Prom Dress shopping on the internet....

So Sweet Boutique is actually BOTH an Internet store and a physical storefront so, we get exposed to both sides of the coin from our Internet customers and our in-store customers. On occasion, we will hear our store customers say....."we saw the exact same thing on the Internet for cheaper". When it comes to formal wear, I wanted to take the time and explain a few things. When you have a storefront, you do have more overhead. First off, if you come into the store and you are working with a customer service rep who is taking time to measure you or your child, help you find or match up something, taking the time for you to try on several items........ there you go! Why shouldn't it be a little bit more money if you are the type of person who needs this type of service to make a decision on what to by. Time is money to and when you need to go into a store to help assist you in your buying selection, be prepared to pay a little more. Second, if you order on the Internet - you can expect your dress or item not to come freshly steamed out or prepped for you. If and when you take your dress and get it professionally steamed out, this service could cost you anywhere between $25- $75. When you purchase your dress in the store or special order it, when you pick up your dress it will have already been steamed out for you. Third, you can expect to pay a little something for shipping your item to you, this cost can be built into the price of the hang tag you see in the store verses the Ala cart version on the Internet. In other words, you do not know the exact price until you check out and then don't forget to expect to pay money to have your dress prepped for you. So, sometimes buying on the Internet is NOT always the best deal so, make sure you give us and other retailers the benefit of the doubt if our in store pricing is a little bit more.

The final touch to her Communion Dress!

So, it is official First Communion dress shopping season. How can you make this event special? Include your little girl in on the selection of her dress and all the accessories that go with. If you have a local store to take her to, we always suggest that first. After all, the dress selecting experience is a very special time too! If you are unable to go to a local retail store, have her spend time looking are website and be sure you have a pen and paper to write down several options.

Communion dresses typically are always white, but there is now a lot of freedom in the selection of "style" of dress so to speak. We actually carry a large selection that can cover even a "picky" child's taste. We offer first communion dresses that are embellished with sequins, pearls, and rhinestones. Often when you select a dress that has one of these key features on it, you want a veil to match that also offers the same type of embellishment. We also offer simpler style

first communion dresses, that can be a plain taffeta dress or just a simple bridal matte satin with a few flowers on it. You can also select a mini communion purse or handbag that matches the flow of the theme of their communion dress to add a final touch. Typically gloves are not worn during the ceremony, but are common for photographs, the reception or as a simple keepsake. Always remember to make it a special time since it truly is a landmark for your little girl!

Prom Dress - Orlando Fashion Show!

Some exciting news! We will be at Hagerty Highschool on February 6th to assist them with a 2010 Prom Fashion show. We will be displaying 36 of our prom dresses from all of our designers such as Sherri Hill and more. We will have GOODIE bags for the first 50 girls that enter the door to watch the show. All schools and anyone is welcome to watch this super cool show that Hagerty High is putting on. If anyone is in the Orlando area, it's worth coming out to see. I believe tickets can be bought at the door or ahead of time. We would love for other girls from the other schools to come by and see us. Hagerty High is located in Oviedo off of Lockwood Blvd.

Communion Dresses

As we turn from wrapping up Christmas Dress season we start to gear up for Communion Dresses. I must say our selection this year in our Orlando store will be better than ever. I was really impressed with the quality and styles by one of our very favorite manufacturers. They have created a lot of new styles and lengths - all for fabulous prices. The details on these communion dresses are superior and if you want your little girl to feel special, she surely will.

Our communion dresses start to arrive in just a few weeks, we will be sure to have plenty of hair wreaths, petticoats, jewelry sets all in stock for fast turn around. We would love to be part of you and your child's special day. Be sure to book an appointment with Mary Jo, she is our communion expert! Mary Jo can be reached at: customercare@sosweetboutique.com. As for our online customers, we would love to help you to.

Prom Dress Stores in Orlando Florida, announce Jovani trunk show!

Prom Dress Stores in Orlando Florida, announce Jovani trunk show!

PROM DRESSES NOW IN ORLANDO STORE!

We our overwhelmed and excited about all of our new 2010 prom dresses and junior pageant gowns that have been arriving to our Orlando store the last few weeks. We are even more thrilled to tell everyone we will be hosting a JOVANI dress trunk show starting in February to show you many more styles of JOVANI than anyone in the greater Orlando area! We are your key Jovani retailer and will be offering A LOT of fun incentives and freebies if you book your Jovani Prom or Jovani Pageant dress with us. You don't need a special VIP card or any invitation, just come on it during store hours. We have limited supplies so, stop in early!

Jovani - 8629 - Prom Dress arrives to our Orlando Store!

