The Lily Room, formerly Dream Dress, opened in January in Shadow Lake – just in time for prom season. The experience of getting a prom dress can be overwhelming, but the creators of The Lily Room know all about it with their background being in bridal.
Nowadays many people might opt to shop online inside of coming in person, but The Lily Room is trying to make the task of picking out the perfect dress easier with their motto Prom Made Personal.
“We noticed that there just really isn’t a place to go prom dress shopping in the Omaha area and so we thought you know what, let’s give it a try and see what we think,” Rachael Bell said. “We just really want girls to feel beautiful and like they’re being taken care of.
The Lily Room is open Thursday through Sunday and appointments range from an hour to an hour and a half, starting with just looking around the store.
For prom dress shopping, people typically fit in between three sizes. At The Lily Room dress sizes range from double zero to 24. Pricing ranges from $200 to $1,200 dollars, with many dresses at the $250 to $500 dollar price point.
“We want to be able to serve all types of girls that are going to prom,” Bell said.
The five dress designers offered in The Lily Room were picked out of 15 different designers at the Merchandise Mart in Atlanta. Dress designs range from polka dots and beading all over to sleek and simple.
“We really just wanted to focus on finding things that were unique that you’re not going to see everywhere, and serve all different types of personalities,” Bell said.
For many people, prom is their first time trying on clothes for a formal occasion and it can be an overwhelming process of even where to begin. Booking an appointment with a stylist can help make the process somewhat easier.
“A lot of girls have never tried on a dress like this before and it’s fun to help them discover what their kind of more formal wear style is,” Bell said. “That personal touch comes through working one-on-one with a prom stylist.”
A considerable amount of the staff at the Lily Room are in high school. Having teenagers work at the shop helps with knowing what is popular and how to assist in making people shopping for prom feel confident.
“It’s really fun to see the high school girls working with the girls that come in and helping them feel beautiful in whatever they choose for prom,” Bell said.
The overall goal of prom dress shopping is to find the dress, but getting there can be a challenge. Whether it’s deciding between two favorite dresses or if you can sit or dance in a dress, staff at the Lily Room try to help with that decision the best way they can.
“Ultimately it’s what do they feel beautiful in, but we just try to help them get there through asking you lots of different questions that make them think maybe outside the box a little bit,” Bell said.
While some dresses can be sold right off the floor or are already ready in two weeks if ordered, some dresses may take multiple weeks or even months. Waiting to see if there’s something better than a dress you already love may result in losing the dress.
“I always say if you really love it, just do it so that you can make sure it’s yours,” Bell said.
The Lily Room is wanting to serve the community with making prom dressing shopping fun and individualized.
“We come from bridal and so shopping for your wedding dress is like a big deal, but [prom] is kind of like that first taste of what it would be like to shop for your wedding dress,” Bell said. “We just want to make sure people feel pampered and feel beautiful while they’re here.”
