Competing in a child beauty pageant is a great way for toddlers and youth to gain confidence and social smarts, develop talents, and many other skills that will be helpful throughout his or her life. During the preparation process, there’s a lot for both child and parent to do. Choosing the right kids’ pageant dress is certainly an important task to complete, but so are coaching, photography sessions, and proper diet. As with all things, of course, balance plays a key part in the story, too. A well-rounded pageant contestant will also spend ample time on schoolwork and play.
Have you ever been curious about how a young pageant contestant prepares for her big day? Or, are you considering entering your own child in her first beauty pageant? In this Sara Dresses blog post, we’ll demystify the glamorous pageant prep process by detailing how a young contestant might spend her weekends leading up to her big day!
Morning: Preparing The Perfect Dress
Ideally, kids will already know what pageant dresses they’re wearing two weeks to one month before the competition date. That way, she’ll be able to get used to wearing the outfits during her routines. Pageant clothing is a big deal because not only will judges evaluate how well they bring out a child’s natural beauty, but many pageants will also have a category to judge the dresses themselves.
Shopping for the right pageant dress takes a great deal of care. Some highly dedicated pageant parents will have the dress custom-made, but a dress that complements your child’s looks will usually do just as well before the judges.
Glitzing Up The Dress
Child glitz pageants usually require kids to wear dresses that are quite a bit fancier than even regular formal gowns. One activity that parents and children might do on a weekend before the big day is gluing Swarovski rhinestones onto the dresses and socks she plans to wear.
Morning: Preparing Hair & Makeup
Another big part of the pageant preparation process is designing hair and makeup. The actual look will be up to mommy to construct, but the contestant herself may have to sit at fittings for flipper teeth, wiglets, and/or hair extensions in the month leading up to her competition, especially if it’s a glitz pageant. That’s a lot of sitting still for an energetic young girl, but it’s worth it to look positively unreal in her kids’ pageant dress!
Afternoon: Schoolwork & Play
After a morning of dress and makeup preparation, the time is right for a young contestant to attend to the other important needs in her life, including schoolwork and play. For a couple hours each day, just like all other kids, she’ll scratch her head over math and reading. Then, she’ll get together with siblings or friends to play with dolls, go outside or even play some video games if her parents allow it. You may even catch a pageant-loving young girl playing pageant pretend with her friends or dolls. It’s up to the parents to make sure the kids don’t play in the actual pageant dress! The temptation is undoubtedly there.
Evening: 1-on-1 Coaching Time
Anywhere from once a week to every night in the weeks and months leading up to a child pageant, a pageant contestant will receive hour-long lessons from her experienced pageant coach. Just like dance or sports, pageant participation requires training and preparation! The coach will guide the child in all things pageant including:
- Choreography;
- Poise and posture;
- Confidence;
- Elocution;
- Dress selection;
- Healthy diet;
- Exercise; and
- Talent segment prep.
A good pageant coach will have her eye on the prize while also respecting the child’s holistic development. She will also know exactly what kind of pageant dresses will complement kids’ skin tones and hair colors under the bright lights of the stage!
Evening: Photo Session
Most pageants will require that each contestant submit different kinds of photos as part of the evaluation process. A little contestant will have to go through at least one photo shoot in the months leading up to her show. Her coach may take these photos, or her parents might get in touch with a professional photographer to get the shots.
Keep Your Pageant Prep Budget-Friendly
It’s no secret that youth pageants, and especially the kids’ pageant dresses required for them, are quite demanding on a parent’s time and wallet. At Sara Dresses, we strive to perfectly balance quality and affordability, providing dream-come-true dresses for little princesses to take the stage in. With free shipping on orders $60 and over and a dedicated customer service team, we make the shopping process as easy for parents as possible while we’re at it. Take a look at our exclusive kids’ pageant dress collection and precious hair accessories today!