Wedding gowns put the Olive & Grace name on the sign, but a good share of the traffic through this West 3rd Street door is teenagers and their parents in the weeks before prom. Olive & Grace opened in 2022 in the Railside District of downtown Grand Island, and it runs a separate prom Instagram account alongside the bridal one. One customer review on the store's testimonials page sums up how locals see it.
Olive and Grace Bridal is wonderful, local place to shop for Prom dresses, right here in the historic Grand Island downtown.
That comes from a grandmother who brought two granddaughters in on a Saturday, and it lines up with the store's own setup. Saturday bookings are required for bridal, mothers, bridesmaids and tuxedos. Prom is not on that list, so a student can come in with friends and start pulling dresses.
The prom and homecoming labels
The online prom catalog filters by designer, and the names are a solid spread of what Nebraska students ask for.
Prom catalog
- Sherri Hill
- Amarra
- Ava Presley
- Faviana
- La Femme
- Juliet
- Sydney's Closet
- Tease Prom
Added on the homecoming and winter ball page
- Amelia Couture
- Nox Anabel
- Cinderella Divine
Amarra and Juliet cross over between seasons. The size filters on the prom pages run from 000 through 26, with women's sizes from 12W to 24W, and Sydney's Closet is there for shoppers who want a line cut for curves. Homecoming filters reach 32. The store notes that not every catalog style is on the floor at any given time, so a shopper with one specific dress in mind should contact the store with the style number before making the trip.
Owner Amy Mayhew built the store around a size-inclusive idea, and it shows on the prom side as much as the bridal side. A plus-size student at Olive & Grace is not stuck ordering blind from a photo. There are dresses in her size to try on before anything is ordered.
The store's blog gives a feel for how the prom buying leans. Its 2024 prom preview featured pastel lilacs, soft pinks and powder blues, then tiered ruffles on both mermaid and A-line shapes, with La Femme and Ellie Wilde styles among the picks. Homecoming has its own page and its own sale rack, so a sophomore shopping for a fall dance gets the same attention as a senior shopping for May.
Who comes in from where
Grand Island Senior High is one of the largest high schools in central Nebraska, and its students are the core of the spring rush, along with Northwest High, Grand Island Central Catholic and Heartland Lutheran. Families from Wood River, Doniphan-Trumbull, Aurora, St. Paul and Hastings also come into town to shop, since the store sits downtown in the city that already serves as the region's shopping hub.
A prom couple can sort out the dress and the jacket in one afternoon, and it pays to take a second look in the mirror before paying.
Tuxedos and suits
Rented for prom through Jim's Formalwear and Paul Morell.
Sales
Final, with no exchanges or refunds.
Alterations
Not done in-house; the shop keeps a list of local seamstresses it recommends.
Olive & Grace prom questions
Does prom shopping need a Saturday booking?
No. The Saturday appointment rule covers bridal, mothers, bridesmaids and tuxedos. Prom shoppers can come in without one.
Can the store fit a dress after I buy it?
There is no seamstress on staff, but the team will point you to local seamstresses it trusts, so leave a few weeks before the dance for fittings.