Pretty Party Dresses and Suits Plus Fancy Hair And Make Up Make It A Celebration!
As I keep saying in each part of this series, party planning is overwhelming. But this is the last part! Thusly, all of your party decor, party favors, and party vendors are booked – the final step is shopping for something pretty!
Experts suggest beginning your dress search for a large occasion six months before your event. This generous window offers plenty of time to look around leisurely. Additionally, if you are ordering a dress vs. buying it off the rack it could take months for it to arrive. Likewise, chances are you will not buy the first dress you see so starting early offers you a cushion to find the right one.
With that said, it took ten minutes to pick out suits for my husband and sons but a few weeks for my boy’s suits to arrive, so keep that in mind too. My husband did well finding a suit at Men’s Wearhouse as always and we got great suits for my boys on Zulily.
Similarly, start asking around for hair and makeup recommendations. The good places, people, and prime appointments book up quickly.
Speaking of looking good, if you’ve been thinking about any cosmetic improvements now is the time to start. For example, my husband has wanted Invisalign for years. He decided this was the right time to begin so by the time the party arrived he’d have a perfectly redesigned smile.
Let’s Get To Party Planning!
I laugh because as easy as it sounds, finding the perfect dress can definitely be challenging. But like all overwhelming things in life, you need to take a step back, exhale, and start somewhere to move forward. In truth, sometimes this is the hardest part.
Party Planning Series: Party Dresses, Suits, Hair & Makeup
Welcome to the final post in The Mint Chip Mama’s five-part party planning series. These posts cover everything needed to plan an awesome party – big or small – and within any budget. You can find each part of party planning broken up here:
Party Planning Part 1: Where To Begin
Party Planning Part 2: Party Vendors
Party Planning Part 3: Party Favors
Party Planning Part 4: DIY Party Décor
Party Planning Part 5: Party Dresses, Suits, Hair & Makeup
If you want to jump ahead to party planning finds, click on my Amazon store. This page is filled with party décor ideas, party favors, and even party dresses and party shoes for different themes and sizes.
Monochrome Color Looks Great In Pictures
Obviously, everyone in your family wants to look their best at your event. With that said this could mean matching a color or style with each other. For our party, we all wore navy blue because I love how it looks in pictures. Keep in mind that while matching limits your choices, it also helps focus you in one direction.
Party Dresses And Female Party Attire
Without a doubt finding the perfect dress will be harder than you expect, trust me. That said, you can buy something off the rack, online, or go to a boutique for a fitting and then order your size from the manufacturer. Regardless of where you get your dress, you’ll most likely need to allot a few extra weeks for alterations as well.
Since you’ll be in tons of pictures, make sure you have shapewear under your party dress. While I’m not usually a shapewear kind of girl, I appreciated this suggestion – from my tailor – who pointed out that without it you could see all of the lines.
Party Suits And Male Party Attire
Men don’t necessarily need to buy a new suit for a party but it’s a good excuse to get one. Alternatively, boys may not have a suit or want to wear a suit, so make sure to determine your level of formality before you start shopping. Furthermore, if this is their first suit, you’ll also need to buy an undershirt, dress shirt, belt, and tie.
Shopping For Party Shoes
Regardless of your event attire, you’ll all need party shoes. However, keep in mind finding comfortable, matching shoes can be challenging. Currently, where we live, kids wear fancy sneakers to parties. One would think this makes it easier but let me tell you trendy shoes can be harder to find than the perfect heel. Therefore, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to look around.
Party Dress Rehearsal
Remember that with generous return policies, you can try several styles and see what matches best with your attire and each other. Additionally, I suggest having a family fashion show to see how your final choices all look together. Once decided, return everything else immediately getting it out of sight and mind.
Glam It Up! Hair And Makeup
It is so much fun to get your hair and makeup done. However, if this is not something you do often finding someone you like at a place you trust can be trying. Therefore, it’s a good idea to ask around as well as keep your eyes open for hairstyles and makeup looks that resonate with you for ideas.
Subsequently, if you’re doing a photo shoot before your event, getting a hair and/or makeup trial is a good idea. First, this puts you on the same page as your stylist. Second, you’ll look good in the pictures!
For men and boys, be sure to time haircuts two weeks before your event so your hair has some time to grow in and look settled.
Party Planning Conclusion
Before you know it your party will be over, your face will be washed, and you’ll be back in sweats.
To sum up, all you will have left is the memories and hopefully some amazing pictures. It’s common to feel sad when the party is over and there’s no more party planning to do. Therefore, give yourself some time to sit back, take it all in, and just know that you did it!
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Our “Make Me Beautiful” Vendors
Zen Dentistry
Never forget the power of a good smile, especially for a big event when you’re hiring a professional photographer. My husband (a teen braces graduate) wanted to fix his smile with Invisalign for years. We decided several months before our event was the right time to begin. Zen Dentistry has been great to work with and he is very happy with the results so far. He loved that the first step was trying out their digital smile redesign link, especially because it’s been right on the mark.
Raves Salon
My daughter and I both wanted simple but glamorous hairstyles for the party and to go to a salon, not have someone come to our house. A friend suggested Raves Salon and I immediately screamed YES! I grew up going to Raves and it was my destination for all things relating to hair (including perms, I forgive you Raves) for years. Much like me, they’ve since grown up and become an even more beautiful salon.
During our hair trials, we discussed different options and played around until we both got our styles exactly how we wanted them. Additionally, we valued this test run and getting to know the stylist a bit. Even better, on the day of our big event, we were all on the same page and our hair came out perfect.
Beauty By Sherry 4U
Since neither of us are big makeup people, we wanted our event look to be natural (says, everyone). The same friend who recommended Raves recommended Sherry – their in-house makeup artist as well. Happily, Sherry translated our vision perfectly and was quick and professional. She made us appear like enhanced versions of ourselves and the look lasted all night.
Love By Design Party Dresses
If you followed my saga about falling in love with a dress – but then the wrong dress arrived – followed by the (sold out) right dress miraculously appearing, you’ll know just how much this Love By Design dress meant to me. This gorgeous one-shoulder sequin midi dress was the perfect dress to start off our night. It was fun and festive just like the beginning of the party. I am so grateful to the company for making such an effort, finding this dress for me, and making my dream come true.
Alex Evenings Party Dresses
In between the wrong dress arriving and the right dress appearing above, I found this beyond-incredible gown from Alex Evenings. All of their dresses (and I’m pretty sure I tried on every navy one) were stunning and better yet – comfortable and easy to wear. Additionally, this navy sequin gown loosely covered all the right places and even came off the hanger fitting perfectly (yes, they have petite sizes)! It was the perfect gown to wear once the party was in full swing.
Ask Alice Boutique Party Dresses (For Hosts And Guests)
We searched high and low for a guest of honor party dress that conveyed a space theme. Unfortunately, we kept seeing the same styles over and over everywhere we looked. However, upon stepping into Ask Alice Boutique we immediately knew it was different. From trendy clothes and guest party dresses upstairs to more formal gowns downstairs, we knew this was the place. When we pulled out this navy blue La Femme dress with iridescent studs sprinkled throughout it our jaws dropped. It was the night sky – in a dress. Even better – it had pockets! Ask Alice was fantastic to deal with and ordered us the dress that day. This dress was perfect as was their customer service.
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