Are these dresses 'maid worthy?

We all know I've had some dress drama. But I've also gone back and forth about what my girls are going to wear. Officially, I have selected and announced (to the 'maids) a dress. Sorry ya'll, this post is not about that dress.

Today I'm having a resurgence of my same ol problem: the gift and the curse that is having lots of time to plan. Realistically, the dresses don't have to be ordered for another 4 months or so. Anyway, I ended up pointing my Mozilla to the Alfred Angelo site. I'd looked at them earlier on in the planning process and decided that I wasn't terribly wild about any of their bridal gowns. I had similarly written off 'maids dresses.

Something said pop back over there...just to see. When I got there, I came across some dresses I'm kind of interested in. Upon further inspection, I realized that many (if not a majority) of the dresses I liked are new! They're part of the 2009 collection! All images are Alfred Angelo's Berry color.

These are all floor length and fabulous! This group of dresses has a variety of necklines, fabric, and details. We'd definitely need to pack our Spanx for some of them, but I like the idea of my 'maids wearing floor length dresses and I don't think any of them look too prom-y. Some of them are designed to be two-colors, so disregard the yellow/blue in some of them.

...very sexy. And did I say fabulous? I could fully endorse these dresses.

These six are tea length, and all very very cute. I'd totally wear them all. And I feel like they may be more day-wedding appropriate and have a decently high re-wearability quotient (yes, I just made that up). Again, excuse the random off-color accents:

...the more I look at this color, the more I'm convinced it might actually work.

There just happens to be an Alfred Angelo store not far from where MamaP* lives. So when I'm home in December, I want to pop by to see this "berry" in person. Obviously I like some (okay, ALOT) of their dresses - way more than I would have guessed. Visiting the store will help me determine whether any are viable options. Color is my deal breaker. I'm willing to budge on price, length, style, and details, but if the color is wrong, you can forget it.

I know you're thinking: "Wait, didn't you say you already selected and announced a dress?" Yes. But something in me is really glad I haven't had them ordered yet. I still want them to have some choice in what they wear and for it to be as flattering as possible. This may be the way to approach it. I'm planning to keep my options open and not guilt trip myself if/when I change my mind. All of my girls have told me that they are perfectly willing to wear whatever I select. I have the most awesome-est bridesmaids ever.

So we'll table this discussion til next month. In the mean time, feel free to weigh in on your top contenders. If you were in my bridal party, which one would you choose? If you are one of my 'maids, any faves?

♥

*MamaP is my new moniker for my mom. Not to be confused with MamaD, who birthed the PHI. Yes, MamaP's name starts with a P too: she's Patricia and I'm Patti. No, my name is not short for Patricia, it's just Patti.