WHAT: "What Not to Wear: Wedding Spectacular."

PensacolaNewsJournal.com - Pensacola, FL, USA - "Here comes the bride...and would you look at that dress?"

They say every bride is beautiful on her wedding day, but "they" probably don't include fashion gurus Stacy London and Clinton Kelly from TLC's hit makeover series, "What Not to Wear."

The snarky stylists, along with Nick Arrojo (hair) and Carmindy (makeup), have been surprising the fashion-challenged with head-to-pointy-toed-shoe style interventions for nearly four years.

Now, just in time for the summer wedding rush, the fearless fashion enforcers are turning their attention to a trio of blushing brides in a June 8 special, "What Not to Wear: Wedding Spectacular." Pensacola native and Gulf Breeze resident Crystal Freeman was one of the lucky ladies who said "I do" to a matrimony makeover, which included a $5,000 spending spree for a custom-fitted wedding gown, shoes and accessories, plus hair and makeup tips.

"It started out as a joke, really. I had no idea they would pick me," said Freeman, 26, a longtime "What Not to Wear" fan. She submitted an application to the show's Web site in January after spotting a call-out for brides who needed help finding a wedding dress.

"I didn't hear anything back for about a month, and then they wrote and asked me to submit photos and a video. I wasn't going to do it, because I didn't think I had a chance," she said.

Some strongly worded encouragement from her hair stylist helped change Freeman's mind.

"I told Crystal not to come back in the salon until she'd sent in a video," said Lauren Fennell-Cutter, technical director and master designer/colorist at Experience Salon in Pensacola, where Freeman has been a client for several years. "I knew she'd be perfect for the show."

Why apply?

"I told them in my application that I was only 4 (feet) 11 (inches tall) and I live in Pensacola, where there aren't a lot of shops that cater to petite brides," said Freeman, office manager at her fiancee Jon Snellgrove's Pensacola podiatry practice. "I said I was getting married on the beach in the Bahamas, that I wanted something simple and just wasn't finding it."

The petite bride-to-be made a short video tape with the help of her co-workers, "all on the clock, on my time," joked Snellgrove, and by March, she was in New York City with 20 or so other applicants.

"What Not to Wear" chose Freeman and her beach wedding (which took place this week in Nassau), along with Meghan of Elgin, Ill., (to be married in a nature preserve) and Cristina of Chicago (traditional wedding).

Two show producers then came to Freeman and Snellgrove's Gulf Breeze home to interview the couple and film the traditional "What Not to Wear" closet raid.

"We took them out on our boat and told them all about the area and the Blue Angels, who just happened to fly over right then. It was pretty cool," said Snellgrove, 35, who often watches the show with Freeman.

Freeman, who admitted to cleaning her closet "all weekend" prior to filming, returned to New York in April for four days of filming, shopping and advice from Clinton and Stacy.

"It was the same premise as the regular show. Clint and Stacy sat and watched our 'before' footage with the three of us," said Freeman, who was chided by the fashion mavens for wearing scrubs to work. "The whole thing was very surreal, but so much fun. The best part was getting to see behind-the-scenes of a TV show."

And what did she think of her Clinton-and-Stacy-approved wedding dress?

"It was perfect. It was my favorite dress in the whole store," said Freeman, who rated her entire "What Not to Wear" experience as "awesome."

She was so inspired, in fact, that she's now looking at ways of getting herself back on the small screen.

"I guess it gave me the acting bug or something," she said.

Snellgrove, whose biggest fear was that Freeman would return from her trip with shorn hair, said he was happy just to go along for the ride.

"Who knows, Crystal might be the next 'Oprah,' he said, laughing.