This past weekend my parents and my two out-of-town bridesmaids descended upon my house. What about the third bridesmaid who actually lives in town? Well, she is incorrigible and decided to get sent on a last minute business trip to the other side of the country. Luckily she was measured before leaving me in tears, so I will eventually forgive her.

Prior to shopping, my dutiful darlings joined me for lunch at work. In between bites, the aforementioned darlings were assigned codenames: Black Mamba and Icepop. Bridesmaid #3 was not there, and thus not renamed. For now...

Icepop and #3 had already tried on the chosen dress and absolutely loved it. Black Mamba, who had merely seen a picture of the dress, was a bit apprehensive. In fact, she was less than thrilled when she first tried it on. After a bit of cajoling and unveiled threats, she realized that it is the best dress ever.

My mom, who also had a dress picked out from prior trips to the dress store, was similarly thwarted. Her dress's sample had magically been sold and, while still available to be ordered, couldn't be properly admired. She did find, however, a similar dress by the same designer. This sample happened to be in the correct color and come with a solid-fabric jacket, as opposed to a nearly useless gauzey jacket. If you are my mom and get cold while looking at a picture of an icecube, heavier jackets are always better.

The end result of this trip to Lili Bridal? Four out of four dresses ordered! Huzzah!

Epilogue

I received this missive from Black Mamba yesterday:
"As the days go by, I get more and more excited about our dresses. I think you made, perhaps, the best decision ever with the bridesmaid dress. I've seen a lot of photos of dresses lately, and I think this one is just stellar in terms of shape, cut, and texture."