Crownies Couture makes one promise on its homepage that every prom shopper should hear before the first zipper goes up. It's a line about pace, and pace is what most girls fret over once the Pitt County prom calendar fills up.
Whether you need a precise fitting, expert styling advice, or are trying on your twentieth dress, we promise you'll never feel rushed or pressured.
That's the tone of the whole store. Crownies is a family-owned, mother-daughter formal shop on Red Banks Road in Greenville, run by owner Paula May with her daughter beside her. Its homepage welcomes visitors with "When you walk through our doors, you're not just another customer; you're family." The shop's focus is prom, pageant and black-tie events, and the site pitches Greenville families the kind of experience people often expect only in bigger cities like Raleigh.
Built on prom and pageant since 2018
Crownies began in 2018. In the shop's own phrasing, it was "a dream that started in 2018." When the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the family's new bridal boutique in February 2023, it noted that the mother-daughter team behind Crownies Couture had spent five years helping young women find their dream prom and pageant gowns first. That's the business the store still leads with, and it's where the staff's expertise was built.
The designer list is short and strong. The homepage names Sherri Hill and Jovani as the top names in its gown selection, and features Ashley Lauren and Ava Presley among its brands. The family's sister bridal site adds Primavera to the list of prom and formal labels sold at Crownies. Between them, those five labels cover a wide range of prom looks, and they're names most girls already have saved on their phones by January.
Pageant is a real part of the business, too. A shop that dresses girls for competition tends to know how a gown should fit through the bodice and move on a stage, and that knowledge carries straight over to prom.
Gowns, tuxes and Kynsley Bridal on Red Banks Road
Crownies is set up so a family can handle a whole formal season without leaving Red Banks Road:
- Prom, pageant and black-tie gowns from Sherri Hill, Jovani, Ashley Lauren, Ava Presley and Primavera
- Tuxedo rentals
- Accessories for prom night
- Kynsley Bridal, the family's bridal boutique alongside Crownies on Red Banks Road, for wedding gowns and mother-of-the-bride dresses
The tux partnership with Jim's Formal Wear is the part prom couples tend to overlook. A date can pick a look that matches the dress through the same shop where the gown came from.
Jim's Formal Wear partnership
Full-service tuxedo rental
Measurements
Simple, and taken online
Delivery
Direct to the door
Returns
Local support from the shop
Appointments are encouraged, since they guarantee you the staff's full attention, but walk-ins are welcome. In the store's words, "we'd love for you to stop by." During the busiest weeks of prom season, booking a time is the safer bet.
Red Banks Road sits in Greenville, so the shop draws from all over Pitt County. D.H. Conley and South Central students in the Winterville area, J.H. Rose students in Greenville, and families from North Pitt, Ayden-Grifton and Farmville Central all shop here without leaving Pitt County. Across eastern North Carolina, the draw for girls is having Sherri Hill and Jovani within driving distance of home, with a family-run team that has spent years on prom and pageant.
Questions about prom at Crownies Couture
How long has Crownies been dressing prom girls?
Since 2018. The mother-daughter team spent five years on prom and pageant gowns before the family opened Kynsley Bridal alongside it in 2023.
Which prom designers does Crownies carry?
Sherri Hill and Jovani lead the selection, along with Ashley Lauren, Ava Presley and Primavera.
How does tux rental through Jim's Formal Wear work at Crownies?
It is full service, with measurements taken online and the tuxedo delivered.