- Randy Fenoli told Insider he once walked out of a Kleinfeld Bridal appointment.
- The “Say Yes to the Dress” star said a mother was “mocking” her daughter during the appointment.
- “I was so disgusted,” Fenoli said of the mother’s behavior.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Randy Fenoli has worked with countless brides during his tenure at Kleinfeld Bridal, of “Say Yes to the Dress” fame.
The consultant and designer is a pro at helping brides with every aspect of shopping for a wedding dress, from researching designers to dealing with overbearing entourages.
But despite his experience, he told Insider he once had to walk out of a bridal appointment because he couldn’t stand to watch a mother bully her daughter.
“There was a mother that was absolutely just mocking her daughter and laughing at her and humiliating her,” Fenoli said. “I had to walk out of the appointment. I was so disgusted.”
Fenoli is a consultant and designer at Kleinfeld Bridal.
Astrid Stawiarz / Stringer / Getty Images
The interaction was documented on a 2019 episode of “Say Yes to the Dress.”
The episode starred a bride named Samantha, who was having trouble committing to a wedding gown after going to over 80 bridal stores.
In the episode, Samantha’s mother said she looked ugly in a sheer wedding dress she loved. She also ignored Samantha to talk to the designer Pnina Tornai about her outfit.
When Samantha got upset that her mother didn’t like the dress, her mother said: “You want me to lie?” She then gave fake compliments about the gown while laughing.
Fenoli stepped away from the appointment as Samantha and her mother started arguing about the way the mother mocked the gown.
“You have somebody like myself who has never had the honor to have children and the privilege to be able to raise a child, but you have had that and this is the way you treat them,” Randy told Insider, adding that the way Samantha’s mother treated her was “appalling” to him.
Samantha left the appointment without finding a dress.
Fenoli told Insider he thought one of his roles as a bridal consultant was to advocate for brides and get their family and friends on board with their visions, as some people don’t realize how their words can be affecting the bride.
“I have to defend the bride sometimes. I say, ‘Listen, if you guys don’t get on board, I’m going to kick you overboard,'” he said.
“My goal is always to help the bride choose a dress that they feel the most beautiful in, because when they feel beautiful, they wear that dress like there is no other dress on the planet,” he added.
“They know they look good, and everybody feels it,” Fenoli said. “It’s about the confidence that you have while wearing the dress.”
New episodes of “Say Yes to the Dress” air Saturdays on TLC. You can catch up on last week’s episode on Discovery+.
