Oh my God.
This is so pretty.
I would never wear this.
It's so pretty.
You can't walk in that one.
No.
Oh my gosh, I'm so overwhelmed!
In this one, you couldn't sit down.
I am one of those brides that had my entire wedding
planned since I was 11.
And I've always imagined picking my dress out at Kleinfeld's.
Oh, you don't?
This looks like grandma-y to me.
What?
What'd you say?
Oh!
Don't say grandma.
DORI DAWSON: So I brought with me my mom and my mama Dolly,
which is my grandma.
But we're not allowed to call her grandma.
She will yell at me.
Look at this!
Oh my God.
KATHY DAWSON: Oh my god, no.
She's 82 years old today.
Is that amazing?
She looks so fabulous.
So my mom--
You're saying 82 on camera.
Now she's going to be mad.
Oh.
That top is for you for sure.
I like the top.
I'm not--
This looks like a cake.
Oh my.
That looks like a fun appointment.
I don't know about the seams though.
JAMES: Hello, ladies.
- Hi. - Hi.
Are you Dori? DORI DAWSON: I am.
James.
I'll be your consultant.
Great to meet you.
Look at that red hat.
I'm not going to miss out on this one.
Hi.
Hello, beautiful.
And you are?
I'm Dori?
Dori, nice to meet you.
I've wanted to meet you for years.
- So, how are we doing today? - She's good.
I'm a little anxious about finding a dress, but I'm good.
How can I help?
Well--
Well, the wedding is going to be in Southern California.
It's going to be on the beach.
My fiance's name is John Daniels.
He took me to my first dance in high school,
my first homecoming.
We've been best friends ever since.
We didn't date in high school, but we started dating later on.
He makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
And I mean, even when he took me to that first dance,
I knew that there was something special here.
And it was the best connection I've ever had.
So I just knew.
What are we thinking?
Have we thought about our gowns yet?
Yes, so I want it to be beachy,
but I don't want it to be not bridal.
I want to look almost ethereal, like an illusion top,
very flowy.
I think definitely like a little poofed out skirt, not too,
too tight.
Definitely going to be dancing a lot.
And I'm only going to be wearing one
dress other than their-- they brought
their dress they both wore.
This has been handed down generation after generation.
So-- and you want her to wear it.
Well, I would like her to at least consider.
They want me to try it on.
= Have you tried it on? DORI DAWSON: I have not.
Awesome.
It is pretty opposite of what I am describing.
It totally is different.
Which, I'm not against change, but--
What year was this?
1864?
Sorry, Mama Dolly.
Come on, now.
The dress my mom and Mama Dolly wore is huge.
It's a lot of.
Dress it's silk.
It's off-white.
Wait a minute.
Be nice about that dress.
Watch it. DORI DAWSON: It's long sleeve.
It's high neck.
It's pretty heavy.
I imagine myself in a lighter-- a lighter dress.
But it's beautiful.
So--
You better be nice.
Now that they're here.
The man that I married in that dress, I'm married to now.
I married him five years ago again.
You married him twice.
JAMES: There we go. DOROTHY SMITH-RETT: Yes.
A few in between.
The weather changes.
You know.
Things happen.
We got divorced.
No, I don't know.
No.
I was married a few times in between.
A few times?
How many?
Woo hoo!
Honey, you are wild.
I know!
JAMES: So, if Mama Dolly's dress doesn't work,
where do you want to cap that budget at?
Well, we started out at three to five.
JAMES: OK.
So if we stay between that, we're going to be pretty good.
Yeah, we can definitely do that.
KATHY DAWSON: Yeah. - Let's go.
I'm ready.
RANDY: Let's do it.
They understand that I want to see my own.
And that's why we're here.
But I think it's going to be a little bit
of an emotional hit for them if I don't wear the dress.
Awesome.
All righty.
I feel like there's a part of me that wants to have
you put this one on first.
OK.
So we can, like, start with it, get it out of the way.
OK.
And then we can really hone in on what you want to wear.
I'm with him.
Let's do it.
The first wedding dress I'm ever putting on.
I mean, might as well be--
JAMES: It's their wedding gown.
They want me to try it on.
Do I want to try it on?
Not necessarily.
But I will just to appease them.
Oh my god!
Get on up.
It's better than I thought, actually.
I mean, it's not me at all.
Not at all.
But it's better than I thought.
Good. Ready to show him?
Yes.
Let's do it.
They're going to freak out when they see me.
I think that that's the best thing, though.
She's got the dress on.
- No, she doesn't. - She does.
No--
DOROTHY SMITH-RETT: Look at that!
She has the dress on!
Look at, there she goes.
Dori, oh my god!
I told you they were going to--
You were 100% right.
Pop right up on that pedestal for me.
KATHY DAWSON: Oh no!
Oh my god! - Wow
RANDY: OK.
It's a lot better than I thought.
[LAUGHTER]
Thank you.
RANDY: I love the neckline.
Yeah.
They cry, I cry.
I can't-- I can't not.
So, are we done shopping?
This dress is beautiful, and it's amazing to be in it
and show them what I look like in it.
But it's just not me.
So, how long ago was it that you wore this?
DOROTHY SMITH-RETT: 64 years ago.
RANDY: 64 years ago.
KATHY DAWSON: Almost 37 in April.
RANDY: Wow.
JAMES: There we go.
DORI DAWSON: Looking at Dori in that dress brought
back all those memories.
But seeing it on her, I realized that it's
not the dress for her.
Dori, do you want to try on some newer wedding gowns?
Yes, let's do it.
Are you sure?
Are you 100% sure?
- Yes. - Follow me.
DOROTHY SMITH-RETT: Yay.
Oh my God.
