gonna dress you up in my love

on sunday, we met with o and her bridal party to try on bridesmaid dresses. o had decided against the original dress style she'd chosen, and found styles she really liked at aria. coincidentally, this is the same designer that we ordered our own bridal party's dresses from, so i was excited. i loved those dresses and had wanted one for myself, but held back and didn't scoop one up. so i was stoked to have a second chance!

aria's showroom is by appointment only, and conveniently (for all of us) located in pasadena. the hub rode with us, having made plans with my brother to hang out while we did our thing. the showroom is located in this very nondescript industrial-looking building.

and behind this deceptively boring door:

is a wonderfully girly, bridal-y space, filled with gorgeous dresses in all the colors of the rainbow.

the teen and the bean stood together looking around for a while. the fish tank in one corner of the room caught her attention, and so they went over to check it out, the bean pointing and babbling.

the bride didn't waste a minute. within moments, the salesgirl had wrapped up her meeting with the previous appointment, sent them on their way, and was pulling out samples for all of us to try on.

this was an early favorite, modeled by me and MAC (a make-up artist and the girlfriend of the best man. she was super sweet):

we all scurried around, trying on more dresses and oohing and aahing over most of them, while the bean looked on in amusement.

she got to take a turn, too, although this isn't the style she's going to wear. she was cracking us up - we don't have a lot of mirrors in the house (a travesty, i know), so she was quite enthralled with her own reflection.

o's sister and maid of honor tried on this one, but it was nixed quickly.

having changed back into her own clothes, the bean alternated between looking in the mirror, throwing pillows on the floor, checking to make sure the fish were okay, and holding her arms up to me and demanding "up!"

this style was a hit with those of us who were big on strapless dresses:

in the last shot, the teen is modeling the exact shade (chocolate) and material (duchess satin) that our dresses will be in, once we finally choose a final style. i could totally see wearing this one again after the wedding.

for the ladies who prefer straps on their ensembles, this is the favorite:

a few of us tried this dress on, too. it's really cute and quite flattering, but we ended up rejecting it for its summer-y look. it just didn't seem like a style that screamed "fall wedding" to us.

a quick shot of the "maids."

this is the other option for the strapless girls. i love the other choice, the one with the sweetheart neckline, but this is the exact style (well, not color) we chose for our own bridesmaids (sans double hem), so i dig this one too:

these are the three that we've narrowed it down to. MAC and i are in the strapless version, and it'll be in the chocolate color i'm wearing with a champagne sash and second hem. sista is wearing the dress that she and the MOH will be rocking.

outside, i snapped a couple of pictures of the ladies.

and when the hub and my bro rolled up, the bean checked out the car from the outside and then decided she wanted to drive.

and then the hub got the teen to hop behind the wheel and drive around the parking lot. ha! look at that kool-aid smile!

the bean relaxed in the back seat.

before we dropped the teen off at BFF's again (they'd been texting back and forth and BFF wanted her to go to the mall with her), we stopped at alfredo's for some grub. the hub and the teen opted for burritos, while i went with the oh-so-healthy super fries - smothered with melted cheddar, sour cream, and chopped carne asada.

i know it looks gross, but MAN, was it tasty. like, i want to lick my monitor right now.