Behind-The-Scene Secrets From “Say Yes To The Dress”

11. The Employees Don’t Have Healthcare

You would think that the most famous bridal salon in the world would be able to spring for some basic health benefits for their employees, right? Wrong! Despite the success of Say Yes To The Dress, the fact that every consultant has been on-air and that Kleinfeld’s is now a New York City tourist destination, the employees still don’t have health benefits. Spend all day hand-sewing beads in alterations so you need a new pair of glasses to be able to see your work? Tough, you’ll be buying those on your own. While most of the employees at Kleinfeld’s rave about the family atmosphere and fun work environment, their one gripe is a serious lack in benefits. It must hurt to watch brides spend tens of thousands of dollars on dresses and know that your work won’t spring for your $50 pill prescription. C’mon Kleinfeld, step up your game!

12. The Narrator Doesn’t Know What He’s Narrating

You know that iconic voice that introduces every episode of Say Yes To The Dress? “Today at the salon, consultants gather to….blah blah blah.” He’s the guy who pipes in and explains what dress the brides have chosen by listing the price, the designer’s name and describing the style. He almost sounds like an encyclopaedia of dresses. Well, turns out that isn’t quite the case. The famous narrator, otherwise known as Roger Craig Smith, actually doesn’t see the dresses. Roger gets a script sent to his home in California, far away from the bustle of Kleinfeld’s in New York. He then gets a phone call from a producer who gives him a rundown of what’s happening in the episode. And then Roger goes into a sound studio and records his lines. But while he’s telling us all about the ruched bodice and intricate beadwork on the Hayley Paige gown, he’s never even seen a picture of it. Roger never sees the gowns he’s describing and would caution any future brides about coming to him for wedding dress advice.

13. They Don’t Care About Your Time

We’ve already shared that a taping of Say Yes To The Dress can take up to eight hours for one tiny 12 minute segment. But at least that group began shooting at 8:00am and knew what was going to be happening. Apparently, producers aren’t always so considerate of their bride’s time or schedule.

This bride was involved in the production of Randy To The Rescue, another SYTTD spin-off where Randy travels across the country to help brides in dress distress. The bride was selected as one of four brides to appear on the San Francisco episode and was told to arrive at 3:45pm on her first day of filming. However, producers changed their minds and called her that morning to say they needed her now. The bride-to-be had to leave work early and rush off to the filming area. Of course, once she got there she was asked to sit in a holding area until they were ready to film. She ended up sitting there until way after 3:45pm, which was her original call time. Suffice to say, this bride was not impressed with how things were handled.

She didn’t even end up buying a dress.

14. Randy Is Actually A Good Guy

On the show, Randy Fenoli is the fashion guru at Kleinfeld’s. He always swoops in with just the right dress and sassy line to make every bride’s dreams come true. He is always smiling and seems to just love bridal. So you’d think it’s all an act, right? There’s no way a guy who spends all his time dealing with b*tchy brides is that happy. Well, it turns out he really is. The same bride who appeared on Randy To The Rescue from above promises that Randy is actually the real deal. She says, “He was genuinely concerned with finding me a great dress that wasn’t way over my budget. He was kind and spent time talking to me and my family off camera. He obviously loves his job and he is genuine.”

Isn’t that so nice to hear? All my years of watching reality TV must have made me cynical because I was expecting Randy to be a total diva. I assumed as soon as the cameras stopped rolling he would head to his trailer with his tiny dog and a mug of herbal tea. I’m glad to know I was wrong.

15. A Bride Sued The Show For Airing Her Episode

Just last year, the SYTTD world was rocked by a scandal when a lawsuit showed up on their front steps. A bride who had been filmed for the show was suing them for airing her episode before the date of her wedding. You can probably guess why the bride was upset.

On the episode, she said yes to the dress and modeled her soon-to-be wedding dress in front of millions of viewers. However, she didn’t want all of her guests and her hubby-to-be to see the dress before the big day. So, she sued. But sadly for the bride, she lost her lawsuit. Judge Nancy Baron ruled that Alexandra Godino, the bride in question, had signed a contract before she went on the show and there was nothing in there about the air date being negotiable.

A producer for the show explained that the show doesn’t promise brides a specific airing schedule. If a bride wants their episode to be held until a specific date, they aren’t filmed at all.

Credits: thethings.com