Original Air Date: 07/31/2009
We have arrived at the finale of Say Yes To The Dress season three and the pressure on the consultants is ratcheting up. With the economy in shambles, bridal sales are plummeting across the country. Ronnie and Mara hold a store meeting and let people know that they will have to start making cuts if consultants don’t make their sales goals.
Carmel hasn’t hit her goal yet, and she meets with Nicole to try and figure out what to do. If Carmel can close another sale, she should be okay.
Carmel’s bride is Jennifer, who is looking for something funky and simple, with no glitz or glamour. She’s brought her mom, two of her cousins, and two of her friends. Carmel is already mad about being assigned a bride with a tight budget.
The appointment has barely begun when Jennifer’s cousin, Gina, starts raising hell.
Gina thinks that Carmel is too old and out of touch to pull a cool dress for Jennifer. Now listen, at first glance, I’m on Gina’s side. Carmel doesn’t really have trendy taste and they probably would have been better off with a different consultant.
However.
Despite Jennifer’s insistence that she stay within her budget, Gina forces her to try on a $4,800 dress. Carmel is pretty upset about this too, since she couldn’t convince Jennifer to try on anything out of her budget.
Anyways, the first dress is shot down by the family, and Jennifer’s entourage has vanished to try on accessories by the time she puts the second dress on.
Dress #3 is Gina’s pick, and Jennifer refuses to come all the way out in the room – that’s how much she hates it. Dress #4 is Jennifer’s favorite dress, but this is when she reveals to Carmel that she is not purchasing a dress today. Since her fiancé is paying, she wants to go home and check with him before making a purchase.
Jennifer does not come back and Carmel does not meet her sales goal.
Our next bride has a Tragic Backstory™ and is paired with consultant Keasha.
Two years ago, Heidi’s fiancé was diagnosed with kidney failure and she decided to donate her kidney to him. Since then, he’s made a full recovery and they’re finally getting married.
Keasha starts Heidi off with a sample dress that is marked down to $2,599.
Heidi falls in love with the gown and starts crying. When Heidi’s mom realizes that they would have to take the dress as-is, she says that they aren’t going to purchase it due to the condition that the dress is in.
Keasha pulls in Randy, who is very moved by Heidi’s story, and he goes to talk to Joan about the situation.
Joan is equally moved by Heidi’s story, saying that “Heidi is one of the most special brides I’ve come across in over 20 years.” She applies as many discounts as she can possibly think of to help bring Heidi’s dress down to her budget including listing Heidi as her sister-in-law so she can get the family discount. Everyone leaves happy!
We have an UNLIMITED BUDGET ALERT! Tiffany wants something BIG and SPLASHY and boy has she come to the right place. Tiffany is working with consultant Sarah on this appointment.
Tiffany falls in love with the skirt on Dress #1 and the bodice of Dress #2. She decides to spend $14,000 on the dress of her dreams. Thank GOD we finally have an over-the-top bride again. Also, what kind of blood money do we think that this woman has?
Tiffany comes back for her fitting and honestly this looks pretty good. Better than I thought it would. I still don’t like this silhouette, but fine. Tiffany says that she hopes her fiancé has “shortness of breath” when he sees her walk down the aisle, a joke that doesn’t land the same in 2022.
Finally, for our alterations bride, we have the WASP-iest woman who has ever appeared on this show.
We get absolutely no specifics about Patricia’s wedding, except that it’s in The Boathouse in Central Park. She has the vibe of someone incredibly wealthy, including the way that she handles her alterations appointment. Her dress is custom-made (of course.)
Patricia is very unhappy with her dress because the bodice is white and the skirt is cream, which she thinks looks cheap. Mara actually comes down to the alterations floor – something I have never seen before – to try and help smooth everything over.
With two weeks to go, the seamstresses get to work redoing Patricia’s bodice.
Bless these seamstresses, good lord. It looks to me like they are literally just changing the lining out. I love them.
Patricia comes back and loves her dress (which looks exactly the same to me) and says she is finally ready to get married.
I need to know every single fact about this wedding.
Final Score:
- Entourage of 5+ people: +3 points
- Nightmare bridesmaid: +4 points
- Bride has a “bridal moment”: +5 for Heidi, +5 for Tiffany
- Custom gown: +5 for Tiffany, +5 for Patricia
- Manager Intervention: +5 points
- Bride’s budget is over $10,000: +10 points
- Bride goes $1,000+ over their budget: +7 points
Total: 49/100
Bye beautiful!
