The designer behind the name
Randy Fenoli taught himself to sew at nine on a cattle farm in southern Illinois, studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and was hired out of a student design competition before he had graduated — he had entered five bridal gowns instead of the expected one, and all five placed in the top ten. Years later he spent five seasons as fashion director at Kleinfeld in New York, sitting with roughly fifteen thousand brides a year, and that is where most people met him: as the star of TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress. His stated mission is to educate, elevate, and empower every bride. He designs for the woman who will wear the gown rather than for the runway, which is why his work is known first for how it fits and only second for how it photographs.
The Randy Fenoli collections we carry
Two of his collections are on our floor, and they are the two most recent. Keepsake is the romantic one: dramatic ball gowns, shimmering beading, sheer and mermaid silhouettes, and a blush palette carried through voluminous tulle, statement bows, and blooming floral detail. Love is the fitted, modern one: figure-following designs with dramatic bows, sparkling pearls, and ornate beading, finished with big ball gowns and elegant gloves. Both are built to change through the day — Keepsake with detachable trains, capes, and straps, Love with detachable sleeves and flowing streamers. Trying them beside one another, on your own body, is the fastest way to learn which one you are.
Designer options versus in-house alterations
Two different things get called personalization, and they happen at different moments. Designer-ordered options are chosen when you purchase your gown — we request them from the designer when we place your order on your behalf — and on these collections that mostly means the detachable pieces a style is built for, along with length and closure changes. Availability varies by style, and your consultant confirms yours with the designer at the time of purchase.
In-house alterations come after the gown arrives, and they are ours. Hand-applied beadwork, sculpted sheer bodices, layered tulle, and structured corsetry are not ordinary construction, and a gown built this way has to be opened by people who understand how it was made. Our master seamstresses bring 40+ years of alterations expertise, in-house, in the same building where you choose the gown: beading is moved and reset rather than cut through, and the designer’s line is protected while the fit is refined. Either way, the gown is ordered in a standard size from the designer’s own size chart and fitted to you in-house, never made to your exact measurements.
Seen a Randy Fenoli gown we don’t have on the floor?
No store keeps a designer’s entire body of work on the rack at once, and Randy Fenoli’s spans several collections. If the gown you have saved is available from the designer, we can often request it through his loaner program and have it here for your appointment — the actual gown, on you, rather than a photograph of it on someone else. It takes advance planning, so call before you book and a senior bridal consultant will tell you what can be arranged for the specific style you have in mind. This is the part most brides do not know they can ask for.
What our team brings to a Randy Fenoli gown
Our founder, Dimitra Mandalas, has 40+ years in fashion design and bridal, and she selects the collection by touch at market rather than from a catalog. Our senior bridal consultants have spent 20+ years at Dimitra Designs, which is long enough to know how a blush tulle reads under a church window and which of these gowns take a detachable piece gracefully. For the bride who cannot find what she is imagining anywhere, custom design — a gown drawn and built from scratch — is a conversation we can have here too.
What brides ask about Randy Fenoli
Is this the Randy Fenoli from Say Yes to the Dress?
The same one. He was designing bridal for years before television, and he still designs each collection himself. We are an authorized retailer, so the gowns here come from him directly.
Which Randy Fenoli collections do you carry?
Keepsake and Love, his two most recent. He has released a number of others over the years, so if you have a style saved, it is worth checking which collection it belongs to before your appointment.
Are Randy Fenoli gowns made to my measurements?
No. We measure your bust, waist, and hip, order the size that best fits your largest measurement from his own size chart, and our master seamstresses complete the fit in-house.
Can I take the sleeves or the train off?
On many styles, yes, and it is chosen at purchase rather than added later. Tell your consultant you want a gown that changes through the day and she will pull the ones built for it.
The moment you step out
Randy Fenoli built a career on a single moment — the one where a bride comes out of the fitting room and the people who love her stop talking. It cannot be produced by a screen, and it is rarely the gown she predicted. For 30+ years, Dimitra Designs has dressed three generations of families across the Carolinas, and that moment is what an appointment is for. Book a bridal appointment to try Randy Fenoli in Greenville, SC, or browse all wedding gowns.