This prom dress by Jovani is totally amazing. It has a blue sequined bodice with a funky print underneath the flow of the skirt. It is a strapless dress and has such a cute back with a bow on it. This dress is awesome for someone who loves prints and maybe a ballgown style type dress. It is the latest of the prom dresses that have arrived to our store in Orlando.

Girls Christmas Dresses

Girls Christmas dresses are in bloom on our online store and in our local store. Our local customers have been starting to chime in and seem to be pleased at our Girls Christmas dresses this holiday season. Yes, I said holiday season! It comes and goes so quickly, it is hard to believe we are just at the starting line. This Holiday season we see lots of fun fabric changes with the Christmas Dresses we have selected. We are offering dresses with flocking, rich taffeta's or rhinestone accessories to add a little more pop. We have had a hard time picking our very favorites but, I usually fall for the rich classic look. My five year old, Lucille, has selected a dress for when she sees Santa, a dress for a holiday party, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I am hoping to do a switch and bait and squeeze the dress that I love in there too! Don't forget to add the tights and a sweet pair of black patent mary janes!

2010 Prom Dresses - Now in our Orlando Store!

Yes, it is hard to believe but our 2010 Prom Dresses have already started to arrive. I guess this year, early bird will def get the worm. What an good worm it will be too! We wanted to share our favorite style so far by designer brand Jovani. The bodice has delicate and vibrant beading that is dazzling to the eye.

Make sure you stop into our local store in Orlando to take a peak at the hottest fashion trends in prom dresses for 2010. We will be offering lines from Jovani, Sherri Hill, Tiffany Designs, Tiffany Presentation, Studio 17, Hannah S, Panopoly, Faviana and more.

PROM DRESSES and HOMECOMING DRESS NEW SITE LIVE!

We are so thrilled to announce that we have our new website up that will be featuring our prom dresses in 2010 along with our Homecoming dresses. Due to the enormous amount of work it took us last year to upload our prom collections, we invested some research this fall to conquer the battle of getting our dresses up fast. We were pleased to find a database server that allowed us to do so and hope our customers like it to. Now our Orlando customers can view more easily what prom dresses or homecoming dresses we have in our store and our online customers can too! We are also able to show the special order sections and ordering is very easy and more features such as larger images of the dresses, more pictures all together and so on. We will be featuring prom dresses 2010 from Sherri Hill, Jovani, Faviana, Tiffany Designs, Panapoly, Studio 17 and more. Our Prom dress collections are expected to start arriving in late December. Our store serves several areas such as Deltona, Daytona, Tampa, Kissimmee, Waterford Lakes, East Orlando and more. Click here to view our new Prom Dress site.

Christmas Dresses - EEK!

We just love all the wonderful options that we have this year for our Christmas Dresses and even better, we were able to offer better prices! The better price seems to be the kick since we have sold several Christmas Dresses this week, a record for the first week in October. Next week MORE Girls Christmas Dresses and our fun Christmas clothing should arrive and we are busy like worker bees rearranging the store to create a space for them.

I personally have even selected my daughters Christmas Dresses, style 1809 and they just arrived to the store. I loved the ones I selected since we are in Florida and it can get hot during the holidays, the jacket is removable! Then to dress it back up, they can simply put back on the velvet jacket. The dress itself is made of a lightweight taffeta, so just add their black patent shoes and they are all set. The dress comes in a dark blue, a romance burgundy and black. Having it come in all three colors is awesome since both my girls and my niece could match once again for holiday pictures!

Flower Girl Dresses Arrive for Camp Base Project!

If you have not heard, we have teamed up with Valencia to sponsor 35 little girls that have been diagnosed with cancer and will be assisting them with their very own prom! It is an amazing project lead by CAMP BASE and UCF and we are thrilled to be a part of it. We have created an "Adopt a Princess" program where it only cost $25 to sponsor a little girl for this event. Unfortunately, some of them won't make it to their own prom and we want them to experience this special event now. We also have teamed up with one of our favorite manufacturers who are assisting us with the most amazing dresses and accessories. If you want to help us, shoot us an email at sales@sosweetboutique.com.

Sherri Hill Homecoming Dresses - Prom Dresses too!

We just got our dresses in from Sherri Hill not to long ago. We were all mesmerized by the girly girl details and the flare for fashion this designer has. Sherri Hill makes lavish dresses for both homecoming and prom. It still seems short dresses are in for fall and long dresses are the fashion statement for prom, but with these dresses...anything can go! Our Orlando store customers all seemed to love the Sherri Hill homecoming dresses - collection this fall as well and are excited for the 2010 prom collection to arrive.

