My last appointment was the BEST!!!!

Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well. Today was my last day at Kleinfelds. It was bittersweet. I am excited to go home and have a month to spend with my friends and family but I am also very sad to leave NYC and my family that I have at Kleinfelds. It was a amazing experience and I will never forget it. On my last day, I worked with Allison for the morning and Judy for the evening. Our last bride was the best appointment I could ever have asked for. She was a nice young girl from Australia who was visiting NYC for a couple of weeks. Shad gotten engaged about three months ago and she was so happy. It was really fun getting to know her and I soon realized she was nineteen years old and studying accounting in school. She and I became great friends during the appointment! She was trying on all of the "cupcake" dresses like she likes to say. We had on $24,000.00 dollar dresses that were stunning!!! Her mother was so friendly and the appointment was going great!! She found one she loved which was a large ballgown with roses and glitter and lace all over. It was beautiful and $10,000.00 dollar which was still in her mother's budget. She was going to get married in 2013 so she had a lot of time to shop around but she decided to say YES! It was such a joy finishing my time at Kleinfelds with such a wonderful bride and mother! I gave them my email so we can keep in touch and hopefully I can see some pictures!!!:)
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for reading my blog! I really appreciate it and I hope you have enjoyed it! Don't forget to watch the new season of "Say Yes to the Dress" it starts up in October!!!
Happy and Final Endings from NYC
Samantha

Sunday Funday!

Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well! Today was a busy day! We had about 75 appointments! I worked with Camille. She is the one you see on television all the time! She has dark black hair that is long and straight, she is older and wears heavy makeup. Poor Camille was suffering from allergies the whole day so her eyes were running like crazy. We had four brides total for the day! We started out with a bride who was very sweet. She was looking for a dress but had different styles she wanted to try on. She was "playing" and not purchasing a dress today. Camille and I had found many beautiful dresses but she still was not ready to make a decision so she left without a dress. The next bride we had was also very sweet but brought seven friends! It was a very large group and we had many different opinions being said. The bride fell in love with a Maggie Sotero but she needed her mother to come to make a decision. So again no dress. The third bride we had came with her mother and father and were very nice individuals. She fell in love with a Lazaro dress that was satin on top and tulle on the bottom! It was absolutely gorgeous. She said yes to the dress and everyone was so happy until I took her into the room and started getting the dress information written down, her mother said, "Now are you sure?" That is the worst thing to hear! After the bride makes a decision the mother should never interfere and talk her out of it. The mother asked me to leave the room so they could talk. Well we know what happened, the mother talked the bride out of the dress and they walked away with nothing either! The last bride we had was a mess! She wanted to try on every different style of dress, she had a very small chest and wanted a large chest, she had no budget and was so nervous she had to pee all the time. I felt so bad for Camille because this bride had no clue what she wanted. Even Randy had to intervene in the appointment and help find a dress. After about a hour of searching the bride finally found the dress but needed to sleep on it before she decided.
It was a long day and I felt terrible for Camille!
I hope all is well, 1 more day at Kleinfelds:(!!!
Happy Endings from NYC
Samantha

Who am I working with?

Hi everyone,
I hope all is well. I hope we are all surviving with this hot weather!!! Today was much better at Kleinfelds, the air conditioner was working again but we were still in tank tops and flip flops! It was a busy Saturday! It was a Augusta Jones trunk show, and all the dresses were 15% off. We had 86 brides for a Saturday which is not a lot but we had a ton of unexpected comeback brides! I started off working with Judith. She is older and has been working at Kleinfelds for about 30 years. When she and I walked up to the check in desk, she had to have me remind her my name again, even though we were name tags and I have worked with numerous times. Our brides name was Amanda and as we walked up to her, Judith started yelling out "Samantha, Samantha, Samantha?" I was like "Judith I am Samantha, our bride is Amanda." Judith just laughed and introduced herself to our bride, Amanda. I almost died of embarrassment. After that, our bride tried on a couple of dresses and found the one! It was a beautiful Augusta Jones will all lace and beading bodice. It was beautiful. After that bride, I was shuffled to go work with Antonella. Antonella and I worked with a bride who had two mothers. They were a extremely wonderful family and were so loving towards the bride. Again, the bride found the dress she wanted and said yes. Her dress was also Augusta Jones, with a tulle bottom with a lace bodice. After that I worked with Paula's comeback bride and took care of that appointment all by myself! Even though the comeback was at Kleinfelds for two hours with me, she ended up purchasing the dress, veil, belt and flower to go in her hair! I was really excited about that appointment, because I did it all by myself and it was quite a large purchase! She bought a beautiful Augusta Jones lace beaded straight dress with a flower belt and lace veil. It was beautiful! Paula her original consultant was very pleased and I was happy as well. After that bride, I worked with Audrey's comeback. She and I went over a specific dress she had picked out and tried it on. Audrey was not in today so I made sure the bride was 100% happy and felt pleased with the dress. Today was such a busy day and I shuffled all over the place with all different consultants. I really enjoy that though because it makes the day really fun and it goes by fast!
I hope all is well,
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

100 degrees outside, 100 degrees in Kleinfelds

Hi everyone,
I hope all is well and everyone is doing alright in this heat. Well today was a rough day. It is Friday and out of all the days in the world, today was the day that the Kleinfeld's air conditioner broke. Lovely right? We were down to wearing tank tops, we rolled up our pants, our flip flops, we looked terrible. We were all sweating and so were our brides. I felt so bad, our brides were just drenched while trying to put on wedding dresses that were so heavy. I worked with Renae and it was a good day. We started out with a bride from St. Paul MN!!!! It was really fun, her wedding is going to be at Pinstripes. She was extremely sweet and she went to UW River Falls. I got to do my very first appointment by myself with a comeback bride! It was so much fun! I got to get her the dress, get her dressed and get her measurements. I was so happy, but I was hot.
I really don't have much else to tell you about today because it was so hot that it was really miserable to be working! I hope all is well and I hope our air conditioner is back on tomorrow, I guess there were blackouts in Brooklyn and Queens!!!
Happy but Hot Endings From NYC
Samantha

Working with Sara!

Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well! Today was a fantastic day! I got to work with Sara, who many of you probably remember her. She is always on Say Yes to the Dress and has dark curly brown hair! It is so fun working with her because she lets you work with the bride and pick dresses as well. First, we had a bride who was with her mother and her sister and two friends. She was very sweet and reminded me of Audrey Hepburn look. She wanted something with straps and was very classic and elegant looking, no beading, no ruffles, no lace. So Sara and I grabbed a few and then I had thought of a Augusta Jones dress so I grabbed that. She loved everything we pulled her but she absolutely loved my dress I found for her! She said yes to that dress and I was so excited!!! After that bride, we had another bride who was just looking around for ideas and dresses. We knew immediately she was not going to buy! Which is hard because Kleinfelds is not the place to just look around and play, there are 2,000 dresses here! After that we had lunch together and then our third bride came! She was very sweet. She was a plus size bride and very self conscious. It felt really good to make her feel beautiful and I tried everything I could to see her smile. It was really funny, because her sister is getting married in September, her brother in December and she was getting married in June next year! WOW!!
It is really fun working with Sara, she is a absolute doll and lets you take over the appointment which is a great learning experience for me! She also lets you pick dresses and say your opinion.
I hope all is well
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

What a busy weekend!!

Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well! This weekend was so busy at Kleinfelds!!! Sunday was crazy! I first started working with Rosaria which is very fun! She is a older lady who is from Italy and speaks a little English. It is hard to work with her but it is also very fun at the same time because she teaches me Italian when we are not busy! I was working with her through two brides but then Lauren, one of my managers asked me to work with Jenny the new consultant. I started working with her and went over the contract with this bride while Jenny worked with her new bride. I went over everything with the bride and as we were walking to the register she started to freak out and was crying. I was in shock and I had no clue what to do or say. The mother said that the bride was having second thoughts and that I should let them have a moment to talk. So I stepped away but after about ten minutes of waiting I decided to go get Lauren and have her come over to the bride to figure things out. Once Lauren and the bride went back into a room, they discussed everything and the bride calmed down but said she needed to go have a drink and then make a decision. So Lauren and I did just that and she left Kleinfeld's. I believe the main problem of this situation was that the bride was from Australia and her wedding was in November. In bridal, this is very late for a bride to be shopping for a dress. The dresses take anywhere from four to a year to be made so coming in eight to twelve months before your wedding is a great idea! Do not come any later then that! It becomes too late and then there is rush charges and alteration worries. It usually takes six to eight weeks for full alterations to be done so with this bride we were really pushing the time crunch. The dress she was ordering was going to come in the end of October and she was going to have three weeks to do alterations before the wedding. The reason why the bride was getting so upset was because she did not think she was going to get the dress today and was overwhelmed. After that bride left, I was assigned to work with Rosaria again, but after working with her for ten minutes, Lauren came in and asked me to go greet a bride in the salon and help her get in a dress, she was a comeback bride, I had worked with her before with Paula, Paula still had the original appointment bride though to work with as well. I remembered this bride because she was a absolute doll! Her appointment a couple weeks ago went fantastic! It was her first time trying on dresses and she was shaking she was so excited. She found one she absolutely loved but then told us she had to bring her mother back with her. This happens all the time so Paula and I were completely fine with it, until the bride told us the situation. The bride had fallen in love with a very nice Jewish man and has been dating him for about five years. She is Asian and her mother was not very happy about the relationship. The mother would not meet the man for three years, she was that upset. He even converted to Catholic to please the mother of the bride but she still was unhappy. The bride told us comments her mother had made to her and I almost started to cry. I felt terrible for the bride because she was so sweet, but it was very sad. If I had the money to buy the bride her dress I would have that day! She brought her mother back and she liked the dress, but told the bride she needed to wait more and see what happens. The bride was very sad and left without any dress. But Paula and I have her email and cell phone, so I think Paula is going to keep checking in on her! After working with that bride, Lauren told me to continue to work with Paula. I had met the new bride and was working with her when Lauren pulled me aside and told me to go get Elaine's comeback bride and make the sale. I worked with this bride and she was very nice! She had brought her daughter along which was really fun and she bought a Pnina! After making that sale with that bride, I then was told to go work with Paula, so I went back but then Rosaria called me and asked me to help her make the contract with her bride. Now this bride was a hoot! Lauren my manager came in and was measuring the bride and I thought she had a very nice curvy body but she did not like it! She then told me that she is making all of her bridesmaids lose weight with her! Lauren and I were talking out of the room and were like if anyone were to ask me to be in their wedding but I had to lose weight before I would say "no thank you!" The bride is seriously putting them in a boot camp and purposely buying them too tight dresses, so they have to lose weight! I wanted to say "are you crazy?" So while Lauren was measuring her, her size came to a bridal 12, which is in normal clothing a 8-10. Well the bride was not happy with this and made Lauren order her a size 10, because she was insist on losing weight! It was hilarious, I had to step out because of the craziness that was going on!
I worked with every consultant today! It was insane but really fun at the same time!
Today was my day off, and I went to the Brooklyn Bridge which was very pretty! I also stopped at the famous "Dylan's Candy Bar." Ralph Laurens daughter owns the store! It was really cool I attached pictures!!
I hope all is well
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

Excatly 2 weeks from today I will be HOME!

Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well! It was a busy Friday! I love when it is busy! Today I worked with Audrey, she is the one with dark brown hair that is shoulder length, she is on television a lot. It was a really fun day because I had never worked with her and I was excited to learn her techniques and skills. The first bride we had was very nice, she had brought her mother, best friend and grandmother. I noticed right away though, she did not have a ring on her friend, which was a little strange. The bride did not say a word! She was so quiet and barely said anything when asked, "do you like the dress?" "do you feel beautiful?" "What are your thoughts?" She would respond by shaking her head yes or no. I felt so bad for Audrey because she was trying her hardest to get the bride to open up but nothing! When the bride was in her fourth dress, she quietly said "yes I like this." Audrey and I were very excited because now we knew what she wanted and liked, but apparently "yes I like this" was "yes, this is my dress." She bought the dress and we were done with that appointment. It was so sad though how she barely spoke a word and her friend and mother did all the talking for her. The second appointment we had was a comeback from a couple days ago. Audrey gave me that appointment while she took her next one. I welcomed the bride and walked into the room and started getting her into the dress. She was a very nice woman! She was one of the executive producers at ABC Good morning America! She actually had a bridesmaid from Eagan MN!!!!! I did not know the woman from Eagan, I guess she graduated in 2000 and is now living in Washington DC. I thought that was cool, small world! After this bride we finished with a family of five! This family has gotten all of their daughters dresses at Kleinfelds! They fly from Texas to NYC to get their dresses. The family was so sweet and adorable. One of the daughters had had a baby girl who was 14 months and she was walking all around and smiling. She was so cute! She walked over to me and waved to me and then hugged me! It was so cute, I almost cried! Overall it was a great day, 3 sales! Anne Barge is here for her trunk show this weekend so I know it will be busy!
I have attached some pictures for you of her dresses! They are very affordable and elegant!
I hope all is well
Happy Endings From NYC

91 year old grandma!

Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well. Tuesday was a busy day with 68 appointments! I worked with Renae which is always a blast. Renae is a older woman who is true New York personality. She tells it how it is and does not hold back anything. It took a while for me to get used to but it was good for me to experience the personality of a true new yorker. We had worked with brides when our fourth bride was up I was excited. We walked to greet her and here she is with the whole clan. She was a older bride, probably around 35 years old ( the average bride that walks through Kleinfelds doors is 25/26 years old). She had her mother, father, grandmother and best friend with us. We went into Renae's room to discuss what the bride wanted and she had no clue. She was all over the board with styles, lace, beading, etc. She had no clue! Once Renae narrowed it down, the bride told us her price point was around $6,000-$8,000. This was a great budget and fun to see the dresses in the price range. First, Renae takes all over her brides around the showroom to look at dresses, (Renae is the only consultant who does this) the brides can then pick around there and try on those dresses. After that, Renae will take the bride and one individual with them to the stockroom to look at dresses (Renae is the only consultant who does this). This is a very overwhelming experience for many brides, Kleinfelds stores about 1700 dresses in that tiny room! This bride picked everything! Once we were back in Renae's room, the bride tried dresses on. It was really fun because all of her dresses were so different and unique. Once we narrowed it down to a couple, we then would take the bride and her clan to the showroom to see the dress in a large space. Now, what was so cute and funny about this bride was her 91 year old grandmother. The grandmother was around 5 feet, had red curled hair, a matching dress suit on that was the color of peach and a white chain purse (or pocketbook, is what it is called in New York). She was so cute! No one could believe she was 91 years old! The most adorable part about it was she had a boyfriend named Carol who was 68 years old. She was a cougar at the age of 91! She also told me that she was a CEO of a lingerie company back in the day! I said "Way to go Grandma." It was a blast working with this family but also the grandma was a hoot. She continued to stand close by me the whole appointment and hold my lower back, which I thought was kinda weird but she just kept saying, "baby you are beautiful." I smiled but I felt bad because the bride was standing right there and grandma was not paying attention! Grandma told me her whole life story she even continued to talk to me and told me ALL about her relationship with Carol :)
Tuesday was a blast! I will never forget that little lady! She was too cute!
Monday, on my day off, I went to the Bronx Zoo, which is the largest zoo in the United States, and I visited the coolest beauty supply store! It was in my tour book, and was recommended to go, and of course I bought a bunch of stuff that I have no idea how I am going to fit it in my suitcase! Wednesday was my day off so I went to Carlos Bakery and the Brighton Beach! It was really fun and I am feeling the burn!
I hope all is well,
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

My chocolate chip cookie

My red velvet cupcake

Sample Sale!!!!!

Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone is doing well. It was a long weekend! One of the stock girls got a terrible cold and all of the interns including myself could not stay closer to a Kleenex box!! I felt so bad during the day because here you are touching the dresses, and blowing your nose, it was so funny! All of the interns looked bad by the end of the day! That's what happens when you work with all women and in a small area! Sunday was a huge sale day! They had racks of dresses starting at $800-$10,000 on sale which were bagged and ready to go out the door that day. If you are a bride who comes for the sale, they are expecting to get their dress and walk out the door with it that day. The store opened at 10 am and there were people standing outside at 9am. It was a little crazy! On top of the sale price, brides also got 15% off the dress. The appointments were only one hour long which is a very short amount of time. I worked with Jacqueline and we had a great day for the sale. We had a bride come in with her mom from Canada and she was my age. It was really fun and I developed a relationship with her! It was really funny though because at the beginning of the appointment she feel in love with a Pnina dress that was on sale for $2300 and was a deep v-neck in the front with a puffy bottom with feathers all over. It was stunning. Then as she walked around the showroom, making sure she looked at herself in each of the five mirrors, we asked her the question, "Is this your dress?" She said "no." Which was a shock to Jacqueline and I because we thought she loved it!! So after that she looked around on the sale racks and found a completely opposite dress that was straight and had tiny beading. She fell in love with this dress and walked around the showroom again. I asked her the question and she said yes to me. Then she said no to Jacqueline two seconds later. I was shocked, I felt bad that she could not make her mind but she had been there since three o'clock and the store was closing at five. She finally looked at her mom and said yes!
It was so much fun and a blast to work with her!!! Maybe I will get invited to the wedding in Canada! LOL
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

Whirlwind of a Week:)

Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone is doing well!! I am very sorry I have not blogged in a while, but I have had such a busy week! First, my family and Nate came to visit over the fourth of July which was a blast! We did a bunch of touring stuff, saw the fireworks over the Hudson River and all slept in my bedroom on air mattresses! It was such a wonderful time and I really miss them:( After they left on Tuesday, my new friend Shannon, who is a intern at Kleinfelds came over after work and we hung out. We woke up super early (5:30am) on Wednesday and headed to the ABC studios to wait in line for the Regis and Kelly show. We were number 6 and 7 on the standby list and at 8:30 #'s 1-5 got to get tickets. It was so sad! But they told us to show up on Thursday and we could get tickets! So Shannon and I shopped all day and laid out in the sun! That evening we had our intern dinner with the Kleinfelds owners and Joan, our boss! It was so much fun! They took us to La Mela a restaurant in Little Italy for a 7 course meal!! It was so amazing and the food was fantastic! The food just kept coming and coming to our tables! On Thursday, Shannon and I woke up early again (6:00am) and waited in line for the show. Shannon and I finally got tickets and were so excited!! We sat in the front row and the show will be featured tomorrow, so make sure to watch for me!!
At Kleinfelds, Tuesday and Thursday were both slow days. Because of the holiday, the brides were not coming! I got to work with Allison and Barbara for the days which was really fun! We had a bride buy a $9,000.00 Pnina dress which was stunning and she was so happy. It was a really fun appointment because she had been to Kleinfeld's four times and this was her fifth appointment. She was deciding between two dresses and they both were so completely different. We also had a bride fly in from Columbia and she was staying for four days and needed to have the dress altered and fixed by the time she flew out. Somehow Barbara and I did it and found her a beautiful Pnina dress that was on sale for $5,999.00 It was gorgeous, it was a corset top with lace beading with a beautiful full tule dress with the same lace. She took the dress with her today and has two alteration appointments all set up to have it done by Tuesday! It was crazy!
I hope all is well,
I have attached pictures of my busy week!
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

The Alexander McQueen Fashion Exhibit!!

Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well.
Today was my day off and I did some really fun stuff! I first ventured to the MET, to see the Alexander McQueen Fashion Exhibit. It was really cool. They had it set up with his beginning work and then to his latest work before he died. They had fashion show movies playing, animated models, the clothing and accessories displayed! It was really interesting and I am excited to see that the fashion starts showing up on the streets. I loved his clothing and would wear it all the time if I could buy it! Next I went to the Gardens of the Cloisters. It was really beautiful and the gardens were kept up so nicely. Then the rest of the day I did some homework. I have attached some pictures!!:)
Happy Endings from NYC
Samantha

Kelly Ripa at Kleinfelds!!

Hi Everyone,
Today was a great day!! Yesterday on my day off I ventured to the NYC public library where they had a 100 years celebration exhibit which was really interesting. Then I went to SOHO and searched for the Kardashin Store and found DASH.Then I visited Bryant Park and looked around! After that I went to Trader Joe's and got some great fresh fruit and then did homework the rest of the day! Today, I worked with Sara, who many of you see on tv, she is puerto rican and has dark brown curly hair! She is very sweet! She and I were working with our second bride when we were walking through the stock room and all of a sudden there is Kelly Ripa. She was doing a episode on her television show where she goes to different companies and plays the role of a position there and today she was a consultant. Then TLC crew was here because they used Kelly Ripa as a consultant and did a bride episode. It was really cool and I couldnt stop looking at Kelly. She is absolutely gorgeous and so thin! She had on the cutest black dress with heels and her hair was done in a little updo. It was so cool to see her in person! Sara and I had two brides purchase out of our four today! One of the brides was a Pnina bride and she picked out a beautiful tule bottom with a beaded top. The dress was $13,000.00 but whatever the bride wanted the father bought! It was very interesting to watch this dynamic and how the girl got whatever she asked for. The second bride I worked with was my age! It was really fun to work with her because we talked about similar things and acted very similar. It was fun for me becuase I treated it like myself and my girlfriend were playing and trying on dresses, but then I realized that this is the real deal for this girl and I had to get focused. It was a really fun day with Kelly Ripa and my brides!
I hope all is well
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

