Pnina Tornai

Pnina Tornai (born November 25, 1962) is a wedding dress designer and reality television personality from Israel. She has made a name for herself by selling dresses in Kleinfeld Bridal salon on the reality television show Say Yes to the Dress. She wanted to be an actress, but she put that aside when her third husband convinced her to bring her dresses to Kleinfeld Bridal. Tornai's designs were rejected initially, but she returned to Kleinfeld for other pitches. They accepted her new designs, and she has been Kleinfeld's best seller since. While she has never taken a sewing lesson, her designs are wanted by brides across the world.

Personal life

Pnina Tornai was born to Shai Tornei and Ruth Tornei in 1962; she is the oldest of his four daughters. Tornai was given the name Perla at birth, which is her grandmother's name. In Hebrew, Perla translates to Pnina, thus she was called Pnina. Her father was an Israeli diplomat from Alexandria, Egypt, and her mother was from Tangier, Morocco. As a child, Tornai dreamed of being an actress, but she went to high school instead. Upon graduating high school, she enlisted in Israel's mandatory one-year military service. Once her stint in the military ended, she decided to pursue her acting career by enrolling in acting school in Paris, France.