All contestants, (ages 6 months -23 years old) who finish the pageant with
excellent pageant manners will be awarded the title of Princess and
receive a Princess Sash and Crown to wear during the pageant appearances.

Dear Mothers,

We are excited to have your little princess in our pageant.  We have a pageant set up for fun for the contestants aged 6 months through eight year old. While we may dream for our little one to be on TV with a national ad campaign one day, our pageant is preparing them for feeling wonderful in front of the public by exposing them to large audiences at this young age so that they become comfortable in a social setting and move onto enjoying being in the public
eye. The Miss Memorial Day Pageant offers opportunities for our little girls, at this point, to have their dream of becoming a princess fulfilled by being crowned our Miss Memorial Day Princess.   

We want them to smile, have fun, dress up, meet new friends, take home a prize, make Daddy and Nana proud, and spend quality family time at the pageant.  With that in mind, I would like to offer to you some tips to make "Pageant Play" a fun time for you and your daughter.  Let her know that she
is going to get to go "play pageant" with her friends or cousins.

     Tips From Your Director For Youth Contestants and their Mothers

Often I am asked, "What are the judges looking for in a contestant?"   I have been judging for over 28 years and we are sarching for the girl that is having a great day on stage, and by that I mean, she is having a wonderful time and the audience smiles when she smiles.  SHe is glad to be on stage and loves being at the pageant. She is happy and confident! If you are new to pageants and have many questions about the why and whats of your first pageant, please enjoy the below notes about what a judge will be searching for when selecting her queen.

1. Choose a dress that best suits her coloring.  Never put a child under eight
in dark colors or black.  I only suggest black if they are a high school senior and even then I feel you can find a better color for your contestant. 95% of judges will score you low for bold dark colors on a child or baby. Pastel, bold corals, mint green, fushia, tangerine, baby blues, whites, pinks, ivories, and muted tones work best on a baby or child. If the pageant is a Christmas or Valentine's Day theme, it is appropriate to wear red or dark pink or  even a white dress is more appropriate for those special themed pageants. Choose a dress that the child can wear not a dress that overpowers your child.  You can buy a dress that you can use for 3 years but most times what you save in money you will loose in crowns.  Most dresses will have a string hanging down from the back of the skirt.  Look for it and clip it off.  Now that I have said this you
will see them everywhere.  

2. If your little one is still in diapers please cover the plastic diaper with "Pretty Panties." These are diaper covers that can be white or dyed to match her dress. It is like your "slip" is showing to a judge if your child's raw diaper is showing. Please cover up those plastic, cartooned, and wet diapers. Pretty Panties can be purchase at Belks near the socks and hair bows.  They can also be purchased at the second time around shop like Kid's to Kid's.

3. A happy, fun loving, personable contestant will win out over a pretty face
every time. Leave any stress in the car before you enter the pageant venue. Your child will pick up on the good vibrations and will be at her best.  In turn if you and your child are being sassy to one another others will pick up on that negativism also.     

4. If she can walk at a good pace alone --- LET HER!  Judges want to see her "personality" not how the two of you interact with each other. As soon as you can ween yourself off the stage- DO IT!.  It will be more traumatic for you than her. If she is not ready then join her but make sure you are not an attention queen because the judges will only see you and not your contestant. If the stage has a dark backdrop then you should wear a dark color to blend into the background. Look like a winner not a mother who lives through her child and never pays attention to her appearance. Kneel down behind your daughter in line up and when she is up in front of the judges,  Less YOU - More HER!  

5. If you have a small baby and will be carrying her on stage, be sure to practice holding her in the mirror. It is always sad to see an inexperienced mother that does not know the 'Pageant Hold". The judges can not see the child's face, her dress is covering her face, the dress is hiked up to show skin, her legs are dangling like noodles, and she is sunk into your arms.  
Remember to present her in the best position.  Practice at home in front of your mirror so you will have her in her best light and will not be fumbling around with the baby and dress once you get in front of the judges. Hold her close to you with the back frilly part of her dress behind her head if she is very young.  She will look like she is blooming. Make sure not to show any
bare skin. If she is older make sure the dress is not hiked up anywhere.            
      

6. If you are going on stage with your little one, let your toddler lead you-it shows confidence and spice.  Let her personality shine through.  Avoid the OVER ACTED kiss and wave.  If it Looks FAKE - It Looks FAKE.  I am sure you have all seen the child that is led around by Mom and is miserable "Performing".  She only brightens up and smiles when she is on her way off the stage because  it is over.  This is her day and this is her show for two whole minutes so let her shine and have a great time with the judges.  Most judges will smile and make a pleasant face for the contestant so they will feel good about being on the stage.

