I’m qnot a bride, but I am a wedding reporter.
I got to tour Kleinfeld.
Samantha Grindell/Insider
I spend my days interviewing couples about their weddings, analyzing engagement ring trends, and looking at wedding gowns.
I also write about “Say Yes to the Dress,” and I recently connected with Marissa Rubinetti, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Kleinfeld where the show takes place, about a line of lab-grown engagement rings the store made in collaboration with Zales.
After our talk, Rubinetti invited me to come to Kleinfeld for a tour, and as a longtime “Say Yes to the Dress” fan, I couldn’t say no.
I arrived at Kleinfeld on a blustery Friday morning, crossing paths with excited brides-to-be as I entered.
Kleinfeld is in New York City.
Crystal Cox/Insider
Although I’ve lived in New York for years, I somehow never stumbled across Kleinfeld in person.
It stood out on the street, both because of the dresses displayed in the window and because of the brides I saw stopping to snap selfies with the iconic Kleinfeld logo.
From the outside, it felt like a cross between a store and a tourist destination, and my interest was piqued as I opened the double doors to the famed boutique.
A glossy reception area greeted me when I walked inside Kleinfeld for the first time.
The reception area was busy.
Crystal Cox/Insider
The front desk would be familiar to any “Say Yes to the Dress” fan, as it’s often featured on the show.
The area was bustling when I arrived. Phones rang repeatedly, multiple groups checked in as I watched, and consultants fluttered by on their way to appointments.
The lobby was full of brides and their loved ones waiting to find their dream dresses.
Many people were in the lobby.
Samantha Grindell/Insider
The area was packed, and I wondered if the lobby was full throughout the day.
But Rubinetti explained to me that the 11 a.m. appointments were about to start when I arrived, so all of the brides that would soon be on the floor were congregating in the lobby as they waited for their consultants.
There were five brides, and it seemed like each of them had at least two people with them to help find their gown. The room buzzed with their energy as I waited for my tour to start.
The main floor was spacious and every bit as exciting as it seemed on TV.
The main floor at Kleinfeld.
Crystal Cox/Insider
The room was oriented around pedestals and mirrors set up in the center of the space, where brides stood to look at themselves in gowns.
“Every consultant is paired up with a pedestal,” Rubinetti told me as we walked the floor, explaining that each consultant worked with all of their brides for that day at the same pedestal.
Circular, blue couches encased the pedestals and mirrors, providing brides’ entourages with places to sit and separating it from the aisle spaces where brides and consultants walked.
I felt like I had stepped into an episode of “Say Yes to the Dress” as I took in the space, watching as brides were escorted to dressing rooms, their guests settled into the couches, and consultants grabbed gown after gown from the racks lining the exterior of the room.
My eyes were immediately drawn to the dresses scattered throughout the space.
There are dresses all over the store.
Crystal Cox/Insider
There were gowns all over the store, hanging on racks built into the walls and draping mannequins.
Rubinetti shared that the dresses that sit on the floor rotate, particularly if there’s a trunk show highlighting one designer taking place at the store.
There’s also an entire area of the store dedicated to the designer Pnina Tornai’s gowns.
Pnina Tornai has a boutique within Kleinfeld.
Crystal Cox/Insider
“The most important designer that we have here at Kleinfeld is Pnina, and she actually has her own boutique,” Rubinetti said. Pnina Tornai has an exclusive relationship with Kleinfeld, so brides can’t buy her gowns anywhere else.
The Pnina Tornai area of Kleinfeld has a separate room full of the designer’s couture dresses, as well as two long racks built into cubbies in the wall surrounding the room with gowns from her other lines.
“When Pnina is working in here with our special brides, she does custom work for the bride or something like that,” Rubinetti said of the room. “They’ll sit at that table and they have a very intimate, private meeting.”
Ally McGown, Tornai’s boutique manager at Kleinfeld, gave Insider a look at some of the Pnina Tornai gowns available for brides to try on at the store.
Alongside the dresses, there’s a jewelry display on Kleinfeld’s main floor that sits on built-in shelves.
There is a jewelry display on the main floor.
Crystal Cox/Insider
The area featured belts, tiaras, earrings, necklaces, and any other accessory a bride may need on her wedding day. Kleinfeld keeps its high-end accessories on the main floor, according to Rubinetti.
Rubinetti said adding accessories to a look can help a bride make a final decision on a gown.
“When the bride starts to find what she’s looking for, maybe there’s a dress that’s a high contender, they really want to make sure that she accessorizes properly,” Rubinetti said. “It’s good to have the accessories up here so the consultants can say, ‘Oh, do you want to add a belt? Do you want to try headpieces?'”
After we checked out the floor, my tour guide gave me a peek into the veil room.
Kleinfeld has a veil room.
Crystal Cox/Insider
I was delighted when I walked into the room off the main floor that housed racks of veils.
I knew Kleinfeld had a variety of veils available from watching “Say Yes to the Dress,” but a thrill went through me as I saw them lined up together.
A veil is often the final thing someone needs to see themselves as a bride in a wedding dress, and it was easy to imagine consultants carefully selecting the one that would complete a bride’s look as I gazed at the racks.
The dressing rooms sit just past the floor.
The dressing rooms are quiet.
Crystal Cox/Insider
The dressing rooms sit to the left of the main floor behind a long wall. Two openings at each end of the hallway make it easy for clients and consultants to walk in and out.
I immediately noticed how much quieter it was as we walked down the hallway, which surprised me because it wasn’t enclosed. The space felt calmer than the main floor, both because of the volume and because fewer people walked through it.
In addition to the standard fitting rooms, Kleinfeld also has a few VIP rooms for clients where an entire appointment can be conducted, as Rubinetti told Insider.
“If we have a bride that has more than three guests, we’ll put them in a VIP room so that there’s a little bit more space,” she said. “They could get crowded on the floor.”