I don't understand the drama in Say Yes to the Dress

-
One of the shows I frequently watch on YouTube is Say Yes to the Dress, an American reality TV show that follows brides and their entourages during their appointments in a bridal shop called Kleinfeld Bridal. Mommy insists that I enjoy watching it because I didn't get to experience shopping for my own wedding dress (more on that later) and I'm living vicariously through the featured brides on the show. However, I think that I keep coming back for more episodes because— 
  • I am fascinated by how much the brides featured in the show are willing to pay splurge for a dress that they will wear only once. Obviously, irrational consumer behaviour is on display here. Not every brides has the budget for a USD 16,000 gown, of course. However, many of them tended to mention the upper ceiling of their budgets without considering the cost of alterations and accessories... and the extras can add up enough to break a wallet. And quite a few of them tried on gowns they couldn't afford. Needless to say, a lot of tears have been shed and hearts broken by these immaculate dresses.
  • I like to see how influential the entourage is to the bride. It's understandable that the parents have a voice when it comes to bridal gown shopping... if they are paying for the gown. And the show does feature a lot of hands-on parents who, in all intents and purposes, approve of the dress before the bride says yes to it. One of the budget-less brides (read: there's no price limit) said that she only needed to shed a tear to convince her father to buy a super expensive gown that didn't even suit her body type. This shows that the bride can also influence the "bank". But aside from the person paying for the dress, I get the impression that the members of the entourage are there to make snarky remarks that can possibly derail the bride's choice process. Again, this has led to tears as the bride received comments about how her dream dress isn't suited for her; or as a member of the entourage try to upstage the bride.
  • I find the women featured in the show to be brave. They talk about their body image issues and personal lives as they try on and present the gowns. And then they repeatedly get constructive and/or not-so-constructive comments from the members of their entourage. Sometimes, the critiques become too much for the brides that they start tearing up. They also talk about their fiancés and their wedding venues when the sales consultants profile them onscreen at the beginning of their appointment (I'm sure that the bride's backgrounds have been checked prior to their appointments). I kind of understand the venue question because the consultant needs to select dresses appropriate for the setting. But why do they want to know the bride and the groom's love story?!? 
  • This I don't understand: Why do most of the brides and their entourage cry when they have found the dress? 
I never experienced buying my wedding dress; the first time I set foot in a bridal shop looking for a wedding dress was when I joined Tita Babie during her search for her wedding anniversary gown. I did visit the Francis Libiran shop in Greenbelt 5 but that was when I was looking for a dress to wear to Kuya Eldie and Richelle's wedding in 2017 (but ended up with a customised Charina Sarte dress). I also have been to the Vittorio Barba shop in Glorietta to buy a formal dress for Ronchie and Digi's wedding in 2009. These designers are known for making bridal gowns but I was, then, a secondary sponsor (2017) and an emcee (2009).

When it was my turn to get married, there was no wedding dress drama (but then it's a civil ceremony). I wore a Jaspal knee-length lace shift dress with long slit-sleeves and embroidered floral details on the pockets and the cuffs. Actually, it's not even a new dress. I wore it during Orville and Lorie's wedding in 2016 and to business casual work functions. Suffice it to say that it's one of my go-to dresses that are always packed in my suitcase whenever I travel for work (just add a blazer and it's conference-appropriate, as long as I was only part of the audience). The price didn't break the bank either. If I'm not mistaken, I got it for less than USD 100 at Adora (in Greenbelt 5). 


For our church wedding, once we get around to organising it, I just might get my very own wedding gown shopping experience. Until then, I won't understand the fuss and the drama often highlighted in Say Yes to the Dress.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

Skyflakes

-
One of the more famous Philippine exports is Skyflakes , a wheat-based, salty cracker. It is one of my emergency food items: I typically have some stocked at home and in my handbag in case I become hungry (like in traffic jams). When there's no electricity and it's impractical to cook rice (because the leftover would spoil), I'd open a pack of Skyflakes and generously coat each cracker with Cheez Whiz... if I had a bottle of it within reach. Anyway, each time I spent more than two weeks outside the Philippines, I'd be elated to see boxes of Skyflakes inside Asian stores (particularly when in I was Australia and in the USA). Back then, I took it as a sign of homesickness. When I moved to California, I didn't miss Skyflakes because Mommy made sure that there's a steady supply in the house. Skyflakes is embedded in Filipino gastronomy as a snack, a panawid-gutom , that anyone who reacts positively upon seeing Skyflakes outside the Philippines must have spe
Read more

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

-
I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
Read more

Surat Mangyan

-
Image
In high school, part of the Filipino curriculum was learning about one of the country's ancient native scripts called Baybayin . I learned back then that this script was eventually abandoned because the Spanish, and eventually the Americans, encouraged the use of the Latin script for written communications. But that's in the lowlands; the rules were different up in the mountains. In the lush mountains of Mindoro, groups of indigenous people called Mangyans  live largely in isolation away from the Christianised Filipinos. This isolation has led to the continuous development of the Mangyans' old script, Surat Mangyan . As I walked inside the Ayala Museum , I saw this bamboo tube (I'm not sure if it's an instrument) with Mangyan script written all over it. I suppose that this was equivalent to a book or a song. But I haven't figured out what's written yet, despite the translation guide provided. What I can do, however, is write my name in Ma
Read more