I told you they were going to cry.
I knew it.
What do you think about Mama Dolly
getting married five times?
JAMES: I think that that's fantastic.
And then she got married to the same guy twice.
Twice.
That's wild.
Dori tried mom and Mama Dolly's satin dress on,
and it was a great moment.
But I think Dori really knows what she wants.
She wants something A-line, ethereal, and maybe
with an illusion neckline.
Hello.
DORI DAWSON: Hi .
What do you have?
JAMES: We have a whole bunch of gowns.
- I'm so excited. - And we have this.
It's kind of a fuller A-line with a little beading
on the top, very light.
You can say no. - I just--
RANDY: We didn't design these.
I don't know what about it I don't like.
RANDY: That's fine. - I don't really like it.
All lace.
DORI DAWSON: I don't like that. - OK.
DORI DAWSON: It's a little grandma-y to me.
I have this one.
DORI DAWSON: I don't love it, but I would try it on.
You don't have to.
I like the illusion part.
I'm not crazy about the bottom.
As I'm looking at the dresses, I'm a little overwhelmed.
There's a lot of dresses, and none of them
are really sticking out to me.
But I am optimistic.
How do you feel?
I definitely know I like the top
more than I like the bottom. I don't know.
I'm also just hesitant because this is only the second one
I've tried on, I think.
Better.
I like this dress, but I am still
disappointed because there's still something
about the dress I do not like.
I'm kind of an indecisive person,
so I was fearing this would happen.
OK.
But I just don't want to make a decision--
I don't know.
We can't let Dori go out there in a dress
she doesn't even like as much as Mama Dolly's dress.
So on to the next one.
How do you feel?
I think it's beautiful.
I don't know if it's me--
OK.
--100%.
It's a little too, like--
Va va voom.
--here I am. Like--
Yeah.
Do you think it's too showy that we don't want to show them?
Yeah.
Let's try that one.
Awesome.
It doesn't really scream wedding dress to me.
How do you like the plunge?
I think the plunge is OK here.
But still not it.
No.
Do you want to try this last one on?
DORI DAWSON: I don't know.
I'm becoming overwhelmed because now
I've tried on a bunch of dresses,
and I'm just not loving them.
And I'm not sure why.
I can't pinpoint it.
So I'm getting more and more frustrated.
Now I'm, like, questioning everything
because I'm trying to figure out what I actually
like that looks good on me.
When I came in, I thought I knew what I wanted.
But at this point, I'm getting more and more confused.
I'll be right back.
DORI DAWSON: OK.
All right.
It's harder than it seems, I guess.
Starting to panic because I have to get a dress here today
because my mom and Mama Dolly are here from California,
and this is a once in a lifetime experience.
And I want to share that with them.
What I originally wanted, I am no
longer liking when I try it on.
And now I'm saying I want this style and this style,
and I'm being very tough on Randy and James.
I'm feeling bad about it.
Honestly, I really thought this appointment
was going to be like--
1, 2, 3, in and out.
1, 2, 3, and done.
She doesn't make a quick decision on anything.
Boy, that's apparent.
KATHY DAWSON: She's afraid to make the wrong decision,
and that's Dori in general.
She thinks about things.
She researches things.
She makes sure they're right, and then she executes.
Time for a dinner.
Knock, knock, knock.
All right.
We've got a whole bunch of more dresses in ivory.
OK.
What do you think?
DORI DAWSON: I think it's pretty.
What are we missing?
DORI DAWSON: I don't know.
I think maybe I'm just, like, not liking any.
I don't know what's going--
I don't know if I'm just panicking or whatever, but--
JAMES: Keep trying.
RANDY: Definitely don't panic.
I am losing focus on what I want,
and I'm not sure now what I want.
I have so many different styles in front of me,
and I'm just not loving them.
And I'm not sure why.
So, here is our first strapless.
How are you feeling?
I really like this one, actually.
Yeah.
This is a mermaid silhouette.
A cross between a mermaid and a trumpet.
I don't know if I'm crazy about strapless.
But I want to show them this one for sure.
Yeah.
Walking into the store, I thought I
wanted A-line and something ethereal and a little
bit of an illusion.
And now I'm ready to come out in this strapless mermaid dress
and show Mom and Mama Dolly.
Wow, you got the strapless.
I got the strapless.
Got the strapless.
Step forward a little bit.
Yeah.
Wow.
I mean, I don't know if you can see really clearly,
but it's wow.
It's a wow.
This is beautiful.
Oh my gosh.
I just love this dress.
But that is totally different than what she had
said in the past she wanted.
So we were shocked that she came out with that dress.
I'm pretty indecisive, obviously.
But I had an idea of what I wanted.
It just doesn't look like on me like I want it to look.
So that's why now, I'm switching to strapless.
But like, I don't know if I like the look of strapless.
There's always our dress.
There you go.
You can do that, Dori.
RANDY: There is always more dress.
I mean, you could do that.
That's the she likes the best, I think.
JAMES: We cried in that one.
I don't know.
There's something to be said about that.
Right now, I don't know where to go.
I don't know what the next step is.
And I'm kind of running out of options.
We have a few more dresses in the room.
- Yep. - I say you try them on.
If you absolutely don't love them, don't come out in it.
JAMES: Yep. - OK.
Because we're going to run out of time, and--
- Yes. - --we got to find you a dress.
- Yeah, yeah. - Exactly
- I know. - That's do it.
- Yes. - Ready?
OK. Thank you, Randy.
RANDY: Let's go.
This is it.
I can feel it, Dori.
Thank you.
I hope you're right.
KATHY DAWSON: I know I'm right.
I feel like I'm striking out in Vegas.
KATHY DAWSON: You're doing good.