Flower Girl Dresses

Flower girl dresses are worn by little girls between the ages of three and eight, mainly at weddings, where the flower girls walk down the aisle ahead of the maid of honor, sprinkling flowers and confetti in the path of the bride. Flower girls dresses are not, however, restricted to weddings, and are also often worn on many other occasions like at parties, receptions, communions, baptism, christening, Easter, and other special programs.

I've spent the past half-hour on the Internet, looking at some of the grandest and loveliest flower girl dresses. There seems to be no dearth in designs of flower girl dresses. You can find dresses in materials like silk, organza, and satin, and with lashings of trimmings in lace, tulle, satin ribbons, seed pearls, beaded appliques, corded rosettes, and much more. One that really caught my eye was a white flower girl dress with a white princess style bodice, puffed sleeves, and a layered tulle skirt, sprinkled with pink and cream silk rosebuds. Another had a satin sleeveless corset back bodice accented with beaded rosettes and a full ankle-length skirt, trimmed with seed pearls around the hem, and lined with a crinoline underneath to give it a great ball-style effect.

Most little girls like to dress up, and given the wide choices in flower girl dress designs, patterns, textures, colors and sizes, you are sure to be able to find a suitable dress for even the most fastidious and picky young girl.

Flower girl dresses are often accompanied by a variety of matching or complementary accessories like a tiara, a wicker basket with flowers, ribbons, headbands, bows, barrettes, veils, hair wreaths, gloves, and so on. You can buy these separate or buy them along with the dress.

Custom Flower Girl Dress
Since the dress is to be worn on a special occasion, it is important that it fits properly. So plan and go shopping well in advance of the big occasion to avoid any rushed, hasty decisions. You don't want a nightmare of a big day where the dress won't fit and the flower girl throws a tantrum because she hates the dress and doesn't want to wear it.

It is a good idea to take the flower girl with you and let her have a say in choosing the right dress. There are plenty of things to consider when getting a flower girl dress -

• Decide if you want a dress in silk, satin, organza, or in a combination of all.
• Decide if you want a white, pink, peach, blue, lilac, or any other colored dress.
• Decide if you want a puff-sleeved, short-sleeved, long-sleeved, or sleeveless dress.
• Decide if you want a dress that zips up at the back or one that has buttons or hooks.
• Decide if you want a calf-length or ankle-length dress.
• Decide if you want a simple dress or one with intricate trimming.
• Decide what kind of trimmings you would like and in what combinations.
• Decide what kind of accessories will go well with the selected dress.

Get the flower girl's exact measurements and see that you get a dress fitting those. Or you can take the measurements and get a custom flower girl dress made. Your local tailor probably will be happy to pitch in and help. If not, look online. There are plenty of dressmakers and fashion design businesses offering custom flower girl dresses. You can send them the measurements over the Internet, select dress designs from their online catalog, and ask them to send you material swatches by regular post. Once you have made your selection and have placed your order, they will normally deliver the dress within six to ten weeks. You can also place a rush-job order, but, of course, you will be required to pay an additional fee for that.

Here's how you should go about getting the exact measurements: Use a smooth tape for taking measurements. Take measurements of the shoulders, the chest, the waist and from top of the shoulder to the floor. Take length measurements from the shoulder to mid-calf or up to the ankle. Most flower girl dresses are ankle length or come up to mid-calf.