This episode of Say Yes To The Dress starts with a morning meeting where Elise stresses to the consultants that knowing the budget is the most important part of the appointment. She reminds the consultants that is the first thing they should find out, and they should never bring them a dress that is out of their budget.
You might guess what happens next.
Ashlee here only has a $2,500 budget – which is pretty low for Kleinfeld’s. Even though we know what her budget is, she doesn’t happen to mention that to her consultant Camille, lip-liner aficionado. Ashlee is looking for something basic and comfortable, and Camille pulls the perfect dress.
Unfortunately, it’s a $6,500 Reem Acra dress. She immediately falls in love with the gown, and so does her entire entourage. It’s not until later, when Camille pulls another dress, that she finds out Ashlee’s dress budget.
She doesn’t know how to break the news to Ashlee. Camille’s strategy is to try and pull less-expensive dresses and hope that Ashlee will fall in love with a cheaper gown.
Would you believe this strategy does not work??? Camille finally has to break the news to Ashlee that this dress is way over their budget. Ashlee’s mom is upset that Camille pulled a dress outside of their budget – which, to be fair, they did not tell Camille – and generally frustrated.
Camille goes to Elise, who decides that they can sell her the sample at $4,724.
That’s still outside of Ashlee’s budget, though. She ends up leaving the appointment without a dress.
Rachelle has arrived with a massive entourage, including her opinionated father and two brothers. She’s looking for something strapless and with a sweetheart neckline – tight and sexy, but not too sexy.
I only included this photo of Rachelle because…. this hair had us down bad in 2008. Rachelle, like myself back in 2008, is clearly a flat-iron devotee. My hair is very curly and looked exactly like this when I was straightening it every day, so my heart goes out to Rachelle here.
Anyways. The first two dresses are not exactly a hit with her family – but Rachelle falls in love with the third dress.
I’m so sorry that the photo of the second dress is essentially a close-up on her chest, but that’s basically the only shot we got of it. Even though all of these dresses are basically wrapped sheets around Rachelle, she looks very nice in the third one – and her whole family loves it.
Her dad tells us that he didn’t feel good for the first two weeks after Rachelle got engaged, even though she had been with her fiancé for eight years. When she comes out in her dress, he compares the feeling to “seeing your children come out of the womb.” Gross!
Next up, we’ve got Rachel – not to be confused with Rachelle – and she’s paired with Keasha.
She doesn’t want to look like a pretty princess, she wants to look like herself. Rachel has brought her mom and her man of honor – and she reveals that her father passed away when she was 13. Rachel recently found out that her father had set aside money for her wedding before he died, and she’s extraordinarily emotional to be shopping for a dress without him.
Rachel has also fallen in love with a dress that she saw in a magazine, and drove to Kleinfeld’s specifically to try that dress on. Keasha is nervous about that. Brides often have a very specific idea of what a dress will look like on their bodies, and are frequently disappointed by what the reality is.
But the dress looks amazing on her! Rachel falls in love! Everything seems to be doing great!
Rachel still decides to try on a few other dresses since she drove all the way from Connecticut. She hates the second dress, and her mom makes a few comments about Rachel’s body that are… not great. She thinks the third dress is too princess-y for her, but really likes it without straps. Keasha pulls a fourth dress for Rachel, but nothing is comparing to the original gown.
Elise comes in to try and wrap up the appointment, and they put Rachel back in the original dress without straps. Rachel falls in love all over again.
Our last bride of the day is Micah Siegel, who is here for her final fitting with her dad. Micah and her father are extremely close, and the entire appointment is very, very sweet.
Is there anything more aggressively 2008 than Micah’s sunglasses? No there is not!
Anyway, here is her dress. I don’t understand empire waists or the clutch that they have over some people. She looks fine. Her dad’s mustache is iconic.
Final Score:
- Entourage of 5+ people – +3 points
- Entourage that hates her dresses – +3 points
- Bride wants to look sexy – +3 points
- Bride falls in love with a dress… way above her budget – +8 points
- Tragic backstory – +10 points
- Mom body-shames her daughter – -5 points
- Manager Intervention – +5 points
- Bride has a “bridal moment” – +5 points for Rachel, +5 points for Rachelle
Total: 37/100
Bye beautiful! Don’t listen to your judgmental families!
