Bridesmaids Dresses...Check!

I was face down and sound asleep in my pillow when I was startled by Adele screaming the lyrics to "Rolling In the Deep"...it was my phone ringing: it was Carly. She wanted to know if I was almost to her house to pick her up. "What??!" I sat bolt upright in bed and squinted in the blur of the morning sun to check the clock..."but it's only 9AM!!" Apparently, I missed the pre-game breakfast memo. I overslept on bridesmaids dress shopping day! :(

To save time, Carly saved the day and (thankfully) agreed to pick me up instead. I threw on some clothes and was ready in approximately 20 minutes...not even long enough for the pillow creases to fade from my complexion. It was a bright and beautiful sunny day...it's amazing how quickly perception changes with sunglasses and a few sips of freshly brewed vacuum coffee. Off we went to Cherry Hill NJ, the shopping mecca where Jackie's tightly packed agenda was to commence!

We met the other girls (who were already seated and served with drinks) at the Bistro in Haddonfield (at Staci's suggestion)...it was a great little brunch spot with outdoor seating close to our first appointment at Country Way Boutique. I had the homemade maple pecan granola and full fat Greek Yogurt (mental note- diet starts tomorrow). We set a place for Julie Ann (who also overslept) but she never made it to breakfast...guess it runs in the family!

Country Way was just a short, scenic block away. We entered the boutique and an older woman asked who we were and how she could help...soon enough we were flipping through dresses and tossing them at our dress consultant who was more than happy to line them all up on the metal rack. The nice older woman even encouraged us to try on a beautiful, runway worthy dress that was well out of our price range despite the disapproving daggers being shot at her from her coworker as she informed us that the dress was "far too expensive". The bitter and overly botoxed woman insisted on throwing a few more insults our way before we left the dress shop empty handed.

They tried on strapless and single strapped and mermaid and A-line and ballgown bridesmaids attire...some were bedazzled and some were plain jane. None were for us...except of course for the ones that were "far too expensive"...so we moved right along.

Jay's Bridal was across the street and we had an hour to kill so we hit that store up as well. The girls snuck iPhone pictures despite signs everywhere saying that photos were "strictly prohibited". Nothing was really note worthy though...

We continued on to Alfred Angelo. Josephine was our sales consultant...who was dressed for the part. Her look was complete with measuring tape dangling around her neck, thick reading glasses, pinned up thick black hair and the air of an Italian grandmother. At 67 years old she admitted she loves what she does far too much to retire. She helped us pick out several different styles and led us over to the best dressing suite the store had to offer...Brooke and I settled in while the other girls piled into the extra large dressing room as Jo helped them squeeze, zip, clip, clasp and jump into the variety of dresses...

Now this is much more like it!

Jackie tried on this beautiful, asymmetrically ruched ball-gown with a subtle sweetheart neckline...but....Carly didn't like it.

Staci tried on this elegant one-strapped, crimson, fit and flare gown...

But then Carly tried to eat it.

Was today going to be an all out wash?? We tried on one more dress that everyone seemed to love. Even our biggest critic Carly :) But were we ready to commit? We still had one more appointment to get to at Macy's!

Jo was disappointed to see us leave but encouraged us to come back before her shift ended at 4pm. We thought it was unrealistic but promised we would try our best.

Off to Macy's where Julie Ann finally decided to join us :) Just in time for the rest of the girls to give up the runway. Jul tried on every dress we threw at her but none surpassed the navy one we all loved from Alfred Angelo...

It always helps to consider these things more over a meal so we headed off to Nordstrom's cafe to visit Staci's mom and to grab a healthy bite to eat. The table soon turned into an all out call center while the girls called around to research the dress pricing and color availability in the tri-state area:

Lunch was fabulous. Even Brooke thought so :) We schlepped (yes I am learning Jewish jargon) all the way to the opposite end of the mall where we piled in her car for the trek back to the other side of Cherry Hill...approximately three right turns, but no lefts later. Back at AA, not quite an hour before closing time, we were surprised to see Jo still there well beyond when she was supposed to leave. She really must love this job. She quickly grabbed the dress for us again and Jul tried it on for everyone once more:

We all couldn't agree more...this was it...

Well, except maybe in a different color. After much debate and review of far too many fabric swatches, Mahogany was decidedly the chosen color and the only color (it seemed) that they didn't have in the store. 

Jo hugged me. I wasn't sure if it was because she would be getting a hefty commission out of this sale or if it was because she was just truly happy that we found what we all considered (Josephine included) to be the perfect dress. It felt pretty genuine so I'm sure it was the latter...

She added a broche (at Brooke's suggestion) and it just completed the look. 

Mission Accomplished! Thank you everyone for coming and for helping me find the perfect bridesmaids dress! Kate- we wish you could have been with us to experience the blood, sweat and tears in person...but know that we at least chose the color in your honor :)