Top 10 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets About Say Yes to the Dress

Maybe you’ve seen every episode, but how well do you know the inner workings of this hit TLC show? Welcome to MsMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets About Say Yes to the Dress.
For this list, we’re looking at the most interesting and surprising things that have been reported or claimed about the making of this much-loved reality show.

When you’re watching an episode of “Say Yes To The Dress”, everything might look easy and natural, but in fact the process of filming the show is much more complex than you would think. One bride reported that there are guidelines as to what you can have on set with you- and even what you can wear! She said that no one in her party was allowed to wear pink because it would clash with the background and no one was allowed to have cell phones with them. When we tell you just how long they actually film for, that last one seems like an even bigger deal!

Every bride dreams of having that moment when you walk down the aisle and everyone (including your groom!) gets to see you in your gown for the first time. Alexandra Godino says that the show ruined this opportunity for her when they aired her episode of the show before her wedding date- something they allegedly agreed they would not do. She said to the New York Post, “If I for one second, for one second, thought they would air this before my wedding I would never have done it — ever, ever, ever.” She attempted to stop the show from airing, but was unsuccessful.

You know the faceless narrator who tells you all the details about each dress, including price and designer? Turns out he has a name: Roger Craig Smith. And you may be surprised to learn that he is not on set or even looking at the dresses when he reads out those descriptions. He lives all the way across the country in California, and records his lines in a sound studio without so much as images of the dresses to reference. But he’s not totally unsentimental, saying that, “You’re celebrating what is arguably an occasion for one of life’s biggest moments.”

If you’ve seen an episode (or 100!) of “Say Yes To The Dress,” you know that each bride typically shows her entourage a few dresses before deciding on one. According to Buzzfeed however, every bride who is on the show actually tries, on average, 6 to 15 gowns- but the ones that don’t garner a big reaction from the bride or her friends and family don’t make it on to the show. Something else we don’t see is the fact that there’s actually a sale section at Kleinfeld for brides with smaller budgets!

This should come as no surprise because it’s likely true on any reality television show, but the people behind “Say Yes To The Dress” definitely like to stir up some drama for the cameras. Courtney Wright, who appeared on one of the spin-offs of the show, said that the bride “had to write out descriptions of who she was bringing, what their personalities were like, if they got along with everyone else, what upsets them, what they would disagree with and things like that”. She also said that during her interviews, they would dig deeper if they sensed any drama on the horizon. No surprises there!

Any bride who is actually featured on the show has to send in an application in order to be chosen, so it’s a misconception that anyone who walks in the doors of Kleinfeld could end up being one of the brides you see choosing her dress. But, even regular people can be seen in the background, because if you go shopping there on a day when filming is taking place, you’ll have to consent to having your likeness appear in an episode of the show. For anyone who really doesn’t want to though, there is a possibility to avoid it by notifying your consultant.

Pnina Tornai has basically been the best selling gown designer at Kleinfeld since they started filming the show back in 2007, and there might just be a reason for that. Not only do her dresses tend to be the most over-the-top and intricate, but the designer herself always manages to make an appearance at the most opportune moment. Unfortunately, she and her work might be a little too present. One bride who shopped there separate from the show even said that she “had one request: No Pnina Tornai”. And yet the first dress she was presented with by her consultant was by the designer. Worse yet, it was $3000 over her budget!

We all know by now that a lot of work goes into creating a half hour of TV, but you still might be surprised the actual figure; brides and their entourages are often there for eight hours. That’s a full work day! In the end, each bride is only on screen for about ten-12 minutes, so that’s a lot of time to be filming! When you consider the fact that your cell phone has been taken away, it could end up feeling more like an episode of “Survivor” than a fun shopping trip.

You know how sometimes you watch an episode of “Say Yes To The Dress” that feels totally anticlimactic? Where the bride doesn’t actually pick anything and the narrator states that she never came back to the shop? That’s not what we’re here for! It’s right there in the title… we want to see people trying on dresses, and then saying “yes” to them. But it turns out that the show really does put almost every bride that they tape onto the final show, even in situations where their weddings end up being cancelled. Yikes!

If you’re a serious SYTTD devotee, you’ve probably noticed a weird practice that takes place when the brides try each dress on. When they walk out into the showroom, they always stand facing the mirror and talk about what they think of the dress rather than actually showing it to their friends and family, who are behind them. That’s because for filming, the cameraperson wants to be able to get the best shot of the full dress as well as the bride’s reaction. She only turns around once the camera set up has been moved to focus on her entourage.