fitting and is horrified that the dress they are putting her in is not the dress she picked. She bought a dress with a sweetheart neckline, and this one does not have it. With her wedding two weeks away, she is having a bit of a panic attack. Vera, the alterations manager, swears the dress doesn’t come with a sweetheart neckline. Since Meghan insists it does, the situation is turning into a bit of a tussle. Regardless of who is right, I think the dress looks horrible on her.

 

Upstairs, Keasha is helping Sarah into her first pick, which looks absolutely gorgeous on her. As soon as she comes out, Sarah’s family agrees.

 

Kelly is looking for a wedding gown, even though she’s found three in another store. “I’m not convinced about those three dresses on hold. I’ve been a tomboy all my life, so these girly wedding dresses are something new for me,” she says.

 

Consultant Jessica starts by asking Kelly where the wedding will be and what she’s looking for in her gown. Unfortunately, Kelly can’t provide any guidance for Jessica. With a budget of $5,000, Jessica is left to pull four different gowns to see if anything strikes Kelly’s fancy.

 

The first dress, a ball gown style, is roundly rejected by Kelly’s family. The second dress is dismissed as being “too girly” for her. According to Kelly’s mom, Shelley, “On someone else it may be beautiful, but not on Kelly.” Wow, thanks Mom for the self-esteem boost.

 

Jessica says that going wedding-gown shopping with a big, opinionated group in tow can be tough. Sometimes friends come along who can be cranky -- because they’re not the ones getting married.

 

Downstairs, Vera is conceding that Meghan is in fact right about the sweetheart neckline, after she went on the designer’s Web site and found the gown. This is a bit of a hollow victory for Meghan, as she will need to come back another day for her fitting.

 

The second dress Sarah tries on is beautiful and has the wow factor, but I personally feel it’s too much boobage for a wedding gown. Apparently, her family agrees with me. They tell her that although the dress is beautiful, the other one was much more elegant. Her future brother-in-law even goes so far as to say that with the other dress he noticed her pretty face as opposed to her breasts.

 

Sarah is torn between the two gowns. I’m amused, since she says she wants glamorous but is once again going for a flashy wedding gown. She can’t afford to make another costly mistake, so she tries on the first gown again to make sure. After a bit of hesitation, Sarah realizes that it is indeed the perfect dress for her.

After several tries, dress No. 4 is a hit with Kelly. Her face lights up and she starts smiling. “I feel like a bride,” she says. Unfortunately, the rest of her group doesn’t share her enthusiasm.

 

When her mom asks if she really likes the gown, in a tone usually reserved for “You like eating garbage?”, all the color drains out of Kelly’s face. I gasp when one of her bridesmaids, Renay, says, “Even though Kelly did come out in a dress she loved, we just knew it wasn’t it.”

 

By dress No. 5, Kelly is frustrated and Joan steps in. She suggests that Kelly come back another day so that she can try on dresses with a fresh perspective.

 

In an oh-no-you-didn’t moment, Shelley interjects with, “I don’t know if we’ll come back.” When Joan asks if there was a problem, Shelley responds that she hasn’t seen anything there that she couldn’t find five minutes from her home. Her daughter looks mortified at this point. I’m thinking my mother is right when she says, “You can’t teach class.”

 

“I didn’t get the idea that they were connecting with Kelly. That they were putting her in what she wanted to be put in,” says Shelley. Actually I disagree, but that’s a whole other blog.

 

“It’s about Kelly. It’s always about the bride. She is never going to get what she wants unless she speaks up. It’s so sad to me, watching everyone tear her apart,” says Jessica.

 

Kelly heads to New Jersey empty-handed, where she eventually buys one of the three dresses she had on hold.

 

Just a few days before her wedding, Meghan is back for a fitting and hoping everything is OK. The gown looks perfect to her, and she’s even best friends with Vera.

 

On Sarah’s wedding day, she looks radiant and classy.

Comments

[Rose]

Can you please tell me the designer and style of the two dresses that sarah tried on with keasha on the 10/23 episode. I loved those two designs. Great episode. Although the ideas of having to buy a second dress is scary..

[carly tenney]

Poor Kelly! With family and friends like she brought...who needs enemies? These women ruined any joy that Kelly felt trying on these beautiful dresses. What kind of mother makes remarks like this? I was totally horrified by these women and their lack of class!

[Joy]

Her family was really rude. I really liked the last dress Jessica put Kelly In.

I know the second dress that Keashe put on Sarah was Prina Tornai but who designed the dress she picked?

[Karen]

Its a pity that Kelly"s friends destroyed her joy in shopping for "her" wedding dress. Her mother showed no generousity of kindness in belittling Kelly's choices of wedding gown. What should have been a joyous experience for the bride,became a sniping contest by her "friends."

[Leslie]

WOW - Kelly's family was just down right rude! I felt very sad for her! Jessica did a great job of trying to help her find a beautiful dress but she just didn't stand a chance, with these "ladies?".

[sharon]

Doea anyone know where sarah got her hairband?

[Shannon]

What was wrong with the Bridesmaid who didn't say a word to Kelly? She didn't seem to fit in. Maybe the only one with a real perspective who actually felt bad.

[Raquelle]

She just the one who upset she aint gettin married

[Survivor]

On a recent episode, one of the ladies thought she had breast cancer because she found a lump. She went to the Dr. and said that it was not cancer however they would have to keep a close check on it. Please take my advice. If the Dr. determined it was a cyst, and not a mass, that's one thing, but if it is a mass, there is no way for them to tell without a biopsy. I have a couple of friends who were told it was not cancer but decided to have a biopsy done and it was cancer. If it's a mass and a biopsy has not been done, don't bury your head in the sand...

[Candice]

I loved both the dress's Sarah tried on.
I would love to know the designer of both too.
I also loved her original. Does anyone know who that dress is by??