Here's What It's Really Like to Shop For a Wedding Dress at Kleinfeld

Here’s What It’s Really Like to Shop For a Wedding Dress at Kleinfeld

After trying on wedding dresses at Carolina Herrera, where the gown I fell in love with and set my heart on practically swallowed me whole (too much fabric, too little person), I was disheartened. I hit up a few more bridal boutiques and chose a wedding date somewhere in between, but would I walk down the aisle naked? I mean, it sure looked like it. My kind-hearted, caring, always-optimistic future mother-in-law had a request: could we go to Kleinfeld? Yes, that Kleinfeld — the one where they film TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress. We live in the New York area, so I didn’t see why not. As in, yes we could, but would I ever actually book an appointment?

Having watched a few episodes of SYTTD in my lifetime, I was curious about what the whole experience would be like. Would it be fancy-shmancy inside the bridal boutique? Would it be superloud, with brides-to-be, stylists, and maid of honors fussing all over the place? How many girls would say yes to the dress while I was in the store, and furthermore, would they get glasses of champagne delivered if they said yes at 9 a.m? Because that’s what time my appointment was at — 9 a.m. So yes, BTW, I did make that appointment.

When I walked into Kleinfeld with my mother-in-law, her sister, and my future brother-in-law’s girlfriend, I was overwhelmed. Dang, it was really fancy in there. 15 minutes after we entered, the lobby was packed with excited brides and their families waiting to be assigned to a stylist (we’ll get to how that works later). It quickly became obvious which customers were fans of SYTTD, because they pointed out and took photos with the stylists whose segments are televised most often.

I found myself a) tired and b) thirsty, as I picked up a Kleinfeld branded water bottle from a table near the threshold of the bridal room floor. I peeked over the mannequins wearing the latest from Pronovias, Hayley Paige, and Pnina Tornai, trying to figure out how this whole system worked, and whether or not I’d get to browse through the racks myself. The fashion editor in me began writing a post in her head: “I Got Trampled By Brides-to-Be at Kleinfeld Trying to Find a Wedding Dress.” Seriously, how were all these people going to shop in here at the same time?

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