Top Tips For Communion Dress Shopping

1. Don’t shop too early for a communion dress. I often meet families who would like to be prepared early on in the school year so they don’t have to worry about shopping for their little girls communion dress. The only advice I would give with this is to ensure that you are 100% happy with the sizing of the dress. It is estimated that children of that age can gain 1lbs-2lbs of weight and 1-1.5 inches in height a year. I would recommend from November on-wards for purchasing the communion dress and most people wait until January/February.
2. Set your budget before looking. I would always advise parents to be clear at the beginning of the process of what your budget is for communion dress shopping. That way you can avoid going to shops you feel are not suitable. Most retailers should give an indication of pricing on their websites or social media. Across a quick survey of 5 different retailers the average price of a communion dress in Dublin is €145. May’s Occasions dresses mostly range from €100 – €400. Decide what is important to you, if you want a one-off dress that the shop guarantees no other child will have then this will be more expensive. Silk dresses will raise the cost and the level of detail on the dress like lace, beading and layers.
3. Manage expectations. There is a huge trend at the moment of bridal shows on TV. I meet lots of little girls that mimic the catch phrases on these shows and it’s lots of fun and it is really important that they have a great shopping experience to remember. However sometimes they may get it into their heads that a communion dress should look like a bridal gown and they may want trains, lace, diamonds, strapless etc. Might be best to avoid these shows in advance!
4. Internet browsing. Another hurdle parents can face is if their little girl has randomly selected dresses from a google search or a shop in a foreign country that they have to have! This dress will most likely not exist in Ireland which may lead to them being very disappointed. Try and make sure if they are window shopping in advance that they stick to the sites of the shops you are going to visit.
5. Rule of 3. I always advise to pick your favourite 3 communion dresses to bring to the fitting room. The worst thing your little girl can do is go in to a shop and try on every dress. This can become very overwhelming and stressful. Take as long as you like making the 3 selections but the worst shopping experiences I have witnessed have been with girls that have tried on too many communion dresses because they can’t remember which ones they liked. The changing in and out of dresses can be quite tiring for them. I would say that 9 out of 10 girls purchase the first communion dress that they tried on anyway. If anyone is unsure,it’s the dress that she had the biggest smile on her face when she put it on.
6. Limit the numbers. You may not like this advice but it’s honestly my top tip. The single worst thing you can do, especially if you have a quiet or shy girl, is to bring the whole family when shopping for the communion dress. There are so many things that can go wrong with this. The more people that come in the group, the harder the decision can become. There are multiple opinions to be heard, maybe brothers who have no interest in communion dress shopping getting very bored and agitated, little sisters who have not made their communion yet and want to try on dresses. I have come across all of these and situations like this can often take away from the little girls experience so it’s just something to think about in advance.
7. Be clear about the exchange policy. Before purchasing make sure you are clear about the refund and exchange policy of the shop. As with a lot of boutiques and occasion wear specialists it is exchange only within a limited time.
8. Be clear about the aftercare. Any good retailer should be able to advise you on the aftercare of a communion dress. The more expensive the material, the more expensive it will be to have cleaned. Always take note of the care label before purchasing.
9. Accessories. A lot of my customers wait to purchase communion accessories and communion shoes in a different month. The busiest month for accessories shopping last year was March and April. Any good retailer should let your little girl fit on her communion dress to match accessories provided there are no dress fittings at the time.
10. Shoes. Again the time to buy communion shoes is March. Availability was limited last year so if you see a pair you like then grab them!
11. Most important of all, have a chat with your little girl about the meaning behind the occasion. It is of course a great experience for them but its important for them to remember what its all about. The schools will start to prepare them early on in the school year and this is generally when the excitement kicks in for them.

Matching Accessories for First Holy Communion

Once you have the perfect dress selected then it’s time to match it up with some accessories. This is where individuality comes in to play and your little girl can show some of her personality through her accessory choices.

I often meet parents who are concerned that there may be more than one of the same dress in their little girls class. If this is something you are concerned with then I always advise not to worry because each little girl makes a dress look different anyway. Styling the dress with different accessories will help with this. Some of my top tips for this are:

• Less is more if there is a lot of detail on the dress. There may be a lot of embellishment, beading, ruching etc on the dress so let it speak for itself if that’s the case. Try and keep the accessories simple e.g.: plain veil, small headpiece, plain gloves, plain bag etc.
• Don’t worry about matching everything. It is very easy to get hung up on every single item matching. This isn’t always possible. It’s ok to wear satin gloves with a lace dress, or wear a cardigan instead of a matching bolero. These details are secondary to what’s important, mainly that you and your little girl are happy with your choices.
• 50 million shades of white! Unless you have had your dress and all the accessories custom made in the same fabric by one designer then it is impossible to find the same shade of white in all items. Depending on the fabric it’s inevitable that there will be different tones. Again it’s really not something to be too concerned about. I find it most common with shoes because of the different types of leather. Just get the closest match you can find. I guarantee you nobody will notice. In sunlight it’s nearly impossible to spot the difference.
• Shoes shoes shoes. My number one piece of advice is to go with a shoe that has a wipe clean fabric e.g. normal or patent leather. Shoes finished in satin fabric will get destroyed. Wouldn’t it be nice for your little girl to get a few wears out of her shoes with some party dresses.
• More shoes. Strap or no strap? Heel or no heel?! Whatever. It’s your choice. I will say that shoes with straps are good for girls with narrow feet or if they are in between sizes. Velcro or loop hole straps are great for adjusting for comfort. If it’s a shoe with no strap and you are concerned about them slipping off then try an insole to see if that helps.
• Diplomacy! If you and your little girl are struggling to agree on something try and have a quiet word with the shop assistant to see if they can help influence her to your way of thinking. I would see this mainly with the choice of tiara. They are a love/hate type of item and can be hard to settle on.
• Ivory accessories. A specialist shop should have a good selection of accessories in both white and ivory. Having said that they are more difficult to source for shop owners as white accessories would be more in demand. Always ask the shop assistant if a particular item can be ordered in ivory if it’s not available.
• Don’t leave it last minute. You will find that shops will have all of their communion allocation of stock in store early January. Few would re-order anything past March. So don’t leave things that you will absolutely need like shoes, socks and cardigans too late thinking that you have plenty of time because availability will be scarce come April.
• Hair. There are lots of fab hair tutorials online that are really manageable for parents to do themselves. I love Sweet Hearts Hair Design found on Facebook.