My "Say Yes To The Dress" Experience

Now that my "Say Yes To The Dress" filming experience has ended, it has finally sunk in that it actually even happened at all! I still have to pinch myself when I think about how crazy it is that it happened to little ole me! Being the girly, frilly, wedding dress dreamer that I am, I always dreamed of going to Kleinfeld for my dress. When I applied for the show, I never even told too many people because I didn't think it would ever happen. My own MOTHER didn't even know! (Sorry mom, lol) But, apparently the wedding dress gods had bigger plans for me! My expectations were very VERY high of what my experience would be like at Kleinfeld. They exceeded it. It was like no other place on Earth. It was like floating on a cloud, in a dream, surrounded by the most amazing staff, dresses, atmosphere, and customer service.  (cheesy and cliche, I know!)

Walking into the front doors of the store, you can see why Kleinfeld has been the BEST of the BEST for the past 60 years. They have mastered what they do. The best day of my life will be the day I get to marry my best friend. The second best day was the day he asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. The third best day was the day I became a Kleinfeld Bride. Here's my journey:

This is me the night before my appointment.

We went to have drinks and decided to walk to Kleinfeld to check it out.

Yeah, I was stalkin'. In the rain. No big deal. Not even ashamed to admit it.

Our group arrived at Kleinfeld around 1:30EST. We checked in with the receptionist who was INTRIGUED by what we call our "Lagniappe"! We literally brought Louisiana to New York! We brought all of the workers Mardi Gras beads and introduced them to the "second line" tradition! Thanks to our close friends, Belinda and Krissi Yoder, for letting me borrow your "bridal" umbrella! It made a super special day even that much better! Every consultant that came through the waiting room came over to talk to us, greet us, ask about our umbrellas and beads, and were THRILLED to wear their own piece of Mardi Gras around their neck! Keasha came through and loved my umbrella so we took a quick picture. She is just as fabulous is person as she is on TV.

 As nervous as I was, the laid-back nature of the film crew and staff helped calm all MOST of my nerves! They wanted everyone to be as natural and comfortable as possible. Everything you see on the show is exactly the way it is. I always thought that SURELY the producers, someone, makes these people act a fool. Nope. That's just them! They literally told me that they did not want me to choose a dress JUST because I was filming for the show. If there was anything anyone could do, they would do. Everyone bent over backwards to make my experience an amazing one. I tried to take in as much of the experience as possible and as I looked around, everyone was being treated this way:

LIKE ROYALTY!

(As if I didn't already think I was a queen)

The first thing I did was to walk around and look at some different dresses. I had to verbalize what I liked and didn't like about the dresses I was looking at. GREAT. Anyone who knows me knows I don't have a filter. I was trying to be as nice as possible...."too plain"  "too lacy" "this one's ok, but not the one" and THEN IT HAPPENED. The dress that made ME come out. "OHH...MY..GOSH...UGHHHHH....THIS ONE LOOKS LIKE BIG BIRD....I DON'T THINK SO!!" (and anyone that knows me can probably envision my face and exactly how I said it!) The camera man laughed out loud. I cringed a little thinking about the fact that I was probably going to get hate mail from whatever designer killed a million little ostriches to get all those feathers on that dress. I know what you're thinking. Feathers are fabulous. Yes, they are. I love feathers. But, THIS, whew~ I just can't describe it. The only words that came to mind, apparently, was big bird. And that's all folks!

I got to have a seat with my "entourage" for a little while waiting on my consultant to come and get me. Her name was Jenny and she was a PERFECT, PERFECT fit for me! We all just love her! I did take a picture with her BUT, as much as everyone would want to see it because I am in THE dress, you'll have to wait! She was getting me squeezed into a dress and I told her to keep on pulling because breathing was optional. (another laugh from the camera lady). I showed her a few pictures of things I liked and things I didn't like. Missy, Destanee, and I sat up in our hotel room looking through bridal mags the night before. It was a lot of fun!

