Kleinfeld Love Stories

Our friend, who was just starting out as a photographer, asked us if we wanted to do a shoot with her, and we happily obliged. We got dressed up and met her in a country field on a beautiful October day. We were almost to the end of the shoot when my now husband asked if we could get some photos of just me. I then sat in a chair that the photographer had brought as a prop and was fixing my dress when I looked up and saw Aaron down on a knee holding my grandmother’s beautiful solitaire engagement ring. After 4 years of dating, I quickly said “yes” and gave Aaron a big kiss! The photographer was happily snapping away and caught the whole proposal on camera! Now we have amazing pictures to remember such a wonderful day!

We live in North Carolina, but my mother is from New Jersey and spent much of her childhood in New York City. We had always watched Say Yes to the Dress together and thought it would be a fun adventure to travel to Kleinfeld and try on dresses. We made the appointment and drove about 10 hours with my cousin, who was my maid of honor, and our long-time family friend. We were all so pleasantly surprised when we arrived to discover that Diane, who we had watched on the show, was my consultant! I had a few pictures of dresses I was interested in, but Diane knew my dress as soon as she saw me. She took me right over to a beautiful Mark Zunino satin, backless, mermaid gown with three-dimensional and hand-painted flowers on the front. I agreed to try it on, but was convinced it was not for me. As soon as I tried it on, however, I knew it was the one. It not only fit my body type perfectly, but it was just how I wanted to look on my day: elegant but also sexy. As we were walking out, the film crew from Say Yes to the Dress was in a room editing and gave me a thumbs up as I walked by. My family also agreed that I had found the dress. I tried on a few more, just to be sure and to have the complete experience. We bought the Mark Zunino dress that day and returned a couple more times for fittings.

Our wedding was held at The Graylyn Estate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is an old mansion that has been converted to a wedding venue, hotel, and also a conference center. The ceremony was held outside in the White Garden, with the reception inside in the Atlantis Room. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been in love with mermaids, dolphins, and the sea. When I was looking for our venue, I took one step inside the Atlantis Room and knew that was it. It had originally been a swimming pool but had been converted to a reception room. The walls were still covered with vintage green tiles which displayed mermaids, sharks, and fish. It even had port hole windows. My Mark Zunino mermaid gown fit perfectly at The Graylyn Estate!