Money cost prices communion dresses

tonyheaney

Hi all
Myself and my wife are going to Dublin to pick out a communion dress for our daughter.

Can anyone give us ideas of where we can look? Money's tight realistically my wife believes she can spend €300 on the dress alone. Is this possible?

We would very much apprecate your advice all as this is a first for us.

stargazer 68

OP if money is tight then 300 on a dress is ludicrous (its ludicrous anyway)! Dunnes have gorgeous dresses starting at 80. They have lovely cardigans and wraps as well as headpieces.

tonyheaney

Dovies wrote: »

OP if money is tight then 300 on a dress is ludicrous (its ludicrous anyway)! Dunnes have gorgeous dresses starting at 80. They have lovely cardigans and wraps as well as headpieces.

I set the budget of 300 as I know she will go crazy. She believes Dunnes dresses are "cheap" for a reason :confused her words not mine.

Sam Kade

tonyheaney wrote: »

I set the budget of 300 as I know she will go crazy. She believes Dunnes dresses are "cheap" for a reason :confused her words not mine.

She'll be only wearing it for one day.

uck51js9zml2yt

As Sam said, its only 1 day, 2 at most and then its never worn again.
If you can justify 300 for 1 day then go ahead.
Oxfam and barnados in Georges Street also do a range of branded dresses including wedding dresses that are very popular.

eviltwin

Cheap cost wise but the quality is good so you are getting value for money. It's just a communion. It's not a wedding and children won't care how much the dress cost. You don't have to spend a lot for your daughter to look well.

Benny_Cake

May not be of interest to you OP but SVP shops do sell a lot of very good quality communion dresses and there are a few around the country that specialise in occasion wear (weddings, first communions). The Terenure shop, for example.

lazybones32

I nearly choked when I saw 300!

My advice would be to take the initiative and bring the daughter to a second-hand shop and buy one there. I'd have no problem cutting the missus out of the decision-making loop on this one and put the money to better use but I'm single and won't have to sleep on the couch or be deprived sex for following my advice...
Buy your daughter a book about what Communion is about and try downplay the appearance aspect to the wife.

gerard2210

My wife got our daughters dress in the school wear centre in Galway. 50 euro. The store were clearing last year's stock to make room for the new season dresses. Crazy to spend 300. Debenhams sell communion dresses for less than 100.

cattolico

tonyheaney wrote: »

Hi all
Myself and my wife are going to Dublin to pick out a communion dress for our daughter.

Can anyone give us ideas of where we can look? Money's tight realistically my wife believes she can spend €300 on the dress alone. Is this possible?

We would very much apprecate your advice all as this is a first for us.

I have a dress my 3 daughters used for their communions. If you want it I can send free, just PM me. Its in mint condition.

Mrs OBumble

lazybones32 wrote: »

Buy your daughter a book about what Communion is about and try downplay the appearance aspect to the wife.

Indeed. Lines like "so long as it's modest, Jesus doesn't care what you wear" are important.

And if she says that she does care, then a long thoughtful conversation about what Communion is all about might be in order.

freshpopcorn

Here's are a range of dress from Debenham. Some are under €120.

http://m.debenhams.ie/kids/occasionwear/communion

Here's some more from Dunnes and there by Paul Costello. So they've a proper designer. Download the images to your phone and ask your wife what does she think of the Paul Costello dresses and if she likes them tell her there from Dunnes.

http://m.dunnesstores.com/girls-communion/paul-costelloe-living/fcp-category/list#

stoplooklisten

I'm sure she can spend 300, if she tries, most of arnotts ones are under that, but maybe they are also too cheap for you?

300 on a dress is nuts, how much have you budgeted for shoes, tiara/veil?, bag and all the other claptrap

http://www.arnotts.ie/categories/kids-communion-wear/550800


Here's a designer palce in maynooth with a dress register to avoid duplication
http://www.maynoothcommuniondresses.ie/clearance


or another one http://www.cathyscommuniondresses.com/communion-dresses.html Prices From €69 Dearest Dress €225

done deal of full of them
https://www.donedeal.ie/communionwear

I have no affialtion or know anything about these sellers, I just found the 300 euro amount fascinating and googled

Cabaal

One has to ask why communions aren't just done in school uniforms like confirmations (since they insist on using so much school time for prep). They seem to put familys under an awful lot of pressure and at the end of the day the dress/suit is not what the day is about,

I'm curious have any parishes decided to move away from the dresses etc?

lazygal

Cabaal wrote: »

One has to ask why communions aren't just done in school uniforms like confirmations (since they insist on using so much school time for prep). They seem to put familys under an awful lot of pressure and at the end of the day the dress/suit is not what the day is about,

I'm curious have any parishes decided to move away from the dresses etc?

Some use albs.

I don't agree with using uniforms. Confirmations and communions are not school events. They are sacraments of the church. Why would school uniforms be worn at non school events?
IME families put themselves under pressure, not the church or school. I babysat for a fairly well off family and the same dress and veil was worn by three daughters, and had been passed on by a cousin who's sister wore it too, and it was passed along to another family member afterwards.

looksee

lazygal wrote: »

Some use albs.

