Las Vegas-based ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ pilot in the works

By Lauren Ruvo

Friday, July 20, 2012 | 2 a.m.

Producers of the popular cable TV reality series “Say Yes to the Dress” want to see how giving the bridal show a Las Vegas backdrop will play with viewers.

They’re working on a pilot episode that would focus on brides trying to find the perfect wedding dress in Las Vegas.

“People know that Vegas brides are second to none. There’s a much different caliber of bride in Las Vegas than there is anywhere else in the world,” said Judy Snider, owner of Celebrations, a Las Vegas bridal and fashion store, where the pilot will be taped later this month.

The original “Say Yes to the Dress” began airing stories about customers and the staff of Kleinfeld Bridal in New York. The show continues to run and has produced several spinoffs, including “Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta.”

Erika Engstrom, a professor of communications studies at UNLV, said such shows were popular because they fulfilled viewers’ idealized versions of what weddings and love are supposed to look like.

“It gives women kind of an escape from everyday life for one day so they can be a princess, because everyday life is kind of drudgery,” Engstrom said.

Engstrom is author of a book, “The Bride Factory: Mass Media Portrayals of Women and Weddings,” published earlier this year. In it, she talks about how the media and bridal shows focus on all things wedding — from the dress to the venue to the jewelry and makeup.

Bridal shows, though, including “Say Yes to the Dress,” aren’t all fun. The majority of the time, these shows portray women who are able to cry their way into magically being able to afford the dress, venue or cake that they want.

The bridal shows also largely fail to show the importance of both bride and groom planning a wedding together. In fact, according to Engstrom, the only wedding TV show that ever showed the couple working together to plan their nuptials, “A Wedding Story,” is now off the air.

Nevertheless, Snider believes shows like “Say Yes to the Dress,” have shed a positive light on the industry that wasn’t there just a few short years ago.

She says it’s not uncommon for brides and their friends to quote directly from the show when they feel like they have found “the dress.”

Repeating lines from the show isn’t the only similarity from “Say Yes to the Dress” that Snider sees in her shop.

“Brides want to please the people they’re with, but above anything else, they want to please themselves, so it’s a constant balancing act,” Snider said.

Plans call for the Las Vegas pilot show to air in November on TLC, Snider said. TLC officials then will decide whether to pursue a Las Vegas-based series.