Here Comes the Gown

It's the most important dress you'll ever buy. You'll wear it on the happiest day of your life. The pictures will last forever.

Those are just a few of the reminders a bride-to-be gets while shopping for her wedding gown. And, those are just a few of the reasons a day at a bridal boutique can provide more drama than a week of daytime television. To be sure, we spent a recent Saturday at Couture Bride during a Vera Wang trunk show.

There was frustration, elation and much deliberation. Here's how it went.

One of the first appointments of the day belongs to Julz Werftemberger. The 41-year-old drove from St. George to find a dress for her destination wedding in Maui this April. The clock is ticking and no one is more aware of it than Werftemberger's fiance, 51-year-old Joe Kolar. On a couch just outside her dressing room, he's been watching Couture Bride co-owner Dawn Heaney dispute Werftemberger's claim that she looks "fat" in the dress she's just tried on.

"I've been to about five places and it's really uncomfortable. I'm always the only guy. But, I'm getting used to it," Kolar says with his hands laced behind his head.

Werftemberger realizes bringing her fiance betrays tradition, but right now her only concern is the price tag of the dress. The dress she insists would look better if there were 20 pounds less of her. She wants to spend under $1,000. This Augusta Jones dress is regularly $2,860, but it's 60 percent off, making it a little more than $1,000.

Heaney finds her co-owner Annette Cirillo-Bergen, taps her shoulder and points her to the backroom. The two emerge after a couple minutes to punch up a calculator. The verdict? They'll surrender the dress for $800 -- $2,060 less than its original price.

Unfortunately, Werftemberger wants to visit another store before committing. She and Kolar leave the boutique a little closer to a dress and a little closer to their deadline.

As that bride walks out, a bride who isn't beaming walks in. She's stopped by to pick up a gown and six bridesmaids dresses that are now cruel reminders of her canceled nuptials.

"It's so sad, but it's part of the business," says Cirillo-Bergen. Right now Couture Bride has seven unclaimed gowns in the back of the boutique. Owners can only assume they're casualties of breakups, but the clients are unreachable.

This particular bride-not-to-be brought her mother for support. They left without the word "wedding" ever mentioned.

With the exception of a bride who's come in for her final fitting, the boutique is now empty of clients. Heaney and Cirillo-Bergen, their bookkeeper and the boutique's seamstress gather at the reception desk to enjoy what Cirillo-Bergen calls "the calm before the storm," as the afternoon is booked solid.

They begin chatting about everything from Botox to "Bridalplasty" when out walks a vision that puts the room at a standstill. The bride who came in for her fitting stands before her parents in a romantic ivory Mikaella gown. All that's missing is a bouquet. The ladies break into a chorus of coos and the client blushes.

It's the kind of moment that never gets old. Not even for a group of women who've seen it hundreds of times.

That was the calm. Now comes the storm.

A group of four women pile out of a black BMW in the parking lot outside. All of them hold warm cups of Starbucks coffee. The bride, 26-year-old Erica Vanlee, is making her third visit to Couture Bride. This time she's bringing 10 friends -- and 10 opinions -- with her. (The others show up shortly after Vanlee, who is engaged to Las Vegas Wranglers President Billy Johnson.)

Heaney greets the group and asks them to leave their coffee cups on a table while they browse the dresses. She begins hauling gowns back to the dressing room. Just before the fashion show is to begin, the rest of the entourage arrives.

Somewhere in the arrangement of seats, pulling of dresses and greetings between friends, a cup of coffee gets loose and splashes to the floor, inches away from a rack of dream dresses. Luckily, none collects a mocha embellishment.

After a collective "phew!" and a quick mop-up, Vanlee is ready to give her audience a show. She saunters through the dressing room curtains in a lovely Elizabeth Fillmore gown and her friends all but throw roses at her feet. The gushing is at maximum capacity.

Vanlee brought 10 friends, but Liz Loy, 27, has brought along two 11-year-olds, one being her future stepdaughter. Loy's wedding isn't until '12, but she couldn't resist a Vera Wang trunk show. As a result, Cirillo-Bergen helps her into almost every gown that bears the iconic bridal designer's name.

It comes down to two -- one a classic halter, the other a modern trumpet style. To aid her decision, Loy wants to capture an image of herself in both dresses, but the boutique forbids photos. The lighting never does the gown justice and can taint its integrity.

The second Cirillo-Bergen is out of sight, Loy motions for her fiance's daughter to get to clicking. The tween powers up a digital camera that isn't helping their covert operation; its memory card is full. Loy sees the coast is still clear and whispers to get the iPhone. Click. The classic halter is captured.

But, Heaney's onto them. She alerts Cirillo-Bergen to the photos and her partner questions the client. Loy and the young girls deny any such thing and the subject is dropped.

Several minutes later, Loy has changed back into the modern trumpet style gown and Cirillo-Bergen starts returning the rejected dresses to the floor.

Again, Loy motions for a picture. Click. Again, a dress is captured.

Luckily, Vanlee relies purely on her memory. Right about now her memory and her 10 friends are telling her to go back to the first dress. She's changed close to a dozen times and thus far nothing can compete.

The curtains spread one last time and Vanlee comes out wearing dress one and the kind of smile "Say Yes to the Dress" viewers have come to recognize as a guaranteed sell.

A round of applause breaks out. There are 20 thumbs up, 10 hugs and one glowing bride.

"Clothes talk to me," says Vanlee. "I can just feel it."

But, not enough to say "I do" at the cash register. She wants to come back. This time her mom will watch the show.

Meanwhile, a bride has strolled in to ask Cirillo-Bergen a familiar question: "How much is that dress in the window?" Soon enough, she's trying on the Vera Wang strapless fit and flare gown and making arrangements to come back and purchase it. She came alone and never tried on a wedding gown before today.

"You just never know what's going to happen," says Heaney. "We're surprised every day."