Arts & Entertainment

Jennifer Says Yes to the Dress

She is nervous about her appearance on the national television show tonight at 9.

Bride-to-be Jennifer Allen is more nervous about her appearance tonight on the national television show Say Yes to the Dress than she is about her wedding.

Actually, her wedding, April 24, to Erik Hudak of Marblehead, will be a breeze.

They'll fly to Jamaica, Ocho Rios, and get married on the beach before 60 friends and family members. All the arrangements are taken care of. She is relaxed.

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It's the dress she'll be wearing on the beach, or, rather, the television presentation of her selection of the dress, that has her nervous.

The show follows brides-to-be and staff members at a major life event — picking a wedding dress.

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Jennifer doesn't know what to expect, what parts of the filming of her trip to the New York City bridal salon, will be shown when the show airs on TLC tonight at 9.

"I was freaking out last night," she said. "I am really nervous. I haven't seen it yet and I don't know what they are going to make me look like."

Say Yes has been a favorite show of hers for the past 10 years.

The setting is the famous bridal salon Kleinfeld Bridal.

After Jennifer's engagement, June 2012, she went online to see what the bridal salon had to offer and noticed there was a button to click if someone was interested in being on the Say Yes show.

She applied. And after extensive interviews she was selected.

Friday's show will feature survivors, people who have lived with difficult medical conditions. 

Jennifer was diagnosed with a rare kideny disease when she was 17 and has had three kidney transplants.

She is a vivacious woman orginally from Hamilton — she graduated high school in 1995 —  who has lived in Marblehead with her fiance.

They walk The Neck each day and root with fervor for Boston sports teams. Jennifer, who teaches fourth and fifth graders at Lynn Woods elementary school, said she loves to get up every morning and be alive with her fiance and her puppy, Toby, and her students.

She looks forward to every day of teaching. Her 54 students know she will be on on the show and will watch the episode. 

"They just think it is coolest think in the world that they get to see their teacher on television," she said.

Jennifer was joined by family and a friend on her trip to Kleinfeld Bridal in New York City, back on Aug. 28, 2012, for the selection of her dress and the filming of Say Yes to the Dress.

Her entourage was her mom, Judy, her fiance's mom, Ginny, her Aunt Janet, her cousin Jen and her friend Tam.

At the salon with her group, Jennifer selected five dresses and tried them on, standing on a pedestal and turning and looking at herself in the mirror. 

Judy, Ginny, Janet, Jen and Tam will be part of the show, too. During filming they told Jennifer what they thought of the different dresses.

Ordinarily, when she is out and about, Jennifer dresses casually — a jeans and T-shirt person.

Jennifer hadn't planned on getting a big floofie dress with a long train, what with her wedding being on the beach and all.

But, in the end, she picked a really big dress with lots of layers and a big train.

It's a beautiful dress and it will be a beautiful wedding.

She's just not sure about how the show will go.

She'll find out if it was worthwhile tonight between 9 and 9:30.


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