Timbercreek's highschool just celebrated their homecoming event last night, the first of many area schools. We still have several schools such as Oviedo, Hagerty, Lake Howell, Winter Springs, Winter Park and more to celebrate with!

It's a Boy!

What a day! It was a moment as we brought Jayden into the world. Jaime, the store manager, had her baby boy this morning in at the wee hour of 6AM. I am proud to say, I was there and even cooler...it is my birthday today. What a great gift to have been part of an amazing process.

As for So Sweet Boutique, we are all taking a deep breath while Jaime is out, but she has prepared us and organized us very well. We do expect Jaime to bounce back as her delivery went very smooth and fast.

Fun Photo's at So Sweet Boutique

We really enjoyed having the little photo shoot at So Sweet Boutique! I really like how you can see the store layout and all the lovely dresses. Our new shop location in Orlando is really working out great! We have been busy this week with homecoming dresses and the start of Christmas dress season. Jaime, our manager should be having her baby any day now, we all can't wait to meet him.

Flower Girl Dresses and Measuring Correctly!

I think the most common mistake when mom's or others measure their child for a flower girl dress, they do not take the length of the child into account. Many times over, I will get a parent on the phone who insists their 8 year old child should be wearing "according to the size charts" a size 2. We look for three key measurements when we assist our customers in our store when we size a child.

*with a soft measuring tape!

1) We look at the measurement around the chest (the nipple line)
2) We measure around the natural waist line ( approx 1.5 inches above the belly button, where it may curve in a little).
3) We measure shoulder to floor, to get an idea of the length of the child.

It is critical that we don't add room with the tape, nor make it snug. We want the actual measurement of the child so, we know exactly what her body type is like.

At times, you will see tall and skinny children.. This is always the case when we have a parent like above that wants to put their child in such a small flower girl dress. They are only taking into account the chest/waist measurement and are forgetting about the length. But, if they don't listen they will find that the dress that they insist on ordering is also "way to short". Formal wear often needs alterations (just like it does for big people). Kids are not built alike so, it can be a challenge to find a flower girl dress right off the rack that fits!

We encourage our customers to call us, so we can help make sure they are sizing correctly prior to ordering...that way they get the best size for their child!

THANKS ORLANDO!

For Kids Clothing Store
in Orlando

Flower Girl Gifts - Fun Ideas!

So what do you give your flower girl attendants as a gift?

There are many fun things you can do for your flower girl! One of the more popular trends is to give a piece of jewelry or a matching accessory that she can wear with her flower girl dress in your wedding. One of our favorite things to assist the bride with is a cute little tote bag full of goodies that the child can use or play with the weekend of the big event. Sometimes a new set of crayons with coloring books, an art set or make your own jewelry kit will go along way. It also can give the child an activity to do at the rehearsal dinner. Children love being thought of and reminded how special they are to you (after all, that's why they are your flower girls). So, make sure to add the extra touch as you include them in your big day!

What dresses to pick out?

Someone recently asked me, how do you pick out your dresses or know what to buy? Unfortunately, there is no crystal ball that tells us what will sell really well each season. I have learned over time one of the best things to do, is not buy what I like....but buy what has sold the last season, but with a fresher look. Each part of the country and even state can set fashion trends in your area. So, over in Alabama ball gowns maybe in this year where as here in Orlando, the prints are still hot. It just depends on your area or market. I think the biggest thing we ever did wrong was buy what WE liked, that was quite foolish and in looking back the last few years - that was our biggest loss. No matter what, looking at fashion trends is always fun and going to shows to see the latest styles is always exciting. If you don't love what you do, why do it?

Pageant Dresses and kids!

We take the time to really assist our girl's when they are selecting their pageant dresses out. Sometimes I wonder if we are working for the child or the parent? It almost seems critical to make sure the final dress selection is comfortable, the color is right AND the child loves the dress. If that child is not confident in what she is wearing, they are not going to glow on stage. The audience and the judges love watching that child light up the room, that is what they are looking for. So my note to all those moms and grandmother's out there that are out buying a pageant gown for their kid -make sure you follow the below punch list to ensure a win win situation for everyone.

Pageant Tips on selecting a dress!

1. What is your child's coloring (such as skin tones, hair and eyes)?
2. Is your child old enough to wear a floor length pageant dress (who wants to see a 2 or 3 year old fall down )?
3. Does your child have allergies or is sensitive to anything (such as fabrics)? Who wants a child that complains that there dress makes them itch or is uncomfy!
4. Does the child love the dress as much as you do?
5. If you have a budget, don't show her the items she can't have!

Your job as the parent is to help guide her towards a dress that displays HER best features and not just select a pageant dress that you love.