If you can, its great to have male models accompany

Beach Wedding Dresses Don't Have To Be Plain Or Boring

Many couples are considering alternatives to the usual church wedding and for some, this means marrying on a beach. Beach weddings are intimate and highly romantic, but they also offer other wonderful perks which many people are a little surprised to discover.

One of the joys of a beach wedding is that everything gets to be scaled down to a more serene and unique level. With the beautiful scenery as background, you can spend more time working on the vows that you will be saying to each other. You can also spend more time choosing the wedding outfits, and for the bride that means finding her beach wedding dress! Whether you are marrying on distant shores or having a more casual affair at your local beach, choosing the perfect dress is every bit as important and deserves all the attention and consideration you can give it.

One of the best parts of a beach wedding is that no aspect need be expensive. As a matter of fact, when choosing your dress, the biggest question is probably what type of dress do you want to wear - do you go with a more traditional gown or something less formal?

Regardless of the type of dress you decide on, every bride wants it to be uniquely hers. It's the little details that will really make you fall in love with your wedding dress. Here are some creative ways you can incorporate to help make your dress your own:

- Tie a wide silk ribbon, chiffon sash or cummerbund around your waist. For a little added punch, use a color other than your dress color. For instance, if your dress is white, how about contrasting the waist band in ivory or champagne - you could even coordinate it with one of your wedding colors. This is a particularly good option for a second wedding when you don't want to wear a totally white dress.

- Try a dress of a different color other than white - like champagne, blush pink, baby blue, or even something vibrant like red!

- If an entire dress in red is too dramatic for you, but you like the idea, how about an accent of color around the neckline, hem or waist? This is really a great idea to play up the season of your wedding - red for winter holidays, maybe gold for fall, or turquoise for summer.

- A basic dress can be embellished with embroidery, possibly with a little pale color in the design. You could add some pearls, Swarovski crystals, sequins, colored rhinestones, or chiffon fabric flowers into the design.

- If you are adventurous, you could alter the hemline. A high-low design where the dress is knee length in front and floor length in back is a popular style for the flirty look of a tropical wedding dress. Out on the beach you might not want a full length dress, so perhaps you might consider shortening it to tea length for a more casual wedding dress feel.

You can truly be creative with your beach wedding dress and it can still be quite affordable. But, if you love the look of the basic little dress with only a smattering of flowers in your hair, then this should be what you wear.

Remember, your dress should be a reflection of who you are and it should also reflect the environment you are marrying in. A beach wedding embraces a love of nature and this should come through in your wedding dress.

There are no rules for a casual beach wedding dress, so feel free to express yourself and make your dress a special one, just for you.

How To Run A Fashion Show For Prom Dresses

A fashion show intended to showcase prom dresses is different from an ordinary high street fashion show. Not only will it take much longer for models to get into their outfits (which rules out quick changes) but the value and delicacy of the items means that a great deal of care needs to be taken.

Timing your show

You need to allow around two minutes per model. This is enough time to walk down the catwalk, pose and walk back down the catwalk.

In terms of back stage timing you need to allow ten minutes for a girl to get a dress on for which she will need at least one helper.

Boys

If you can, its great to have male models accompany your female models down the catwalk. A local hire company may be willing to lend you suits if you give them a call.

Announcer

Ask someone with good presenting skills to compere the show. Their role will be to announce the name of the model and give a commentary about the dress that they are wearing. For example 'This is Amy, she is wearing Bella, one of our pink prom dresses. This dress features stunning genuine crystal beading with a flowing tulle skirt'.

You should provide your compere with a script for each model/dress. This script should be organised in the same running order as the show.

Music

You should choose music which is both popular with the students in the show and appropriate for the occasion. Pay attention to the bpm (beats per minute) of the music. Your models will walk in time to the music and if the beat's too fast they may end up half jogging down the catwalk (ruining your timings!).

Vet all music before hand to ensure that it doesn contain expletives.

Walk Through

It a good idea to have a walk though of your fashion show. While it is common to do a full dress rehearsal (wearing all the outfits), you should think carefully about doing this. Every time a prom dress is handled it runs the risk of being damaged. It is therefore not advisable to do a full dress rehearsal.

Backstage help

You will need at least one person to help when a girl is trying to get into her dress. If you can stagger the girls putting on their dresses then you won't need as many helpers.

You also need a stage manager and an assistant stage manager. Both of these people should have a clipboard with details of the order in which the girls will go down the catwalk.

The stage manager stands in the wings and is responsible for ensuring that the right people go on stage at cheapest evening dresses the right time.

It is there responsibility to make sure the girl starts putting the dress on in time and to make sure she is down in time. They need to be female so they can go into changing rooms.

Changing rooms

Ideally you need two rooms close to the stage. At least one needs to ensure privacy.

As prom dresses are worth hundreds of pounds each it is important to ensure they will not get damaged in the course of a fashion show.

One way to ensure that this doesn't happen is by ensuring that no food, drink or make up is allowed into the changing rooms. Only the girls themselves and people helping them to get ready should be allowed in the changing room.

Ask girls to take long black maxi dress responsibility for dresses

Begin by explaining to the girls involved that they will be personally responsible for taking care of their dresses. Each girl should formally 'sign out' the dress when she takes it off the rack. At the end of the show, someone needs to be appointed to check the dresses back on to the rail. A girl's name should only be checked off the list when they have Cute Summer Dresses brought their dress back.

Enjoy it!

Running a fashion show can be great fun so finally, have a great time!