She kept an open mind about designers as she scoured Kleinfeld Bridal, Wedding Atelier and the Gabriella New York Bridal salon, ultimately deciding on a lace strapless exposed corset gown by Pnina Tornai, another Israeli designer. It was a win all around.

“It was just obviously the best dress I tried on that fit my budget,” she said. “The main point is the detail: the lace and the shape. It was tight in the right places and loose in the right places. I thought I was going to die at the end of the night with the corset, but I loved how I looked.”

Ms. Kneppel also recognized the brand from watching the reality show “Say Yes to the Dress,” but the association wasn’t necessarily a good one. She was quick to dispel any comparisons with those TV brides. “Those dresses are crazy — see-through fronts and bedazzled everywhere,” she said, laughing. “But yeah, I did want to look sexy and have something form-fitting that wasn’t inappropriate but that also wasn’t traditional.”

There is the sexiness trend, but, like Ms. Kneppel, the customer is more willing to try unknown niche brands today.

“It’s only in the last three years or so that they’ve really made an impact,” Mr. Ingram said of the Israeli designers, who he noted: “Really understand flattering the female body. The three designers I work with are all made to measure, not made to order as many gowns are, and there is a very complicated measurement — about 25 different measurements — that I have to send to them. These gowns are very complex and they are also very expensive.”