A Dream Come True For A Bride

Hi Everyone,
It was a fantastic day at Kleinfelds! We had 90 appointments and for a Sunday that is great! I worked with Lisa which was a blast today! Our morning started off well, with 2 brides and 1 say yes to the dress! But then everything went from good to great after. We had a bride come in from Dubai and whose wedding was September 4th. This is a huge problem, since it usually takes 8 to 10 months for dresses to be made. So after getting to know the bride and her story I was really attached and hoping we could find a dress. Her story was really cute:
She and her fiancee are from Toronto but never met growing up. They met once in Toronto through work but they were each seeing other people at the time so nothing ever happened. He went to England to work and She stayed in Toronto, she had no clue that he went off to England for work. A couple years later, she decided to transfer to England for work, she met a really nice guy and it was getting serious, but then one night out at a bar in England, someone taps her on the shoulder and it is her fiancee!!! They both had no clue they were in England and they both were in different relationships! After a couple months of talking again, they decided to start dating and now they moved to Dubai together! And the wedding is in Spain for all of the family members to be able to join! A wedding about 400 people!!!
So, her story is super cute but the day gets much better, with the stress of going through sale racks and her style was very hard. She was really into fashion and wanted a vintage dress with lace and glitter. Her budget was a good $5,000.00. Lisa, the consultant I was working with decided to go talk to Pnina, since it was her trunk show this weekend and she was in from Israel, (She has a house in Israel and NYC, she does 2 weeks in NYC and 3 weeks in Israel and cycles through) to see what she could do. Pnina agreed to do a rush fitting for the bride which would cost the bride an additional $1600.00. The bride fell in love with the dress and said yes!! Pnina came in and was taking measurements when the bride announced she is a editor for a magazine, and not only that but her wedding is going to be in the magazine with Pnina's gown. Pnina was thrilled. She has always been wanting to work with Dubai but could never find the connection, well, the bride and her hooked up and decided that there was a man who owned a bridal store in Dubai who would be  thrilled to work with Pnina. Pnina cried, the bride cried, everyone was crying! It was amazing!! After that Pnina threw in a $2500.00 veil, NO CHARGE  for the bride. It was amazing and so cool to watch this all happen. Everyone was so happy!!
It was a fantastic day at Kleinfelds and so fun!!
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

You are BEAUTIFUL Baby!!

Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone is doing well. Today was a very moving day! I was working with Keasha and as usual it is a blast! She and I always have a great time!! We laugh, we joke and we make the bride's day incredible! Our last appointment of the day was a very special one! It was a plus size bride with her mother. This was her first time shopping and she wanted to make it her last. Her mother was visiting from Mexico and she really wanted to buy a dress today with her mother. The bride did not have a huge list of specifications other then the fact she wanted to feel beautiful! She was a sweetheart, she told us how she met her man, on Craig's List, and how he asked her to marry him, on Facebook, and how excited she was! I was so happy for her and I knew Keasha could wow the mother and daughter. We tried on many dresses and the bride was beautiful in all of them! She told Keasha and I that she was on a restrictive diet and wanted to lose about fifty or more pounds before her wedding next year. I was so impressed and proud of her. Keasha was the most up beat individual in the whole store. Every dress the bride would try on, Keasha was so enthusiastic and told the bride very positive comments. Even the mother was very positive. It was a blast!!! She had expressed that she didn't feel beautiful in any of the dresses she had tried on before she came to Kleinfelds, but Keasha reminded her she is beautiful. The bride did find a dress that she fell in love with, but it was alittle over her budget. So Keasha is meeting with her tomorrow morning before the store even opens for the bride to look over the selection again and make sure that is the one!
It was a fantastic appointment and very touching! I almost starting crying when the bride said she felt beautiful. Keasha and I were dancing in the room when the bride said YES!
I hope all is well,
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

