Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta

               During the summer I find there is very little on TV that I want to watch.  At the moment I have the FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon to keep me occupied, but when those are over for the day I frequently find myself hopping between channels to see what might capture my interest.  A lot of times I turn off the TV all together.  It is nice to have the silence.  Other times I really do want to watch something.  Lately when this happens I seek out the show Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta.  I don’t know why I do this.  Weddings are not my thing and I’m not crazed about fashion either.  It doesn’t make sense as to why I watch this show, but I do, and I enjoy it.

                In Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta brides come to the bridal boutique Bridals by Lori in search of their perfect wedding dress.  The brides let the consultants know what they’re looking for and dresses along those lines are picked out to try on.  Once the bride is wearing the dress they show it to the people that came along to the appointment in order to get there opinion.  If the bride feels the dress is the right one she says yes, if not, she tries again or leaves altogether.  It’s a very simple premise.  Or so it would seem.

                While there are tons of horror stories about brides, they are not the monsters in this show.  I don’t think I have seen a single episode where the bride herself was a problem.  It’s always the entourage she brings with her.  It takes forever, sometimes never, for everyone to reach an agreement about a dress.  Some of the people that voice their opinions are really nasty.  I always feel so badly for the brides with these people in their entourage.  What makes it even worse is that a lot of times the nastiest person is the bride’s own mother.  The mothers can be really cruel and the viewer can see on the brides’ faces that all they want to do is crawl under a rock.

                This is where the consultants often come in.  They have a tendency to let the offending person know their behavior is unacceptable.  This is done very politely, but firmly.  The message gets across very well.  From what I have seen every person starts to behave after that.  It is nice to see someone step in and speak up for the bride.  For some reason weddings bring out the worst in people and it is good that there are individuals out there who try to make it a little less stressful.

                The two that are best at putting people in their place are the owner, Lori Allen, and the image consultant, Monte Durham.  They are really good at putting people in line and turning the attention back to what the bride wants.  Even when they’re not correcting people’s behavior I like these two.  Both of them are really funny.  During their interviews they both have great one-liners that are made in good humor.  Mr. Durham also has some antics that are pretty humorous as well.  When a country singer was scheduled to come to the boutique, he changed into a country outfit and put on a country act.  It was pretty funny to see the entire change of character.  But while you could it was clear Mr. Durham was having fun with his act, and driving Ms. Allen crazy, he did not let it get in the way of the appointment.  Very quickly he brought it back to why everyone was there: to find a perfect dress for the bride. 

               Even though fashion is something I don’t pay all that much attention to, I will say I am always curious to see what kind of dresses the consultants come up with. Some of the dresses I dislike so much I wonder how they were ever made in the first place. They must have been liked by someone somewhere, but it certainly wasn’t me. I also like to see if I agree about whether or not the dress is right for the bride. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. No matter what my opinion is, in the end it doesn’t matter. I’m not the one who is going to wear the dress. The bride is, and her happiness is what counts.