The surprise of a lifetime! When Heather Smith stumbled upon Kleinfeld Bridal during a recent trip to New York City, she had no idea that her boyfriend, Jonathan Fryer, was about to propose.
The couple passed the upscale bridal boutique in Manhattan, and somehow, Jonathan convinced Heather to go inside. What happened next would become one of the most memorable events in the couple’s lives.
Not only did Jonathan, 23, pre-plan the trip; He also arranged an epic proposal with Heather. The elaborate surprise was then caught on-camera. Heather and Jonathan’s romantic engagement story went on to be featured on the season 14 finale of TLC’s hit show, Say Yes to the Dress. The Knot caught up with Heather, 24, after the finale of Say Yes to the Dress on Friday, June 24, to discuss her upcoming wedding plans and more.
The bride and groom-to-be live in the small town of Cherry Creek in Western New York – an hour south of Buffalo. They met in Richmond, Virginia – where they lived before moving last year. “We first met a little over three and a half years ago at a retail store I worked at in a local mall,” Heather shares, “and we’ve been inseparable ever since!”
Many brides-to-be dream of working with Randy Fenoli. Over the years, he’s become the face of Kleinfeld Bridal and has earned celebrity status with his Say Yes to the Dress success. So, when Heather was matched with Shay – the newest consultant at the boutique – she could have been disappointed, but he gave her the all-star treatment.
“Randy is amazing,” Heather gushes, “but Shay did a really great job, and he was super helpful, friendly, and very enjoyable to work with. That being said, we definitely would have enjoyed meeting Randy and certainly wouldn’t have been opposed to hearing his opinions,” she admits.
It turns out Randy did attempt to help his new coworker pull the perfect dress for Heather, but Shay was quick to shoot him down, as viewers saw on the Say Yes to the Dress finale. However, Heather was thoroughly impressed with her Kleinfeld experience.
“It really lived up to [my] expectations and beyond,” she tells The Knot. “I love [Say Yes to the Dress], and I can honestly say that the real life experience did not disappoint. I might even say it’s better than I expected it would be. It’s definitely our intention to return to Kleinfeld’s to hopefully make a final choice on a dress.”
“The biggest problem with choosing [a wedding dress] is that there are so many viable options to choose from,” Heather acknowledges. “Although, I’ve got to say that fitting another trip to New York City into our schedule is much easier said than done, but it’s a priority for us at this point.”
Although the surprise trip to the bridal boutique threw Heather completely off-guard, she had an idea as to what type of wedding dresses she would like to try on. She sent consultant Shay on a mission to find a fit-n-flare, mermaid style dress with “not too much sparkle.” Once in the boutique, she was inspired – but it took some convincing from Jonathan.
“It certainly wasn’t even on my radar, because I had no idea he was planning for us to even go there in the first place!” Heather explains to The Knot. “So when we got there, he planned it to seem like we happened to stumble upon Kleinfeld’s by chance, and he convinced me to take a peek inside.”
When they entered the boutique, Jonathan tried to persuade Heather to talk to the receptionist. He thought that maybe the staff would squeeze her in for an appointment – but his girlfriend wasn’t so sure. “I knew that to get an appointment there, I would have had to schedule one weeks in advance,” Heather tells us, “so I was pretty reluctant to say the least.”
“[Jonathan] eventually convinced me to let him try to talk to the receptionists about getting us in,” she recalls, “and while I was completely oblivious to his master plan, he ‘miraculously’ managed to get them to see if they could work me into their busy day.”
Many women prefer to keep their wedding dress a surprise, but Heather was more than happy to have Jonathan there for support. “I actually preferred to try the dresses on with him there so I could gauge how he felt about different styles of dresses,” she tells The Knot, “especially because we weren’t even engaged yet. Next time won’t be that way, however,” she adds with a smile.
Now that they’re officially engaged thanks to Kleinfeld’s and Say Yes to the Dress, Heather and Jonathan are in planning mode. They have booked a venue in Virginia and will tie the knot next fall. “It’s always been my dream to have a wedding with fall foliage, so we were able to get a date that works perfectly with that on a beautiful farm,” Heather shares. “We have a color scheme and have ‘pinned’ a bunch of stuff on Pinterest for decorations, but there’s a whole lot of planning to do, so it’s a good thing we’ve got time!