Mini Vacation with Nate and No FLOWERS

Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone is doing fantastic! It was a short weekend for me at Kleinfelds, because of father's day. We were closed on Sunday, which gave me the day off to spend with Nate. Nate arrived Saturday night and was in NYC until Wednesday evening! It was a ton of fun! We did a bunch of tourists things to do including, Grand Central Terminal, Times Square, Museum of Natural History, World Trade Center, Museum of Life, Staten Island Ferry, Chinatown and Little Italy. I attached at the bottom of this blog some pictures from our adventures and also a video clip of this awesome dance group we saw in Times Square. I have attached the YOUTUBE link I created for it, it is incredible!!! Times Square, For only having three days to complete this all, we sure hit a lot of hot spots! It was a blast!!!
As for Kleinfelds, I did have a interesting day on Tuesday. There was a huge problem with a bride and a dress. A bride had come in about eight months ago and purchased a bridal dress by Henry Roth. Keasha had told me it was a fantastic sale and everyone was extremely happy. The dress was simple, with satin fabric and small details including a couple of flowers on the bodice part. Well, Keasha got a call last week from the Alterations down stairs that the bride was here for her first fitting, she was CRYING!!! I guess when the dress came in, about two weeks ago, and the bride put it on last week, it was completely different then the one she tried on in the store. This is weird and has never happened. I guess what happened was the sample dress did not have the flowers all over the bodice, like 5 flowers total, but the dress that came in had about 20 flowers on the bodice. The bride was furious and so were the owners of Kleinfelds. Asking Keasha how she could not remember if there were this many flowers or not, etc. It was a mess. Keasha expressed to me she was upset because the dress design was completely different and it was not her fault at all, and that they were going to take her sale away. This Tuesday we found out that the sample dress that the bride had tried on many months ago was not being made anymore and that Henry Roth never sent Kleinfelds the new sample dress. It was terrible! Everyone looked bad in this situation even the bride because people were telling her she was crazy and that indeed there were flowers on the bodice. It was a mess, I felt so bad just standing there as the bride is crying, as Keasha is crying with the bride and screaming, and the owners are on the phone with Roth. It was a rough situation, after everything though, the bride had to find a new dress and rush fit it for her in less than a month for her wedding. In this situation, then Kleinfelds will have her look at sample sale dresses that can be taken off the rack and bought that day and alterations applied as soon as possible.
It was a rough day for that bride and I felt terrible for everyone,
Hopefully Thursday is much better!!!
Hope all is well
Happy Endings From NYC:)
Samantha

Mother and Daughter DRAMA!!!

Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well. Today started out pretty rough and it seemed to not get any better. I first started working with Randy doing a couple PR things here and there which was totally fine, but then Keasha needed help. So I went in there and started working with her. She was working with a bride who had a budget of $3,000.00 and was about my height but weighed 175, so the main goal was to make her feel beautiful. After numerous dresses, Keasha finally gave up and made the bride come into the stock room with us to go through dresses. Her mother, sister and the bride all ended up picking a ton of dresses that were not in their price range. Keasha repeated the prices to them and they eventually put the dresses away. But the bride found  a dress she fell in love with that was $5,600.00 Keasha said "no, you should not try that on," but the mother insisted for some reason. So myself, Keasha and the bride put the beautiful dress on and of course the daughter cried and loved it. The mother sat there and in quotes said, "Even after you lose 30 pounds, it will still not look good on you at all, I don't like it." That moment, my heart just sank and I am started crying. Here is a plus size bride, trying to feel beautiful on her one special day and I know the dress was completely out of her price range, but her mother could have said something else. After that bomb exploded, the mother and daughter got into a yelling fight and the daughter ended up in tears. Now, when this happens all the interns and consultants are suppose to keep their mouths shut and leave the room, but that's not what happened in Keasha's room. After about five minutes of fighting Keasha stepped in and started yelling to the mother saying, "This is your daughter, your daughter, the least you could do is tell her she is beautiful and that she looks great in anything. I do not give a fart how much the dress is, it is the fact that your daughter feels beautiful. " The room was silent and no one said a word. I was shocked and just kept my head down. Eventually the mother and daughter left and Keasha and I were left in the room with our mouths wide open and sadness in our eyes. It was a terrible situation, the whole time the mother kept commenting on the brides weight and how much she had to lose and never told her once how beautiful she was. And she was a gorgeous bride!
Keasha and I were emotionally drained from that, and just hung out in her room debriefing.
It was a very rough day and it didn't get any better after that. I just felt terrible after that and feel so bad for the daughter.
After work, my roomies and I made some yummy dinner and salad. It was really fun to come home to some great laughs and pictures!!!
I hope all is well
Nate is coming tomorrow!!! I haven't seen him in 4 weeks!!! Ya!
Well I want to say Happy Endings from NYC, but today was not a happy day for that bride:(
Samantha

I was Randy's Assistant for the DAY

Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well. Today was a very special day! I was approached by Joan, my boss and was asked to work with Randy. I was extremely excited and honored at the same time! I had such a blast working with Randy! He is so sweet and caring at the same time! I took care of all of his emails, grabbed him lunch and then did some PR work for him! I had such a fantastic day and it was a blast. He is really looked up to with many of the brides that come to Kleinfelds. I was so impressed.
It was a absolute wonderful experience today and I can not believe I had the privilege to do this!!
I hope all is well
Happy Endings from NYC
Samantha