7.Follow the rules of the house. Stay way back behind the judges. Be pleasant when talking with other pageant parents.  Be pleasant in the dressing rooms- your stress bleeds onto other contestants. I am always told after the pageant that so and so's mother was so rude or mean.  We do not allow this behavior. Pageant directors don't want to work with a sassy mother all year long so, be on your best behavior.
If you do not handle stress with a smile and good graces then let another person take her back stage and you get a good seat up front ready to wave and smile at her.  Also,
accept the judges decision with grace and manners.  I recently attended a pageant where the mothers of 2 contestants were upset with the judges decision and rudely jumped up and called their daughters off the stage while the last of the pageant was still going on!  I was appalled with their childish behavior.  Do not go off stage and begin to say how your daughter should
have won.  We call that, " sour grapes" or poor sportsmanship.  I believe that
sour grape mothers only show others that  the judges were right by not picking a daughter of a sour grape.  If your daughter had won you would swear the judges were the smartest judges in all of pageant land. I do not give out score sheets but am VERY HAPPY to tell you what the judges thought
of your child and her performance the next day, Just Call and we will go over the scores, after all how can you improve if you don't know why your daughter didn't not win?  I look forward to these calls.   

8. Hair is very important to the over all look of a contestant.  The fuller and more natural the better.  Never have tight hair on a contestant.  Never use braids or cornrows unless it is the style of your race.   Never have the hair hanging over one eye. If it is short then keep the cut clean.  If it is medium length then give it some body and use a bow to one side or another. If it is long, straighten it or curl it and put half up and half down.
Very few noses can carry off a middle part! Part their hair on the left or right unless they have a perfect nose.   The more natural it looks--- the better. But if your child has short thin hair give her some body with a product.  If she is a baby with very little hair, use a matching head band with a little bow or treasure on it. Practiceeah day the week  before the pageant day to see which hair style looks best on your child. I perfer sweep to the side, with a smaller bow, full body, and curled at the bottom. I am happy to meet with you and show you a great "look" for your princess.

9.  If you are using a makeup artist let them know that over made up will be counted down on your child's score sheet. We are not looking for the CHINA DOLL look. NO flippers,hair pieces, fake tan, fake eyelashes and eyeliner. These are still our little girls so save the over dramatic look for a FULL GLITZ pageant.

10. Stay away from hair slicked tight on a child's head with a big fake bun of curls on the back, very few can carry off this style.  Full bangs, swept to the side, is a better choice on the little ones.  Fuller is always better.  This look is not in keeping with a child.  Many times all you need to do is to curl it front to back with 12 or more medium to large curlers. Wait until you get to the site to take them out. Bring a bag to put the curlers and clamps in.  After you take out the curlers have your daughter bend over, at the waist, and shake her head as you pick through her hair with your fingers.  Using a brush will just "flatten" out the curl.  Spray it while her head is upside down.  Wait for 1 minute for the spray to set and them let her flip her head back up. At this point use your fingers to pick her hair into place. Pull the curls into place with your fingers. This will give her a full natural look
and not look like a "pageant helmet head"!                                                                   
                                                                                                                 
11. If your daughter wins be, a gracious winner. No hooting or hollering please. Dads control the urge to belt out "That 's my baby!" Graciously accept the goodwill comments from others. Simply say, "Thank you" instead of going on and on about how you won or how you thought you would not win. Winners show grace and are tactful.  Be a gracious winner. You will show your daughter how it is done.

12. Check back with the director the following week by phone or email.   The
day and night of the pageant she has hundreds of items to check off and
sometimes does not even get to meet you and your little one because she is busy with the judges paychecks,  the music for the next pageant, the interview for the older girls, or even just eating before the next pageant begins.  Call and introduce yourself and get to know your director as she is looking forward to your year together!     

13. Let others know about the pageant. Tell them about the web site.  Directors love to know that their winners are spreading the word about their pageants.  It shows a vote of confidence from the queens and the queen's mothers. Many times it is these very women that I pull into my inner circle because they have been such a joy to work with!

14. It normally takes about 4 weeks to get the new queen's photos uploaded. If you have photos of the pageant please email them to; Cynthia_sold_it@yahoo.com.  Many of the best photographs are sent in by pareant.   The director must wait upon the photographer to send the official photos. It is exciting for friends and family to see your little one on the world wide web!  The pageant web site is; Missmemorialday.com