A Girly Day Indeed

Over Martin Luther King weekend, my amazing matron of honor arranged for all of my bridesmaids and me to shop for dresses and enjoy brunch together. Getting all of us together seemed nothing short of a miracle, given that only Jenn and I live in the same city. But Amanda came down from North Hollywood, Heidi drove out from Simi Valley, Winnie flew in from the Bay Area, and Fay (squeezing in a visit with her parents) traveled all the way out from Baltimore. I am so grateful that we had the chance to pick out the dresses together and catch up.

To select bridesmaid dresses, I looked through what seemed like hundreds of magazines, probably even more than I looked through for wedding gowns. I wanted all of my bridesmaids to have some options so we could try to come to some kind of consensus. At a bridal fair awhile back, I had seen a David's Bridal dress on display that was the perfect color, so I figured we should start there. With reasonable prices, good selection, and tons of convenient locations, it seemed to make the most sense. So I chose a few of my favorites, Winnie put them up to a vote, and we headed in, none of us really sure of what to expect.

Here were my priorities in looking for the right look:

Comfort - In regard to the look and the actual fit, I wanted everyone to feel comfortable. It's a long day, and I expect these girls to keep the party going on the dance floor. So they need to be able to breathe and move!
Material - Pleasanton in July gets to 100+ degrees. Regardless of the fact that our wedding is indoors, we still have to take pictures outside, so I'm hoping at least they won't feel like they're actually going to melt.
Price - Obvious, perhaps, but dresses can be expensive. Everyone has a different taste, so it's entirely possible this will be a one-time-only dress.
Color - Our color is a pretty specific shade of olive green, and DB had it. Done.
Length - Since we're going for formal and it's an evening wedding, long seemed most fitting. Plus, long dresses mean the girls can wear any shoes they want. Once we got to the store, I was definitely willing to be flexible on length as necessary, but we ended up with long anyway.

In all, the process felt relatively painless. I am so grateful to have such mellow, accommodating bridesmaids; the day flowed so smoothly as we asked our consultant for what seemed like an endless line of dress options. All the girls looked amazing in everything, but some dresses looked too - for lack of a better word - bridesmaidy. I know, what was I expecting, right? And then finally, we found a winner. Everyone looked amazing, the material was unbelievably comfortable, and the price wasn't too bad. We had a blast trying on and picking out dresses, and the girls are going to look stunning on the big day.

Brunch was at an adorable little cafe in Redondo Beach, Creme de la Crepe, complete with mimosas and lots of Nutella. I am so lucky to have such beautiful, sweet, generous friends, and I couldn't have asked for a better experience picking out dresses. We're one step closer to the big day!

Here are some pictures of dresses we didn't end up with, sadly.