Wedding Gown Shopping at Kleinfeld
A friend of mine is getting married! Hooray! She asked if I would accompany her to Kleinfeld Bridal Shop this week to see if there were any dresses there she liked. I was more than happy to come along and see how this major bridal stop operates.
She had made an appointment for a Tuesday afternoon. I believe that shopping there is by appointment only. I walked in and was greeted by signs that there was filming of the TLC show “Say Yes to the Dress” and if I didn’t want to be on television I should inform my sales assistant. I didn’t see any cameras throughout our time there, however. My friend was running a little late and she asked if I would check in for her but they told me only the bride can check in, no one else. Good to know. Luckily she made it in time for most of her hour and a half appointment. After she checked in we took a seat and she showed me her “Top 5″ dresses from the Kleinfeld website. I don’t know if they ask the bride to bring this in or if this was just a fabulous idea of my well-prepared friend but it made shopping later much easier.
My friend’s sales assistant, Blanca, came out and introduced herself a few minutes later. The bride-to-be showed her pictures of what she was looking for, gave her a top price point, and then we sat and waited as the Blanca came back with one dress. Blanca told us the dress was one hundred dollars more than the top price but because my friend’s wedding was quickly approaching, nothing but this and samples would be ready by her wedding date. She then escorted us to the sample room where we attempted to pick dresses that looked like what the bride was looking for. As a side note, the sample room is much less glamorous than the rest of the store.
My friend tried on all the sample gowns first and finally tried on the single non-sample dress Blanca had brought back. The non-sample dress was hands down her favorite dress and she looked fabulous in it. The sales director, who my friend says makes frequent appearances on the TLC show, came out and told my friend that if she ordered today they could guarantee the dress would be in 10 days before her wedding date. Alterations would cost extra because of the rushed deadline. There was no haggling, although I am told she haggles on the show. Joan told us to go have some coffee and think about the dress and come back in an hour if we wanted it.
We left and had a slice of pizza while my friend made frantic calls to her sister and her fiance. We didn’t have pictures because Kleinfeld’s doesn’t let you take pictures until after you buy the dress. So we were left describing and trying to convince everyone that this was THE dress with our words. In the end, we went back, my friend tried the dress on one more time, and committed with her credit card. All in all it was an interesting experience, but I am surprised that people fly from all over the world to shop there!