Before little Jenny even got to bring me some dresses she thought I would love, I was approached by Henry Roth. For those of you who do watch SYTTD, you would recognize him:

For everyone that really knows me, you know I'm a people pleaser. (OK OK, you can pick your jaw off the floor now. Shocking, I know! But it is true) So, Jenny asked me if I wanted to go show everyone the dress. At that point, I probably should have just said no because I really hated the dress. The whole people pleaser thing wins. I go out in the dress. I guess I just did it for fun. The look on Missy's and everyone's face was just priceless. No one said a word. LOL (CONGRATULATIONS Henry Roth, You shut my entire entourage up! Not an easy feat!) Anyway, he was watching me in the dress and the detail of the dress was immaculate. There was just SO much detail in it that I felt like I was drowning in it. After that fiasco was over, it was BUSINESS TIME!

Jenny went out and found a few dresses and loved them ALL! There were 3 basic things I was looking for in a dress (no, I'm not telling you what they are!). The first dress was pretty and had 1 of those three things. Then you start the whole "if you change this part of the dress, take this off, add this, and multiply this~ it's perfect" Well, if you have to change, add, delete, or multiply anything on a dress....

IT IS NOT THE DRESS!!

After this dress, Jenny had a "LIGHT BULB" moment! I got excited and nervous at the same time! Anxious to see what she had come up with! I just waited very impatiently in my dressing room chatting with the producer (who was female and never filmed while I was changing...That's a whole different kind o' show!) This may get a little confusing, but I'll try to explain best I can without giving any of my dress details away! It's seriously difficult to do because something this FABULOUS should not be hidden from the world. lol Maybe I'm a little biased!

Remember, Jenny brought in a slew of dresses for me to try on. I only tried on 1 of her picks when she had her light bulb moment. She came in and hung two dresses up- side by side. She said that her "light bulb" dress was about $1200 OVER my budget, did I want to try it on? As a good girl who loves her daddy and doesn't want him to die of a heart attack before my wedding, I said no. So we went right back to the first set of dresses and started trying them on. The second dress I tried on was good but I didn't get the feeling that it was "THE" dress. It was definitely a front runner! It was also similar to one of the dresses that she brought in after her "light bulb" moment. When mom said that she wished 1 part of the dress was a little different, I said "OHHH, MOM! You should SEE this dress that she brought in, it was like *this* and like *that* and the bottom was *this* and it was AMAZING but it was way over budget =( "

I was crying on the inside when.....

Jenny came to the rescue!!

She told me that the dress I was describing to my mom was NOT the dress that was over budget!!!! It was the OTHER dress that was over budget!!! The dress I had fallen in LOVE with was still in my budget and I could try it on! I knew before I even tried it on that I was done. This was THE dress, I just knew it! Tried it on and Jenny hadn't even finished getting me in the thing and I was already squealing like a little school girl. She couldn't see me but she said "THAT sounds like a good sign!!" And it was! It took everything I had not to do a happy dance...OK, maybe I did a happy dance!

Here's how the logistics were from when I tried a dress on to when my entourage could see it. I would go to my dressing room (it was one of the 4 rooms surrounding the 'smaller' pedestal where brides are sometimes on the show), try on the dress, and when I was ready I would come out and wait at the corner before entering the main bridal floor. They had crew making sure all the cameras were ready. Once they were, I was able to walk out and show everyone the dress. If you ask ANYONE that was there~ Mom, Destanee, Dara, Missy, Shannon~ they will all say the same thing. As SOON as I walked out and they saw my face they just KNEW. They knew that this was THE dress. Now, something you may not think about~ I walk out and stand on the pedestal and drop the skirt (since you have to hold it up to not trip while walking). Your entourage can't see anything but the back of your dress because of the way the mirrors are angled. When they have the bride turn around, that is the first time they are seeing the FULL dress! Before I even turned around, every one of them was crying! Don't get me wrong, I was right there with them! Everyone asks me what my dress is like, I just tell them it's very "DeShae" because I deserve my own adjective.

We went to Caliente Cab Co and had great food and AWESOME margaritas to celebrate the day!

The rest of our time in The Big Apple, we spent sightseeing and reliving this amazing experience! Thanks to everyone that was a part of it and I can't wait to show everyone the DRESS I said YES to!

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER....