Finding “The One”: The Wedding Dress Journey on Love Is Blind
In Netflix’s groundbreaking show Love Is Blind, couples face the extraordinary challenge of planning a wedding in just four weeks after getting engaged without ever seeing each other. Perhaps one of the most emotional moments in this whirlwind journey is the bride’s search for the perfect wedding dress. This experience, traditionally shared with mothers and friends, becomes a televised event as Netflix organizes collective shopping trips for all the brides-to-be. As Lauren Speed-Hamilton from season 1 touchingly expressed, “Trying on wedding dresses is something my mom and I have always talked about. She’s always wanted to help me pick my dress for the big day, so we’re finally at that time.” This sentiment captures the beautiful reality that even in this unconventional love experiment, traditional milestones still hold profound meaning for participants.
The dress selection process varies by season, with each filmed in a different city and consequently featuring different local bridal boutiques. Season 1 brides, for instance, found their gowns at Atlanta’s CTO Bridal, while season 4 contestants visited Seattle’s A&Bé Bridal Shop. Given the accelerated timeline, most available dresses come from off-the-rack sample collections. An A&Bé TikTok post revealed the extraordinary logistics involved: “All this happened in about a week, which is a really quick time for alterations.” This compressed schedule adds another layer of pressure to an already emotionally charged decision. The racks feature designs from various bridal designers, and while some special orders can be accommodated, the lightning-fast production schedule means most brides must find “the one” among the available samples, adding another challenge to their unusual path to marriage.
Interestingly, while the show presents a curated dress-shopping experience, contestants aren’t strictly limited to selecting gowns featured on camera. Madison Maidenberg from season 9 revealed that she actually chose a completely different dress than what viewers saw her select on screen. “I actually picked a different dress that you do not see me pick onscreen,” Madison shared via Instagram, noting that she had participated in “a private fitting off camera the day before.” Sadly, Madison never got to wear her chosen A-line gown with an open back, as her fiancé Joe Ferrucci called off their wedding shortly after his tuxedo fitting. Other brides have more serendipitous experiences, like season 4’s Bliss Poureetezadi-Goytowski, who wasn’t initially impressed with the available options until a last-minute delivery brought in the Wtoo off-the-shoulder dress she’d been dreaming of. “This dress was not supposed to make it to @aandbe_bridalshop in time,” Bliss shared on Instagram after her season aired. “In the middle of filming, a driver delivered a package. It was this dress that somehow arrived two days before the estimated delayed delivery date. It was the second dress I tried on and I just knew it was it.”
The financial aspects of the wedding dress process reveal another dimension of the show’s production. Similar to the engagement rings, Netflix and production company Kinetic Content generally cover the cost of most bridal gowns, alleviating one significant wedding expense for participants. However, this coverage isn’t unlimited, as season 2 contestant Deepti Vempati explained on her podcast “Out of the Pods”: “Everything is actually paid for. When it came to our wedding dresses, Natalie [Lee] and I had to pay a little bit out of pocket. For me, my wedding outfit was very expensive, and they couldn’t cover the cost.” Deepti, who opted for a traditional Indian lehenga from a different shop, noted that she contributed partially to its cost. Her castmate Natalie Lee faced a similar situation with her white strapless ballgown, which exceeded the show’s budget allocation. “My dress was a little bit more expensive than what they provided to us,” Natalie revealed, confirming that she covered the difference herself. This financial arrangement demonstrates how the production balances creating a spectacular television experience while managing practical budget constraints.
One particularly intriguing aspect of the Love Is Blind wedding dress process concerns what happens when weddings don’t proceed—a not uncommon outcome on the emotionally volatile show. According to Natalie Lee, brides who end up not walking down the aisle are not required to return their gowns to Netflix. In a 2023 episode of the podcast she co-hosts with Deepti, Natalie shared that after filming concluded, she emailed production about next steps and was informed she could keep both her engagement ring and wedding dress. Deepti retained her items as well, though she ultimately chose to dramatically dispose of her engagement ring by throwing it off a boat into Lake Michigan—a symbolic gesture of closure after her relationship didn’t work out. This policy of allowing participants to keep these significant items, regardless of wedding outcome, acknowledges the real emotional investment made by each contestant, even when relationships don’t culminate in marriage.
The wedding dress shopping experience on Love Is Blind encapsulates the show’s unique blend of authentic emotion and carefully crafted television production. While the compressed timeline and group shopping format might seem manufactured, the genuine emotions displayed by brides—their excitement, anxiety, and hope—reflect the very real journey they’ve embarked upon. From Lauren Speed-Hamilton’s touching moment sharing dress shopping with her mother to Bliss Poureetezadi-Goytowski’s “meant-to-be” dress arriving just in time, these experiences highlight that despite the unusual circumstances, Love Is Blind participants seek the same meaningful wedding traditions as any other bride. Whether they ultimately say “I do” or not, the wedding dress becomes a powerful symbol of their remarkable love experiment—a tangible reminder of a journey where they dared to believe that love, indeed, could be blind.
