''Say Yes to the Dress'' is an American
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...
series on
TLC which follows events at Kleinfeld Bridal in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. The series shows the progress of individual sales associates, managers, and fitters at the store, along with profiling brides as they search for the perfect
wedding dress
A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. In Western cultures and Anglo ...
. Common themes include overwhelming advice of friends and family, the ability of the "perfect dress" to help a bride overcome personal difficulty, struggle with weight and
body image
Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, ps ...
concerns, and the challenge of staying in budget, especially in the case of dresses by Kleinfeld's exclusive designer,
Pnina Tornai (one of the few designers ever mentioned by name in the show). Dresses sold on the show range from $1,300 to $40,000.
Cast
Mara Urshel
Mara Urshel is one of the co-owners of Kleinfeld. Earlier in her career in the retail industry, she served as senior vice president and general merchandise manager at
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washingt ...
. She worked there for twenty years. After she left Saks, she was employed by
Casual Corner
Casual Corner was an American retail clothing chain founded in 1950. It operated stores under the names Casual Corner, Petite Sophisticate and August Max Woman brands, among others, with more than 525 stores at its peak.
History
In 1950, childho ...
and
Geoffrey Beene Company in executive management positions. She then purchased the Kleinfeld Bridal store with Ronald Rothstein and Wayne Rogers on July 9, 1999.
Ronald Rothstein
Ronald (Ronnie) Rothstein is one of the co-owners of Kleinfeld. He was successful academically; he graduated from
Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...
at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
in 1964 and received his law degree from the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
in 1968. He then became a member of the Florida Bar. In 1976, he started his own consumer products company named Oh Dawn, but after eight years, he sold Oh Dawn to an
American Stock Exchange
NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was know ...
company. He did however stay on in an executive capacity for several more years. On July 9, 1999 he purchased the Kleinfeld Bridal store with Mara Urshel and Wayne Rogers.
Randy Fenoli
Randy Fenoli
Randy Fenoli is an American television presenter and fashion designer who is mainly known for his work on wedding dresses and his own TV show '' Randy to the Rescue'' and ''Say Yes to the Dress''. He was the fashion director for the wedding dres ...
was the Fashion Director for Kleinfeld. He was born in
Mt. Vernon, Illinois
Mount Vernon is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,600 at the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is the principal city of the Mount Vernon Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all ...
, and grew up with a love of fashion. He began sewing dresses when he was only nine years old. When he got older, he branched out into the areas of make-up artistry, hair styling, and entertainment. He then enrolled with the New York's
Fashion Institute of Technology
The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. ...
. Later, he was offered a job working for Paul Diamond, of The Diamond Collection. He was then offered a job at Kleinfeld where he worked until 2012. He is now an independent consultant.
Dorothy Silver
Dorothy Silver is the Director of Sales and Merchandising for Kleinfeld. She began her career in New York as a floor manager at
Bonwit Teller
Bonwit Teller & Co. was an American luxury department store in New York City, New York, founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street, and later a chain of department stores.
In 1897, Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the par ...
, but she has spent the majority of her twenty-five years in the retail industry at Kleinfeld. She works alongside Nicole Sacco and Joan Roberts.
Nicole Sacco
Nicole Sacco is the Director of Fittings and Sales at Kleinfeld. She has worked there for thirteen years and has many responsibilities, primarily helping consultants with their clients, whether it's finding a dress, closing the sale, or just making sure the client is happy. She works alongside Dorothy Silver and Joan Roberts.
Nitsa Glezelis
Nitsa Glezelis is the Director of Alterations at Kleinfeld. She was born in
Kos
Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
, and has been in the retail industry since she was twelve years old. She has worked at Kleinfeld for eighteen years. She works alongside Vera Skenderis.
Joan Roberts
Joan Roberts is the Director of Sales/Bridal Manager at Kleinfeld. Before coming to Kleinfeld, she had worked in the retail industry for twenty five years. She works alongside Nicole Sacco and Dorothy Silver.
Camille Coffey
Camille Coffey is one of the several bridal consultants at Kleinfeld. She was first introduced to Kleinfeld when she was shopping for a dress to wear to her son's wedding. She applied for a job and has been working there ever since.
Vera Skenderis
Vera Skenderis is the Alterations Manager at Kleinfeld. She was born in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, Greece. She has been working in the retail industry for thirty-four years. She works alongside Nitsa Glezelis.
Audrey Pisani
Audrey Pisani is one of the several bridal consultants at Kleinfeld. She was born in Brooklyn and has worked in the retail industry for twenty years. Fifteen of those years has been spent working in bridal wear.