I don't agree with using uniforms. Confirmations and communions are not school events. They are sacraments of the church. Why would school uniforms be worn at non school events?
IME families put themselves under pressure, not the church or school. I babysat for a fairly well off family and the same dress and veil was worn by three daughters, and had been passed on by a cousin who's sister wore it too, and it was passed along to another family member afterwards.

If they are not school events why is so much school time dedicated to preparation by the school teacher?

lazygal

looksee wrote: »

If they are not school events why is so much school time dedicated to preparation by the school teacher?

Exactly. There is already enough association of sacraments with the school day without further requiring that a school uniform be worn to a non school event.

Cabaal

lazygal wrote: »

Some use albs.

I don't agree with using uniforms. Confirmations and communions are not school events. They are sacraments of the church. Why would school uniforms be worn at non school events?
.

I'd agree with you,
They are not school events, but in reality you wouldn't know that given the 20% of school time spent on prep for them.

If they are going to insist on waste so much school time on them then I think its only fair they make things easier for parents and opt to wear uniforms. This would have the benefit of reducing costs for parents.

In relation to the op's question, 300e for a kids dress is insane. There's plenty of options to get a dress for much much much less including Aldi, second hand etc. At the end of the day many kids want to change out of the dress after the mass.

lazygal

Cabaal wrote: »

I'd agree with you,
They are not school events, but in reality you wouldn't know that given the 20% of school time spent on prep for them.

If they are going to insist on waste so much school time on them then I think its only fair they make things easier for parents and opt to wear uniforms. This would have the benefit of reducing costs for parents.

Who is 'they'? There is and never was a requirement for any specific clothes to be worn for any sacrament, apart from a white blanket or shawl for baptism. Parents, I repeat, put this pressure on themselves. There is no 'they' who need to make things easier for themselves or reduce costs. New clothes are not a necessity for the sacrament, if parents choose to buy them even if they are not within the family budget, I don't see why 'they' need to make life easier.

looksee

lazygal wrote: »

Who is 'they'? There is and never was a requirement for any specific clothes to be worn for any sacrament, apart from a white blanket or shawl for baptism. Parents, I repeat, put this pressure on themselves. There is no 'they' who need to make things easier for themselves or reduce costs. New clothes are not a necessity for the sacrament, if parents choose to buy them even if they are not within the family budget, I don't see why 'they' need to make life easier.

Would you really force your 7 year old daughter to take her first communion in just any outfit if the rest of her school friends were wearing all the bride/princess stuff? The children don't choose to do all the first communion pageantry, it is imposed on them by the school environment and their parents. The least the parents can do is make sure they have a pretty white dress (and trimmings) the same as the other little girls.

lazygal

looksee wrote: »

Would you really force your 7 year old daughter to take her first communion in just any outfit if the rest of her school friends were wearing all the bride/princess stuff? The children don't choose to do all the first communion pageantry, it is imposed on them by the school environment and their parents. The least the parents can do is make sure they have a pretty white dress (and trimmings) the same as the other little girls.

As parents we make all sorts of choices for our children which don't always involve making sure they get the same non essential clothing as everyone else. Should my children have to attend a religious school we'll have to deal with the fact our daughter won't be donning a pretty white dress and trimmings at all.
There is no "they" forcing parents to spend money they can't afford. Why should there be a diktat that school uniforms be worn to sacraments because parents put themselves under pressure for conformity? Plenty of parents who could easily afford to buy top of the range don't. My own parents didn't go all out and even though I might have wanted a parasol didn't mean I got one because the money was better spent elsewhere.


Eta communion dresses and trimmings can be reused and bought second hand. I referenced a wealthy family I babysat for. The communion dress and trimmings went to loads of cousins. No one spent money they didn't have if there was a perfectly adequate alternative.

goz83

€300 on a communion dress? :pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac:

Your wife is expensive OP. A dress for 1 or 2 days....for christ sake its not a wedding! And I don't agree with wedding dresses costing more than the price of the average family car either.

amdublin

Paul Costello (an international designer) has the most fabulous dresses for €120 downwards. In Dunnes.


They are far from cheap. In design or cost. I think €120 is more than adequate (and not cheap!!) to spend on a dress for a child.

tonyheaney

Ok guys want to thank you all for your advice and to the poster who offered their dress free of charge. we went to a shop in Naas and we got the whole lot dress included for €350. dress, shoes, gloves, veil, headpiece, socks, umbrella (which was given to us free ) shes pretty chuffed.

All we got to do now is worry about the day.

byhookorbycrook

Cabaal wrote: »

One has to ask why communions aren't just done in school uniforms like confirmations (since they insist on using so much school time for prep). They seem to put familys under an awful lot of pressure and at the end of the day the dress/suit is not what the day is about,

I'm curious have any parishes decided to move away from the dresses etc?

A few places have tried that I know of but most parents want the girls in the dresses.