First Communion fashion advice needed.

[LynetteScavo]

Are silver shoes (for DD, not me!) a massive no...

...and what is your DD wearing in her hair/on her head?

Are you Catholic? We are protestant and the children didn't wear white dresses, silver shoes, headdresses etc. They just wore what they normally wear to church.

Our church states white shoes. Most girls wear little tiaras or white flowers in their hair but there are still a few who wear veils.

Yes, Catholic.

Nothing has been said about girls clothes, except no gloves.

I was thinking initially of just a white hair clip, but then realised other girls will be having their hair up (DD has a short bob because her ears stick out, so up-do is not happening) so am now thinking of a veil.

DD1 is having her hair up in a bun probably as its curly and untamed, with a sparkly tiara and a veil also with sparkles.

White shoes too, kindly given to me by her friends mum, her friends sister had them but DD1s friend is a bigger size.

She's also chosen her dress, bolero and bag, no gloves though

DD made hers last year, after her brothers, so I have seen lots of outfits!

The 'no gloves' is probably because they are a faff to look after, as are bags and other dangly bits and pieces.

Silver shoes would be ok, but white is more popular. A closed-toe rather than sandals looks better, with tights or white ankle socks. There are lots of white satin pumps and mary-janes on ebay, or google bridesmaids shoes.

Very few have the full veil, which does look old-fashioned, but several had a small veil at back of the head (attached with a comb) which looks pretty. Plenty of delicate silver tiaras, or flower clips.
DD had an up-do (quite bridal-looking large bun with diamantes around the base) and she looked lovely, but not over-the-top. She had a small veil fixed underneath the bun - a plain one from Monsoon - her choice.

I'd say that with a bob, keep it simple with a pretty tiara, as a veil might swamp her hair.

Bare shoulders are a no-no here. Most girls had a bolero to match the dress or a white cardi, long- or short-sleeved.

Is your service a combined First Holy Communion/Confirmation Mass?
Our parish hasn't decided on a dress code yet because it's the first year of the new regime. It used to be white dresses for the girls, white shorts/socks/shirt and a red tie for the boys for Communion and normal smart clothes for Confirmation, but of course they were younger for Communion and a lot older for Confirmation then. Yr 4 boys may not be too impressed with having to wear all white ! The priest is thinking of taking a poll to see what most parents would prefer. DD2 is hoping she'll be able to wear a dress like her big sister had on her big day!

This year, first communions will take place, five at a time during Saturday evening/Sunday mass.

Thank you - lots of advice there. I'm definitely going for closed toe mary janes with white socks (rather than tights), and a dress with short sleeves. I think we'll need a bolaro/cardigan too, as it may not be warm.

If I go for a veil, it will be at the back of her head, but wasn't sure how that would work with a bob.

I've seen a dress I really, really love but it's ££££. I've also seen a dress which is very nice, and half the price. Oh, the decision!

Go for the half-price one - it's not about what you wear who am I kidding?!

Have you a friendly hairdresser who could do a try-out with the veil? I'm thinking it would need something to fix the veil into, so maybe backcomb the back to give some body?

Dd wants her hair in loose waves so I'm thinking of a tiara/veil.

Shoes wise I know silver is fine round here but I'll probably go for white, haven't seen any yet though.

Dds dress is sleeveless so she'll have a bolero of some kind too.

I was very lucky and was given a gorgeous dress which dd absolutely loves so can afford to spend a bit more on accessories now.

If I go for the veil it, it attatches with either a hair clip or a comb (you get a choice) - and I think it would work in DD's hair.

I've had my eye on the ££££ dress for 3 years. If I don't get it I will forever regret it. But it's ridiculous to spend so much on a dress she will wear for such a short time, isn't it? But then the photo's will last forever....

I am happy to do the cake myself, and have a buffet at home rather than anything more elaborate if it means I can have that dress. DH is fed up of me trying to justify the expensive dress, and says he doesn't want to be involved in choosing it. (For example I say things like; "What if she never gets married, and I never get the chance to buy her a lovely dress?") DH is finding the whole thing a bit tiresome, apparently, and I haven't actually bought anything yet.

We wherever lucky with DD1 dress, a friend used to own a designer children's clothes shop and had loads of dresses in her house, DD1 lived one and we got it for half price. Her veil is on a comb at the back.

I'm thinking of just doing a buffet and kind of party in the house for her.

Lynette... Dp is getting rather fed up of me showing him communion gear too. She's my only daughter and of she follows mine and my mother's lead there will never be a fancy wedding dress so I'm getting ot all out of my system now

If you can afford it go for the one you love, you can keep it and give it to her for your granddaughters and start a family tradition

I have 3 DDs so the dress will be used again although DD2 took one look at it and said it was disgusting but she thinks she is a boy.

Well, yes, DD too would very much like to be a boy..for a long time she insisted she would be wearing a shirt and tie to her FC like her older brothers. She never wears skirts or dresses. But she now understands that she will be wearing a dress for her FHC. like it or not.

I would definitely keep the ££££ one forever, and I would love it if a granddaughter ever wore it. .