The Bride Factory

Hi everyone,
I hope all is well! Today was a very slow day, like usual on Tuesdays. I worked with Allison again! I was just left out of all the interns so she grabbed me and we worked together. First, we had a bride come in from Canada who was shopping by herself. She had a picture of a dress she wanted so it was very easy. She tried on a couple more to make sure that one was the one, but no matter what she loved that one she picked out. She decided she needed to call her mother before she bought it so she walked out without the dress. The next bride we had was a close friend of Allison's. It was really fun and wow what a unique family. The mother in law showed up in white cotton pants (that were see through), a sequin gold tank top, jean jacket, and bleach blonde hair with some heavy makeup. Her ring tone was Usher. It was so funny and you could tell the bride was very embarrassed, but the mother in law had brought a limo because she doesn't walk anywhere in NYC. The bride wanted a Cinderella dress with a ton of beading and glitter. Allison and I found a beautiful one that flattered her so well and was so nice. Everyone in the family agreed on it, especially mother in law. Next, we had a bride come in with her best friend who also had a very specific dress she wanted. This was her first time shopping though and it was more for a play appointment. She tried on many dresses, but the one is originally picked out was beautiful on her! She did not end up buying one, but I believe she may come back. The last bride we had was from Turkey. She was already married but was going to be having a celebration dinner in Turkey this September and she needed a dress. Because her wedding was so soon, we could only offer her the sample sale dresses, which means she would walk out with that dress that day. She searched the 200 sample dresses we have and found one she really liked. She also had to think about it, but she said she would be in on Thursday!
I also had the pleasure to get to know Sara more today! She is the one on the TV alot! She has dark curly hair and is very nice! It is fun to have chats in the dressing rooms sometimes when it is slow! We call Kleinfelds the "Bride Factory" because when you really think about the industry we are in, all we do is seriously dress these brides in gowns and send them on their way. It is a funny concept when you really think about the bridal industry.  I am excited tomorrow because it is my day off and it is suppose to be in the 80s! Hopefully I can get most of my homework done to enjoy the weather!
I hope all is well
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

Its Freezing!!

Hi Everyone,
I hope all is well. Today I woke up and it was super cloudy and cold here, so I pretty much stayed inside all day and did some homework. I am taking three online courses over the time I am in NYC which is great because it keeps me busy on days off. I worked out today and did alot of homework for my classes. All my roommates have now arrived and are all settled in. They are all super nice and Thursday we are going out to eat together after work! I am really excited! I am trying to get a lot of my homework done this week because Nate is coming on Saturday and I am sooo excited!!
I didn't really do anything exciting today and it is so cold that I didn't bring pants so I am staying inside!!
I hope all is well
Happy Endings from NYC
Samantha

Honey, Baby, and Sweet Cheeks!

Hi Everyone,
Today was a fantastic day! I worked with Keasha, who most of you know, because she is one of the main consultants on the television show. I absolutely loved working with her. When you watch her on TV, she is always so sweet, well in person she is 10x sweeter. The way she handles a bride and the 2,000 dresses we have at Kleinfelds, blows me away! She actually has a degree in interior design, but Kleinfelds found her and she has been there for about ten years. She is a doll. She treated me so well and always acknowledged me when brides were around and when they were gone. She does the most funny things ever! During the day today, which by the way was crazy because of our sale! After two brides, it was close to one o'clock and I guess Keasha was hungry so she found chocolate covered stall almonds and dumped a bunch in her coat and munched on them during the day. It was hilarious but only myself and Keasha knew what was crunching during appointments. Keasha let me do many of the contracts and final sales with the brides once they had said yes to the dress. It was a blast! One time today I couldn't find Keasha, so I went to knock on the door and found her laying on the ground sleeping with the lights off, she told me to come and lay with her and take a rest, since we had such a long day! I thought, well this is fun! It was a complete joy to work with Keasha and I hope I get to work with her all the time. She just finished filming a episode that is going to be on Friday, so make sure you watch it, it should be funny!! AND-the title of this blog, is all the names Keasha called me during the day today! There were more, but I couldnt fit them!
I had a great day at Kleinfelds!!
I hope all is well,
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

Friday Funday!

Hi Everyone,
Today was a very fun day. I worked with Debbie, who most of you see on the show. She only had three brides for the day which was fun and relaxing at the same time. The first bride that came in was a plus size bride with a small budget but hopes of finding a "show-stopping" dress. Debbie and I searched and finally Debbie put her in a Pnina Dress that looked gorgeous on her! Once we put it on her, the bride started bailing and Debbie started crying. I have never seen a consultant cry before, but of course, then I started crying. It was a really fun appointment! The next bride we had was with her mom and was unsure of what she wanted. We went back and forth between dresses and she still could not make a decision. She left without purchasing a dress. The last bride we had was also with her mother and this was her first time looking for dresses. This is a large clue that she probably will not buy a dress today. She looked around and found one she really liked but needed to think about it. Overall, it was a very simple day at Kleinfelds, but it was fun to relax a little.
Tomorrow and Sunday we have a our big blowout sale! This is where you see the woman standing outside our doors waiting to get it. It should be really crazy, but I am excited to see what it is like!
I hope all is well,
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

DC Cupcakes comes to Kleinfelds!!!

Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone is well! We have had some beauitful hot weather but with that comes with some severe weather! It is really fun to be in the city with the craazy weather and watch the storm.
Today was a really fun day! The girls from Washington DC Cupcakes, the show that is on TLC, flew in to do some filming for their show and our show. One of the girls is getting married and she came to Kleinfelds to pick out her dress. It was really fun!! You are going to need to watch the show, because I am on it!!! The cupcake girls brought cupcakes for all of us and there is a shot of them handing out the cupcakes to the Kleinfeld staff, including me! The crew were filming from 12-6:30 today but she said yes to her dress!!! I had a red velvet cupcake! It was really yummy!!
Today was a ok day in the bridal department for me. My consultant and I did not make any sales:( First we had a bride come in from Ohio, but picked out a dress that was $3,000 more then her budget. She left without the dress. The next bride we had was with her family. She was telling me all about her signifcant other and how the ceremony was going to be. She wanted to be very BLINGY but was a plus size bride and we did not have much her in size. Her friends and her were very fun and enjoyable to be with, but they had some attitude. She did not end up finding a perfect dress either. We ended with a bride who had a ton of problems downstairs in the alterations and needed to find a new dress for the wedding in July 2011. It was very stressful, becuase the mother was mad and crying and the daughter was mad and crying. I found out that the problem was, that the bride ordered the dress in a satin and when it arrived it was the wrong satin, so it was the companies fault who designed the dress. Kleinfelds did a even exchange and let her pick out any dress. She was so happy and relieved!! It was exciting to see a terrible situation end with a pleasant bride!
After work today I went out to grab gelato with one of my roommates! It is really fun to finally have roommates to do stuff with after work!
I hope all is well,
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

Lazy Day Wednesday!

