Indeed, Ashley Pierce said yes to the dress Tuesday.
Pierce, a Kinston native, chairwoman of Lenoir County Young Professionals and a new Kinston Housing Authority commissioner, applied and won a spot on the TLC bridal show “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta.”
The entire process only spanned about a month.
“We applied in late December to be on the show, and they emailed us the first week of January to find out if we could set up a phone interview,” Pierce said. “They called me on the phone about a week later, and interviewed us and asked when we could come film. We selected a date and came down (Monday) night to film (Tuesday) — about six hours.”
A branch manager with Self Help Credit Union, Pierce is engaged to Kenny Chadwick, who works with Wells Fargo Dealer Services in Winterville. They plan to be married Oct. 5 at the Queen Street United Methodist Church.
The Atlanta spinoff of the popular “Say Yes to the Dress” franchise takes place in the northern suburb of Sandy Springs, at “the nation’s largest full-service bridal salon,” Bridals by Lori. It’s owned by Lori Allen, who is assisted by fashion director Monte Durham.
Ashley’s grandmother, Vicki, picked out a dress online before they showed up for filming at 9 a.m., and it was generally well-received. The other members of Pierce’s bridal party who accompanied her to Atlanta also chose a number of prospective dresses. After initial individual interviews, she tried on six to see which one worked best.
However, once the process began, Pierce’s grandmother’s choice turned out to not be the right pick.
“One dress her grandmother picked out online, and we thought we’d really like it,” bridesmaid Becky Hines said as they were at the mid-point of filming. “But when she got it on, it just wasn’t the dress for her. … Things just look different online, even when you put in your body type. We’re just waiting to find the one, because we’re leaving with a dress today.”
When Pierce finished trying on the different selections, none of them were quite right, either. She couldn’t choose between the final two. That’s when Allen stepped in.
“I couldn’t really decide between two, and the owner of the shop, Lori, she found a dress that kind of married the two dresses together — the things I liked about both of them,” Pierce said. “She brought it out, and that’s the dress I picked.”
Not wanting to give away too many specifics about the winning selection, Pierce said, “It’s a beautiful dress — ivory — and it has some bling on it: a belt, a beautiful belt.”
Her segment is slated to be included in Season Five of the series, but it’s not known yet when it will run or if it will run.
“They overfilmed, so there’s a chance we may not be selected for the show,” Pierce said. “However, they seemed to really like us.”
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at WolfeReports.
Breakout Box
“Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta”
Can be seen on TLC, Kinston/La Grange Suddenlink Channel 50
For more information, visit tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/say-yes-to-the-dress-atlanta