Jaded New Yorkers Experience Kleinfeld Bridal (the One from Say Yes to the Dress)

There is a bridal store in NYC that women all over the country know, regardless of their marital status.  Anyone who’s had a guilty-pleasure binge of the reality show Say Yes to the Dress feels like they’ve been inside Kleinfeld Bridal. On a snowy Friday evening, my bestie Miranda and I stepped inside the actual boutique.

Miranda has never seen Say Yes to the Dress, but she’s getting married in July and needs to say yes to one real soon. In fact, pretty much the minute we stepped in Kleinfeld, she was berated for waiting “so long” to get a dress.

Excuse me, not a dress, THE Dress.

I’ve watched enough friends get married now to  know the world of weddings is bonkers. Still, it was something else to experience it intimately, as Miranda’s right hand woman. 

Did you know it’s a huge, laborious process to try on a wedding dress? One that involves being escorted into dresses by a sales person? I guess it’s a right of passage for soon-to-be-brides: being almost totally naked in front of a total stranger. “We do this all day,” said our sales person, “Just think of it like the doctor’s office.”

It took us a while to get on the right dress track. “All the dresses so far have kinda screamed, ‘I’m getting married! LOOK AT MY TITS!'”

“So you’re conservative?” Asked the sales person.

Miranda and I exchanged a look of horror. We both grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where there’s no greater insult than being labeled CONSERVATIVE. HEAVEN FORBID.

Not wanting everyone at your wedding to stare at your boobs is conservative in 2018?! What happened to CLASSY, Kleinfeld!?

From what we saw, the trend seems to be more “cupcake”.

This was soooo not Miranda’s scene. Nor mine. She had no entourage, no five-figure budget, no “I’ve been dreaming of my wedding day since I was a little girl!” We were riff-raff at Kleinfeld. But it was a certainly an interesting experience! Even a helpful one for Miranda. She now knows what kind of style she’s looking for.

She did find a gorgeous dress. Which only costs about half the entire budget of her wedding. But we knew going into Kleinfeld that there would be no saying yes…dresses at Kleinfeld cost between 5,000 and 60,000 dollars. Hey, if you can say yes to a dress and not simultaneously mountain of credit card debt, that’s great! Go for it!

I couldn’t help but wonder…how many women leave Kleinfeld talking about how ridiculous the wedding industry is? Miranda and I left to sit in a bar, drink cheap beers and scheme ways to find beautiful dresses… that aren’t labeled “bridal”…

Anyone have wedding dress shopping tips? Stories about how spending the money is worth it? Confessions of epic Say Yes To The Dress binges?
Advertisements

About New York Cliche

NYC lifestyle blog by Mary Lane. Events, adventures, epic mistakes, dating, life, humor. A 30-something trying to make it (and make out) in the city of dreams.

9 thoughts on “Jaded New Yorkers Experience Kleinfeld Bridal (the One from Say Yes to the Dress)

  1. I am a totally SYTTD binger. I don’t even plan on getting married, and if I did I would definitely not wear a typical wedding dress. Still, something about that show really does it for me.

    1. I totally agree! I have absolutely no desire to ever have a “traditional” wedding or dress, but there’s something about this show! A perfect guilty pleasure binge

  2. When I got married I bought the first dress I tried on. It was on sale for $150! I probably will never get married again but I love Say Yes to the Dress! There’s something about all those beautiful dresses, although I would never pay that much. I’d love to go to Kleinefelds just to see it.
    Lynn recently posted…I’m a certified personal trainer!My Profile

    1. That sound like the absolute best way to do it Lynn! What an amazing deal money wise AND time wise! Not just staggering how much money some people put into the perfect dress but also the amount of time searching for it! Yeah, I’m right with you – it was so interesting to get a front row peak into the store!

  3. I am old- not getting married again-I love the show- have seen dresses there for $1500- but I don’t get why spend that on 8 hours when you could use it for the important things- shelter and food! But
    It is fun to see “dreams being made”:)
    PS I with you on the boob showing-save it for the one who cares. Yikes I am old!

  4. Consider renting a dress! They can cost a fraction of the cost! Also try smaller boutiques, there are some great shops in Queens that have beautiful and affordable unique dresses!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

CommentLuv badge