Yes.No.Yes.

Say Yes to the Dress returns after hiatus

For five frenetic years and nine seasons, Lori Allen and Monte Durham presided over TLC’s popular wedding show Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta.

Then in 2015, TLC put the brakes on the show after it decided to cut back on wedding shows and dropped its wedding-themed Friday evenings in favour of crime shows. The last new episode of this spinoff of the original Say Yes to the Dress aired in February 2016.

Now, two years and four months later, Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta returns to TLC for 10 one-hour episodes. The network decided to double the length from its original 30-minute format. Each hour will also include at least one wedding, Allen said.

“We really get into the stories more now,” Allen said. “We can learn more about why a sister of the bride is so upset or why a father of the bride doesn’t want to give away the bride.”

Each episode features two brides but there is now twice as much time.

It will now air on Saturdays, with the first episode airing at 8 p.m. EDT on June 9, paired with a new wedding-themed show I Want THAT Wedding. And now that Discovery owns HGTV, it’s also airing a special that night focused on “Property Brother” Drew Scott’s wedding to Linda Phan.

Allen, who has been in the bridal business for nearly 40 years and owns Bridals by Lori in Sandy Springs, near Atlanta, where the show is largely shot, said she never received a clear explanation why TLC placed the show on hiatus. It had nothing to do with ratings, which always remained strong.

During the show’s time off, Allen said she missed doing the show but knew TLC hadn’t given up on it because it continued to air repeats.

Last year, TLC decided to bring it back. “We are so excited to be filming again,” said Durham, a wedding consultant who mostly lives in Virginia but flies in to Atlanta for shoots. “Our fan base is very loyal. They’d watch us at 10:45 in the morning. They’ll DVR us or live-stream us. It’s now bigger and better.”

Allen said she will face her most challenging customer yet: “You’ll know it when you see the episode.”

The timing of the show’s return is auspicious since it’s happening so soon after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. While Allen wasn’t gaga over the dress, she did love Markle’s veil and tiara. “I thought she looked classic and elegant but I felt like it could have been a little bit more,” she said. “I would have loved to have seen some lace and embroidery on the gown.”