Say Yes To The Dress- AQHA Style
By: Brittany Bevis
Recently, our friend, AQHA amateur Juliana Blackburn-Baskin, became engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Anish Arora. You may have seen the pair around the rings at shows like the NSBA World or All American Quarter Horse Congress. (Anish is starting off on the right foot by being fully supportive of Juliana’s horse hobby!)
With a wedding date set for September 22nd at Bristol Harbor in Canandaigua, NY, the time had come for Juliana to set out in search of the perfect wedding dress. Luckily, Juliana lives in New York, so it was only natural that she take a trip to Kleinfeld Bridal to seek out the expertise of Randy Fenoli! For those unfamiliar with Kleinfeld, it’s the subject and location of a hit television show on TLC called Say Yes To The Dress.
Everyone knows Randy is the king off all things bridal, helping determine a bride’s ideal silhouette or selecting the perfect finishing touch with a well-placed rhinestone belt or lacy veil. His mission is to make every bride feel her most beautiful.
“I feel that every human being is beautiful, and I think that each one of us needs to realize how beautiful we really are. I struggle with that everyday.”- Randy Fenoli
A fun fact most people might not know about Randy is that before he rose to the upper ranks of bridal royalty, he grew up on a farm in South Illinois with 163 acres and 100 head of cattle. We wonder if he rode horses too…
The process of selecting the perfect wedding dress is very similar to selecting a horse show outfit, as Juliana notes. “Everyone has an idea of what they want; however until you try it on, you never really know if you will love it or hate it,” Juliana says.
“I used to watch Say Yes to the Dress whenever it was on, and I really enjoyed the show. I was amazed at how down to earth Randy was when I met him. He was so funny about getting the perfect photo as well! It was really neat because, while we were there, they were filming, and we were technically behind the scenes. That was exciting to see. It was amazing how Kleinfeld looks in person as compared to how it appears on the show.”
Like every bride, Juliana wanted to select the perfect gown that highlighted her best attributes and disguised the areas she’s more self-conscious of. “Originally, I thought I wanted something that was completely different than what I’ve found. The dresses look very different in person, and on me, compared to how they look in pictures. You never know until you try it on what it will look like. I think I tried on about 15 dresses. Somewhere in that 15, I found the right one.”
The dress Juliana ended up purchasing for her waterfront ceremony wasn’t at Kleinfeld but instead at a small boutique near her home named Stella’s. “I fell in love with it. I remember looking down and, before even seeing it in the mirror, saying I loved it. I hoped my mom, maid of honor, bridesmaid, and friend that were with me would think the same. Then, I saw it in the mirror and that sealed the deal. I knew that was the dress I wanted. The icing on the cake is the fact that the dress is off the runway from Barcelona where I studied abroad, so it was meant to be. My dress has a lot of lace on it and a very detailed top. It’s hard to describe it, but there will be lots of pictures in September! Fun fact, we are very excited that equine photographer, Mallory Beinborn, will be the photographer at the wedding.”
Who knows? With all this horse influence, perhaps, we might get Anish in the saddle someday…
“He loves horses and really encourages me showing. He has come to see me show in both Tulsa for NSBA World Show and in Ohio for the Congress, which was really supportive. He really makes a lot of effort to understand what we do while showing them. He did say he intends to buy me a horse in a few years, so that says it all and was very special!”
Our very best to Juliana and Anish on their upcoming wedding!
For those fans of TLC’s Say Yes To The Dress, the show returns with new episodes in February 2017