Keasha Rigsby
Keasha Rigsby is one of the several bridal consultants at Kleinfeld. She has been working in the retail industry for fifteen years. Six of those years has been spent working in bridal wear. She was first introduced to Kleinfeld when she was shopping for wedding dresses with her cousin. She met one of the co-owners, Ronnie Rothstein, applied for a job, and has been working there ever since. Keasha has not appeared on Say Yes to the Dress since the January 2011 season. She will be appearing on a new show entitled Keasha’s Perfect Dress on the Canadian Slice network. This show will follow Keasha as she opens a new bridal salon.
Debbie Asprea
Debbie Asprea is one of the several bridal consultants at Kleinfeld. She has been working in the retail industry for eighteen years. She has been with Kleinfeld for fifteen of those eighteen years. She attributes her love of fashion to her father, who was a dress contractor.
Episodes
Spinoffs
*''
Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta'' (July–September 2010; July 2011–) is the first spinoff, which focuses o
Bridals by Lori a bridal shop in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. Other than the shop, staff and production company (
NorthSouth Productions
NorthSouth Productions is a television production company in the United States that was founded by Charlie DeBevoise and Mark Hickman in 2000. NorthSouth creates and produces original programming for a variety of broadcast and cable networks incl ...
produced the Atlanta series), the elements are the same as the original series. The Atlanta series itself also led to two spinoffs:
**''
Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids'' (July 2011–) is a spinoff focused on bridesmaid dresses and the bridesmaid showroom at Bridals by Lori.
**''Say Yes to the Dress: Monte's Take'' (July 2011 – February 2012) is a podcast hosted by Monte Durham, the bridal image consultant at Bridals by Lori; and TLC Interactive Producer Candace Keener. The weekly podcast provides listeners wedding tips and tricks.
**''Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss'' (September–October 2010; April 2011–) is the second spin-off. The shop, staff, venue and producers are the same as the original series, except that all of Kleinfeld's clientele on this program are brides that are
plus-sized.
*''
Say Yes to the Dress: Randy Knows Best'' (April 2011–August 2013): Randy Fenoli, Kleinfeld's fashion director, uses top ten lists and
past episode clips to share his tips on a variety of bridal categories.
*''
Randy to the Rescue'' (June 2012–August 2013): Randy Fenoli travels across the country where lucky brides-to-be get a special consultation with Randy, where he will give a few pointers on how to improve their bridal style.
*''
Say Yes to the Dress: Australia'' (2016): An international adaptation of the format on
TLC Australia, featuring couture wedding gown designer Adam Dixon. The series is the first local production on the channel.
*''Say Yes to the Dress: UK'' (2016) the second international adaptation that premiered on
TLC UK
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Ireland'' (2017) which premiered on
RTÉ 2
(RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...
.
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Asia'' (2017) was also created for
TLC Asia, shot in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
with Malaysian hosts, featuring 18 Southeast Asian women and their dresses.
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Benelux''
*''Say Yes: Wedding SOS'' (January 2018–) is a wedding makeover spin-off series focusing on transforming couples who have let themselves go.
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Canada'' (known in the US as ''Say Yes to the Dress: Northern Edition'')
*''Say Yes to the Dress: America'' (January 2020): A 10-episode event series that featured couples representing each U.S. state,
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, and
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and concluded with a
mass wedding
A collective wedding or mass wedding is a marriage ceremony in which several couples are married at the same time.
History
In 324 BC Alexander the Great married Stateira II, the eldest daughter of Darius, the king of Persia. In the same cerem ...
in New York City with all 52 couples, officiated by Fenoli.
*''Say Yes to the Dress: India'' (Dec 8, 2021)
*''Say Yes to the Vegas Dress''
*''Say Yes to the Dress: The Big Day''
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Lancashire (known in the US as Say Yes to the Dress: England)''
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Finland''
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Dubai (aka Say Yes to the Dress: Arabia)''
*''Say Yes to the Dress: In Sickness and in Health''
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Poland''
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Spain''
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Danmark''
*''Say Yes to the Dress: Since the Big Day''
References
External links
*
Kleinfeld BridalBridals by LoriPnina TornaiSay Yes to the Dress: Monte's Take Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Say Yes To The Dress
2000s American reality television series
2007 American television series debuts
2010s American reality television series
Television shows set in New York City
TLC (TV network) original programming
Wedding television shows
Wedding dresses