Gosh... my bridesmaids are SO pretty!

Okay, so remember how I decided that my bridesmaids could wear whatever they wanted, as long as it was navy chiffon?

(the dresses...all from David's Bridal)

It. worked. so. well.

We piled into my car and made the 90 minute drive to Houston for the bridesmaid dress choosing extravaganza (because of course, we don't have a Davis' Bridal or an Alfred  Angelo or anything of the sort here in College Station). We had an appointment right when David's opened on a Saturday. Appointments are a must. DO NOT go to David's without an appointment. Unless it's like a Wednesday afternoon or something. I got to see my lovely consultant Mari again, and she pulled every chiffon floor-length dress out for the girls to see.

My littlest sister is junior-bridesmaid-sized, so we picked hers out first. My other little sister (and MOH) already had hers picked out, so we had these two done pretty quickly:

Of course, they'll be navy is real life...

Aren't my little sisters the cutest???

That left four girls, and four more dresses. I told them they could do anything. Four different, three and one, two and two, etc. Basically, I just wanted them to wear whatever they felt pretty in. There's nothing worse than being watched by they judging eyes of two hundred wedding guests  while you wear a dress that you think makes your butt look big. At least, that's what I hear. :)

Our lovely assistant Mari brought out all the dresses available in navy chiffon, and everybody ran in and out of dressing rooms trying on the various dresses.

How many bridesmaids can we fit in one dressing room?

It's a good thing these girls are friends.

Everybody pitched in to help zip zippers, check sizes, hold up hair, and look on scrutinizingly.

Once everyone had tried on all four options, we had a brief moment of consideration, and the girls made their choices! They ended up each picking a different dress, so my six bridesmaids will each have their own personalized look! I was secretly hoping it would end up that way, so I'm pretty happy about the whole thing. :)

Here they are, each in the dress they picked (once again, not the actual colors...they'll all be navy like the third-from-the-left):

THEN, those tricky bridesmaids made me get in a wedding dress for a picture. I grabbed the only size 0 in the store, and Mommy joined in.

I took it off so quickly...I felt like I was cheating on my real dress. I told that to Mari and she laughed at me a lot.

And of course, what Texas bridesmaid outing would be complete without some Mexican food for lunch? Cilantro Cocina was our restaurant of choice. Mmmm melty cheese.

So basically, the bridesmaid dress trip was a huge success. I would so so so recommend letting your bridesmaids have some choices  about their dresses. There's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all dress, and I'm so happy that each one of my bridesmaids will feel pretty on our weddng day.

The dresses came in recently, and everyone is happy with their dresses! Of course, they'd probably tell me they were happy even if they weren't, but I'm pretty sure they're genuinely happy, not just fake happy. I've seen four of the girls in their dresses, and all four were absolutely stunning. Is it possible for the bride to be overshadowed by her beautiful bridesmaids? Anyway, it makes me happy that they're happy.

The dress shopping trip is one of my favorite wedding memories so far, totally because of my wonderful bridesmaids who made such an effort to be there and be happy and be honest about their dress opinions. Those six girls are so important to me, and I'm continually overwhelmed by how sweet and supportive they are during this whole wedding planning process.

Thanks ladies. Y'all are the best.