Amber is set to make her first Communion this April and along with learning her 10 Commandments, 4 prayers and how to perform her First Reconciliation (confession for the non-Catholic folks) we have to pick out the prettiest white dress and veil for this important occasion. I don’t know if it is just our town, very Catholic, or everywhere but there are more Communion dresses to pick from than bride dresses, it seems. The prices for these little girls’ dresses rival a dress that they someday hope to wear to walk down the aisle. I was happy when the lady in charge of First Communion asked us to please skip the gloves and purses, because they tend to become distractions. I mean we are dealing with 7 year olds here and most of them can barely make it through Mass.
There is a lovely boutique in the mall we go to often, because of the 2 story Target (yeah, we live it up large down here), so I popped in yesterday after our V-Day lunch to see what they had to offer. Not much, which was a surprise. However, I managed to get Amber to try on 3 dresses. I believe that when choosing Communion dresses or Christening gowns, simpler is better. We want to focus on the importance of the sacrament not who has the prettiest dress. I am sure that since we are dealing with little girls, here, that there will be some talk of it and there is always a thrill in dressy up like a princess, or *ahem* bride, but the focus should remain on the religious journey they are on.
Here are the choices we tried on:
This dress fits the bill on simplicity, except for the double dose of flower.
The flower on the bow was detachable, so it had that going for it.
However, there was no ignoring the bow in the back.
It was huge and had to be tied, not one of my better skills.
So we moved on.
SoHubby picked this one out, so even though I wasn’t fond of it I humored him.
It was a little too bridal for my taste, but again it was simple .
Dare I say more simple than the first dress.
The simple beading around the waist was just enough and the rest of the
dress was made by the stitching and pleats.
There was a bow in the back, but not has big as the first dress.
Still not what I was looking for, so we moved on.
This was my favorite and I have to admit it is the skirt.
I didn’t have a the tulle skirt for my wedding, because it didn’t suit me.
And before you say it, I realize that this is Amber’s day so I didn’t push the issue.
Too hard.
I think this was the more extravagant dress of all 3 and the price matched at $100.
It wasn’t the most expensive I have since, but it was the most expensive in the store.
I do have to keep in mind that there are shoes and a veil to buy and a trip to my hair stylist,
so this price point was pushing it a bit.
On the other hand, I could justify it by saving the dress for Evie when it is time for her
First Communion. However, the $35 Christening gown I got for Amber held up well when
Evie wore it this past year.
Here is where social media comes into the picture. I mentioned on Twitter that I couldn’t decide between the 3 dresses and asked for votes (didn’t help by the way) and then this link was sent to me, Just Unique Boutique. That is when it hit me that I could get just as pretty a dress for half the price. I had already kind of knew this, because I have been scooping out the dresses at JC Penney’s, although I didn’t find one that I truly liked. Then I posted my question on Babycenter.com, because when in doubt go to the Internet. There I found another link and think I have discovered the perfect dress for not just one First Communion, but two. Oh you scoff, but you better bet I will fight tooth and nail to get Evie to wear the same dress, shoes and veil for her First Communion.
I think this dress fulfills all the requirements:
simple, short sleeves (some people have voiced their opinions regarding
sleeveless for Communion and our church said no spaghetti straps. I think the sleeves
give a more demure appearance.), some detail and fullness in the skirt.
This dress came in at $67. There was a $5 charge for a size 6 and I believe a $10 charge
for larger sizes. Still a good price.
I am a bit concerned about purchasing a dress from a website I have never used before, but
I have read their return policy and if there are any problems I can return it within 7 days.
To be frank I wasn’t thrill with many of the veils I saw.
There seemed to be a ton of detail on all of them.
Again, I wanted simple and I didn’t want something
that competed with the dress.
I think this veil will look great with the chosen dress and
Amber loved it when I pointed out that it looks like a crown.
Again, I wanted simple and what is more simple than ballet slippers
I know what you are saying that proper white Easter shoes can be used for more outfits.
The thing is we don’t do a lot of white shoes. Most of the shoes I was seeing had heels or slippers,
so I went with the slippers.
I am not fond of heels (no matter how small or chunky) on little girls. And why take the risk of
Amber tripping when she walks up for Communion. You may think I am silly, but the girl has tripped
in bare feet with nothing around her.
It is easy to get caught up in the hoopla of buying fluffy, beaded out Communion dresses for our girls. I mean why did we have them, right? I think to keep it simple and demure pays respect to the importance of what the kids are working toward, a full fledged member of the Catholic church. It is an important step and not one to be used as a chance to out do each other. There is time for that when there is a wedding.
Some have asked which dress did Amber want. That is tricky. She loved and pranced around in all of them. As I showed her each one that was the one she had to have, then she ran off to play. So it was up to me to take into account her style and comfort level and choose the best dress for her.
Just for fun, here is the runner up and one that was way out of our price range:
We found this dress here.
It is simple in the front, but the back is the part I love.
It was a slight v-back with large buttons and a beautiful bow.
In this case, I thought the bow accentuate the dress and didn’t over power it.
Why didn’t I go for this dress?
Because Amber did voice her opinion and the one we chose was the one she wanted
when presented with both of them.
She didn’t care about the v-back, buttons or bow.
This dress was found at Chasing FireFlies.
When we were just starting to think about First Communion I saw this dress.
I thought that our lives wouldn’t be complete until I had it for my little princess.
Then I saw the price, $248. Way out of our price range, which is no surprise.
If you have looked over my previous wishlist for Amber, you will find that Chasing
Fireflies is the place I would love to spend all my husband’s money for my little darlings.
However, we must buy pesky things like heat, food, shelter and for some reason the males
in the house demand clothes, too. So dream on I shall.
Now the next great debate do I get this dress for Evie to fulfill the free shipping with a $125 purchase. Oh Internet shopping you shall send me to an early grave.
These are beautiful First Communion Dresses. I love the quilted dress with the cap sleeves, it’s adorable!
Beautiful Dresses you have it. I like quilted one.!!!
interesting! thanks for sharing this post!
My daughter is 14 and finially made her First holy communion last sunday and wore the same style dress as the girl in the photo above the video clip.the dress was a little shorter,to the middle of her knees and she had a fulle flowered headwreath with the veil attached,and wore the white gloves and lace anklets and white shoes.The dress was somewhat poofy like the girl in the photo and completely covered the required white cloth first communion diaper and rubberpants all the girls had to wear under their dresses.she looked so cute and pure in the outfit and i was one proud and happy mom!
Great post. Thank you for sharing with us.
christening dress