We have bridesmaids dresses!

Before I get in to that, I’d like to introduce them even though they’ve all been on the blog several times. From left to right: Nancy (cousin), Isabel (friend, ex-roommate), Lori (sister and maid of honor), Vanessa (cousin), and Valerie (cousin). Not pictured: Andrea, Sean’s best friend, because she’s in NY. If you’ve been reading a while, these women should look familiar. If the cousins look alike, that’s because they’re sisters. They come as a package.

Finding a dress was pretty easy, not that I expected it to be a huge hassle. My main worry was that I had waited too long and we’d have to put in a rush order. Fortunately, we figured it out rather quickly. .

To start off the process, I flipped through some catalogs and looked at dresses online. Initially, I didn’t find anything I really liked. And if I did like the dress, it was too expensive. I showed my cousins and sister the catalogs and pointed out a few dresses, but nothing was set in stone.

A couple weeks ago, I emailed everyone a few questions and a link to a Flickr album with 9 dresses I liked. I asked about budget, feelings about matching or wearing mismatched dresses, and which dresses they liked/disliked.

All the dresses were knee or tea length. Part of that is because shorter dresses will probably be cooler in late summer LA, but the main reason is a bit bridezilla. Simply put, I’m already short compared to my cousins and Isa and I’m convinced that they’ll look even taller in long gowns.

After the initial email I learned that everyone was on board with my choices and had chosen a clear front-runner, they were fine with the budget I had in mind, and we really needed to try on some dresses. Lori said it best, “I’m kind of indifferent on the dresses, because I don’t know how I like a dress until it’s on me. Soooo lets start shopping!”

On Saturday morning, we met up at the Alfred Angelo store in West Covina, a midpoint between LA, Ontario, and Hacienda Heights. Tía Martha came along with the cousins. My mom opted out since she wasn’t keen on their mother of the bride selection.

We picked out four dresses to start and the saleswoman set up a few dressing rooms. Since we had five women trying on dresses, the process was rather quick. In less than an hour, we decided that we didn’t like the original front-runner and chose a new favorite with an added belt. Everyone tried on the dress and liked the fit. I texted Andrea in NY photos and details. She was on board with the others. We went forward with the order and got details on how Andrea could put in an order from across the country.

And I checked another item off the to-do list.