Emily O'Reilly	Zoe 'Before'		Zoe 'After'

Its not something that you'll find in every girls wardrobe but for those of you with sights set on your daughters communion day we thought we'd check out some of the frocks on offer for the big day. We went to three different shops where dresses range from the very traditional to the more contemporary.

Our lovely model for the day was eight year old Zoë, daughter of Sunday Times Journalist, Emily O'Reilly.

Zoë is looking forward to making her communion in May. Emily's philosophy is 'less is more. Little girls at that age look beautiful in simple dresses that allow their own prettiness to shine'. She's heard horror stories about dresses costing a complete fortune but there a lot of the chain stores like Dunnes Stores, for example, that do dresses from around €65.

Helen Carty Little Angel	Mary Nulty Clerys	Maria Fusco Baby Bambino	Amy McLachlan Kiddies Kuts

Hair Do's - We've heard rumours of people requesting highlights and body waves for
their children's first communion. Amy McLachlan of Kiddies Kuts said that they don't
do any kind of chemical treatments at all and doesn't agree with it on young children.

Amy says that there a lot of things that parents can do at home. For the first look Amy just swept the top back a little, clipped it up and put on the veil which is quiet easy to do and wouldn't necessarily require a visit to the salon.

For the Baby Bambino Dress two simple clip combs with feathers finished the look.

For the sophisticated look Amy has swept back, tonged and pinned Zoe's hair around the tiara. This is probably something that you'd have to get done in the salon.

Model: Zoë Ryan
Location: Le Meridien Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin