Relationships Talk

• Pnina Tornai, a designer on TLC show “Say Yes To The Dress” sees 90 to 120 brides a day at Kleinfeld Bridal, a world renowned bridal store in New York City.
• If a bride comes to Tornai and expresses issues with a fiancé, she doesn’t hesitate to tell them to postpone a wedding.
• At a young age, Tornai was in an abusive marriage she has since left. Because of what she went through, Tornai is willing to put aside her wedding dresses to consult brides when needed.

Pnina Tornai, a designer on TLC’s “Say Yes To The Dress” sees 90 to 120 brides a day at Kleinfeld, a world renowned bridal store in New York City.

If a bride discloses to Tornai that they have a rocky relationship, she doesn’t hold back her advice, she said on an episode of Business Insider’s podcast “This Is Success.”

By the age of 23, she was married with child. “It was an abusive marriage,” Tornai said. She has since divorced and remarried, but the experience has given her perspective that she thinks could be useful to other women.

“And you know, if a bride would come in and say to me that she’s going through a very tough time with her fiancé and she’s being disrespected or abused, I would always tell her the truth,” Tornai said. “I would always tell her that these things do not get better, they only get worse, so maybe she should postpone, think about it.”

While married, Tornai was pursuing a career in acting, but her then-husband put a stop to her dream job.

“At the time, I didn’t have the luxury to really think twice whether I was doing the right thing or not. I became a mother at the age of 23, so everything happened in a way where I didn’t think that pursuing my dream at the time was the most important thing,” she said.

Now, if a bride comes to Tornai for a dress and expresses a similar experience with a fiancé, she doesn’t hesitate to share her own story or advise a bride to postpone nuptials.

Read more: ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ designer Pnina Tornai was rejected after flying 12 hours for a meeting, but soon after, she got the phone call that changed her career

“And every bride that would come to me with her story and tell me how she feels, sometimes also her hesitations and her hardships, I would always put aside the dress and make sure that I was giving her the right advice even if it meant to tell my bride to postpone a wedding,” she said.

Still, those experiences with other brides can be triggering for Tornai.

“I remember moments where I heard a bride talking about her own story. I was strong for her, but I would go in the back of the store and burst in tears because it reminded me of my story,” Tornai said.

She continued: “But you know what? Nobody promised us a rose garden, and the beauty in life is that if you are true to yourself and you walk your path, you can create quite a beautiful garden. We all have the abilities to do that.”