I should get the one I really love, shouldn't I?

DD is making her Communion & Confirmation at the same time. The children can wear what they want as they wear white albs (overalls the alter servers wear) over their outfits. Some girls wear traditional white dresses with veils and some choose to wear nice white/cream dresses. Again with shoes, although most are white, some have silver or cream.

Although DD will be wearing the albs in the church, we've bought her a long white Communion dress & bolaro. It's gorgeous on her but did cost a bit more than I wanted to pay....but she's my only DD so what the hell . Also picked a very plain veil (as her dress has lots of detail in it). She wants to wear her hair up, so will bring veil along to hairdressers before the day so we can see best way to wear it.

I got DD white ballet pumps from Primark for £5 - bargain!

We're having family & friends back to house afterwards for buffet lunch. Will probably order sandwich platters from Greggs (not too costly & near our house), large pot of mums homemade soup, ready made salad stuff & pizza etc. Should all look good & be tasty with minimum effort!

Oh, and as for the communion cake, I'm going to buy a large Asda sponge cake with white icing (only £16 and serves 40). Will also buy some first communion cake toppers & ribbon on-line to decorate the cake. Again, will look fab for fraction of the price of having a cake made & most importantly will take minimum effort allowing me to enjoy the day.

DD1 had a short bob and wore a pearly Alice band headdress with an attached short veil.

People are shocked when I say that her Communion dress cost more than my wedding dress, but my wedding dress was much less than £100 back in the dark ages. It was all balanced out with her younger sister who had her dress made by a dressmaker friend for free. I bought their shoes from BHS.

Both had buffets at the house with Asda sponge cakes decorated with sugar craft flowers and pretty ribbon.

I knitted both my DDs a bolero to go over their dresses (a bit like the short sleeved one in this pattern) - But in a fluffy yarn rather than a shaggy yarn. Do you want a fabric bolero or a knitted one? I have a pattern you are welcome to borrow or I can knit it for you if you want.

Ohh, I must investigate these ASDA cakes!

TheWoollybacksWife, you are so sweet to offer to knit a bolaro! One of the dresses I'm considering comes with a matching bolero jacket, though, so that would be sorted. The other dress has short sleeves, and I don't want her to have anything over it. She can freeze for the sake of showing off the dress The date I've requested is at the beginning of June, so fingers crossed it won't be freezing!

You're welcome Lynette

I would also recommend this website for fimo toppers that would look lovely on the top of a cake. They have flat backs so would lie down on top of the cake. I have ordered from the site before and the figures can be ordered with appropriate hair colour, glasses etc. There is a proviso on the website though as I think she is ceasing trading from 5th April.

Watching with interest. Dd1 is going to be taking her first communion this year. I'm not Catholic so am completely at sea. We have got a dress, hoping it is ok as it is ivory not pure white, but dh reckons they won't chuck her out of church because her dress is ivory. Still need shoes and a bolaro. Do we really need to get her hair up? I can do some french plaits, might need to do that with some white flowers in her hair. I still have my wedding veil somewhere maybe I should trim that.

Dh is wanting a big family party and has promised dd1 a croquembouche (which I think is about all he can remember from his first communion)- he calls it something else but basically a load of profiteroles in a tower. I should add at this point that dh's culinary skills extend to a decent brunch and pasta, so it will be me trying to learn how to make the thing.

She is enjoying her lessons, though they still haven't quite managed to get her to admit that she has ever done anything wrong, but then she never does to us either.

Silver shoes would be a big no-no at our Church. Priest always gives the talk about a plain dress and no 'mini brides'!

I think the girls look lovely in the simplest dresses with no horrid veils.

As it will be dh at the talk I will be lucky to get any information beyond 'turn up on this day'. Quite happy to just do a nice plait, I can handle that! If I have time between stuffing profiteroles that is. Her dress was £24 from Monsoon in the sale, it's a slightly patterned ivory (well off white) party dress. I'm not going to spend loads on a dress she won't wear again.

Porkster, one of dds classmates is from a settled traveler family and she has announced to the world that she's having 'a dress just like on gypsy weddings' with the fake tan, glitter and hair to go with it. They're having 80+ guests on the day too.

I think our priest is going to have heart failure

Lol, our priest would just die at that.

It's all quite naice in our Church; people at school still talk about the girl who wore fingerless lace gloves in 2006!

10 years or so ago at my mother's church in Liverpool one of the First Communicants was the granddaughter of one of her friends and had a dress that had concealed fairy lights. As she received Communion from the priest she pressed a little button and her whole dress lit up.

It made a huge impression on my mother. As far as she is concerned there is an unwritten 11th Commandment "Thou Shall Not Show Off"

I'm quite looking forward to seeing what she turns up in tbh, should provide some light entertainment on the day [mean]

Apparently last year in a nearby town one of the traveller girls had a dress so wide she couldn't fit through the doors of the church and was crying from the weight of it I'm hoping it's nothing that dramatic, they're a nice family so I can't imagine they'd go that far.... I think