Hi Everyone,
Today was my day off, and I literary laid around all day. It was so hot outside that I spent two hours laying out in the park and then I was so hot I came inside. I worked on some homework for my summer classes, worked out twice and met my third roommate. Very uneventful day, but it was nice to have a relaxing and lazy day!
Hope all is well
Happy Endings from NYC
Samantha

What people say to you?!?!

Hi Everyone,
Today was a long day at Kleinfelds. The TLC crew team was there which meant that the environment was completely different then normal. When TLC is here, everyone has to be very cautious of what they say and do just because the camera crew can always pick up on voices. It takes a whole day to film one bride, which is hard for everyone. One thing I did not know before, was that the TLC camera crew actually chooses which consultant will be working with the bride, I always thought that the bride picked her consultant. The bride and her family where from Jordan and were very sweet. I never caught her name but she had really long black straight hair, a very dark (orangish) tan, and heavy makeup. She had a budget of $10,000. Now this episode could feature in the next two weeks or next year, TLC never tells us. Look for her because I was helping a bride in the background during the filming so I could easily be on!! I was wearing a long black dress with black sweater and my hair was straight with a yellow daisy.
My consultant, Allison and I had a rough day. It started out well and we made one sale but then as the day went on it got worse. We had a bride come in with her friend that were fifteen minutes late. She then continued to name drop designers that she loved and that she wanted to try on. Well that is completely fine and helpful for us, but her budget was $5,000 and she was dropping designers names in the $20,000 range. Every dress we brought in, she wouldn't even try on! She would just look at it in the bag and say "no." Then after that, as I was putting on a dress for her, she looked down at me and said, "so what high school do you go to?" I kinda lost it there with her and had no patience. She had told Allison the consultant that she was "just not getting it." I am not sure she will come back. And the last bride we ended with was a little more unique. She said she wanted something different and "out there" so Allison and I pulled as many different dresses we could find. She was a very nice bride and worked at Vanity Fair which was really cool until she turned to me and said "You know there are about 20 interns working here this summer and all they do is walk around and look pretty, it's so cute." I lost my patience then and Allison let me rip off my name tag that says "Samantha Carlin- Intern," immediately without the bride seeing it, to make me not feel bad.
It is just so strange to hear some of the things people say. On a good note, we made one sale and I got to watch designer Henry Roth do a dance by Lady Gaga. Super Fun.
Nanny-I am really excited to read those books:)
Hope all is well
Happy Endings From NYC
Samantha

Day off in Chinatown!

Hi Everyone,
Today was my day off and it started with me sleeping in until 10 am. That is late for me! I decided I wanted to do some more exploring and get to know the subways a little better so I took off for Chinatown and Times Square. I already at Times Square and it was so cool. I attached pictures of it as well for you to see. I had already been here before but it was still really cool to get out and walk around and see what has been updated. I love looking at all of the big screen TVs and the flashing lights for signs! After Times Square I went to Chinatown and Little Italy. I absolutely love it there. I really enjoy visiting these two places because it makes you feel like you are part of the culture once you step onto the streets in Chinatown and Little Italy. The city feeling completely goes away when you are walking through Chinatown, you feel like you are in China will all of the signs in Chinese, the fish markets outside and the fruit stands. Of course, I found some items that I wanted to buy in Chinatown! I just love the scarves and jewelry that Chinatown offers individuals to buy. My favorite is the $1 table along the streets of Chinatown. There they have jewelry, hair accessories, and belts for $1 each! Every time I visit Chinatown I end up spending money at this little table. There is only one table selling these items along the street, but I seem to wind up there every time. I bought some really cute hair pieces at the table. I also bargained with a woman and got some really pretty scarves. I also love the scarves they sell along the streets. I have a list written down of every color I have and that I have purchased already. I think I have every color of the rainbow, but I just can not pass them by!!! After Chinatown, I made my way into Little Italy, where I love to walk the main street and people watch. The bakeries are really fun to go into and just look at the beautiful cakes! I also tried my very first bubble tea in Chinatown. It is like a normal cold tea drink but it has little beads of stuff at the bottom (see picture). I don't think I will have it again! The beads are made of some sort of starch or jelly.  I felt kind sick after!
After my sightseeing this morning, I headed back to Columbia and had a chance to sit outside and read a book. I just finished "Two Kisses for Maddie." Such a wonderful book, but I was crying through most of it!! The Bachelorette is on tonight and this will be the night whether I determine if I am boycotting it or not! I am just not liking this season at all and I feel terrible for Ashley. Oh well!
I had a great relaxing day off and I am excited to get back to Kleinfeld's tomorrow!!
I hope all is well
Happy Endings from NYC
Samantha