How much to budget for prom?

[mjkacmom]

Boys are much less expensive. Dd18's dress was $350, ticket was about $125 (we paid for her boyfriend's, so $250 - he paid the previous year for his prom), her share of the limo (everyone here takes limos or party buses), $200 for hair and makeup, nails were $30 (acrylic), his flower.

She paid for her share of the weekend shore house.

Last year, ds16 was invited to the junior formal. We paid $50 for his ticket, he wore black pants, dress shirt, and tie he already owned, and spent $5 on a jacket at goodwill. Plus flowers for her.

 

[KKB]

Prom can be really expensive!

Dress - $240
Shoes - $90
Ticket = $80
hair - $140
nails - $30
prom pics - $60

These are all the expenses I can remember from 4 years ago.

Crazy ticket price--and why so much for hair??!!

 

[mjkacmom]

Crazy ticket price--and why so much for hair??!!

Our tickets are more, but proms are held at fancy wedding venues, with a multi-course sit down dinner, plus the DJ, dancing, favors, etc. I had no idea that some proms didn't include dinner - even the 6th and 8th grade dances here are held out, and include dinner.

 

[Katy Belle]

As you've seen ,it varies greatly depending on where you live! Here Prom is in the school gym and tickets are about $30 a couple. Kids go out to eat locally, or parents host formal dinners at home. Our most expensive restaurant would be about $60 per couple. Limos are rare here. Corsages are $22, bouteniers less.

I have only sons. DS19 went two years. Junior year he wore his suit, bought a new tie, $65 to match his dates dress. Sr year he rented a tux. I think it was about $100, wore his own shoes. He drove DHs sports car. Dinner was around $40 both years.

Girls dresses vary, of course! This year DS17 is a Jr. his girlfriend loves vintage clothes. I think she will wear a thrift store find. He will likely wear his suit.

 

[lehmaac]

It really depends on your kids. Some kids will love the idea of thrifting their outfit & creating their own look, others will put a lot of value on going all out glam & spending a small fortune. More importantly, decide what you can afford and are ok with. I think it's great that you're trying to be equitable with both kids.
Also, as other posters mentioned, whatever happened to the kids paying for it? True, the last prom I went to was 15yrs ago , but it was kind of a step into adulthood. Doing these very grownup activities (formal gowns, fancy dinners, party buses ) on my parents' dime would have just seemed weird to me.
Times change and kids these days are super busy, etc, etc, but when it's my kids' turn I think I'll give them a number I'll chip in & they'll be on their own for the rest. If my Mom had offered me, say, $250 for prom, I would have been floored.

 

[okeydokey]

My daughters prom budget was 65 for a dress(bought at Dillard's on clearance - now is the time to look at that). Shoes she is borrowing from a friend. Ticket is 40. She does her own hair and makeup and kids here don't really do the limo thing. Totally not an expensive night. It's as expensive as you make it.

 

[pfp258]

It looks like it might depend on where you live as to the budget you set. Around here my girls bought a dress between $350 and $600. The dresses needed to be altered which was about $100 each dress. You must have shoes, purse and jewelry about another $100. Then there is hair, $75 for an up do, mani/pedi $85 with tip, and make up,application $40 with tip. Girls get the corsage $20 for their dates around here. Guys rent their tux, pay for the tickets and drive their own cars. We have a post prom celebration in our community and girls usually pay for that.

 

[HM]

My kids are cheap prom goers.

Son had no girlfriend and decided at the last moment to attend prom. Son wore his suit.
He went with a group of guys. Bought their own meals.

DD bought her dress for $35 and shoes for $90. She's a great one for finding deals and started looking early. Did her own hair and nails. No corsage. I think her boyfriend spent more on his tux because he procrastinated. Dinner beforehand was at her friend's parents house, so no expense there. Late night meal at IHOP.

 

[CF'er]

Just went dress shopping today. Dress $470. Shoes to be determined. Hair $65. Nails $40. Make-up ?? Tickets $150 per couple. Limo/party bus $70 each person. Dinner ?

DD does have a job and is paying for part of her dress, her tanning and nails. I think I am doing hair and boutineer.

Sons tux was about $150 from a local place.

 

[v.t.]

So glad to see a prom thread! Both my DS's (15) have been invited to prom, the girls are seniors. What all will the boys be responsible for? I know their attire and girls' flowers. Best tux place? Tickets are very expensive, I think the senior ticket is $100 and the date ticket is $75, (dinner is served at the prom) do the boys offer to pay for that? Also, if the girls want a limo, should we pay? I don't know if they will go together, the girls have different circle of friends.
I am friends with one of the moms, but the other is just an acquaintance, so any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Judique]

Crazy ticket price--and why so much for hair??!!

We live in Maryland and they went out on the Potomac River on the Odyssey which included dinner. The boat was chartered for the whole prom.

That's a fairly normal hair trip for us. YMMV.

I did forget to mention another expense - we gave her a necklace which was just $400, but it can be used on other occasions.

 

[smiths02]

I have 3 kids. I am getting scared now. I'm 33, and I have never spent more than $100 on a dress.

 

[danygirl]

I have 3 kids. I am getting scared now. I'm 33, and I have never spent more than $100 on a dress.

We got a beautiful dress at nordstrom for around$125 last year. Dds BFF spent way more at a dress shop. They both looked lovely I think people spend a lot because they choose to spend a lot - which is fine if you have it.

Pd $100 in clearance at lord and taylor for other dd. She also wore that gown to sing in a big event. Spent another $60 on alterations. After her performance everyone commented on how amazing she looked in her dress.

And no one spray tans at our school for prom.

 

[dpswift]

I have 3 kids. I am getting scared now. I'm 33, and I have never spent more than $100 on a dress.

I feel the same way which is why my budget was less. DD bought a beautiful dress on CL. She spent $100 but the dress was worth far more. We looked to family and friends for hair and alterations.

When they get to prom age there are many large expenses in addition to a one night dance.

Since you still a few years to save start saving now. At this point a few dollars a week will add up. Also when they get jobs let them know that they will be responsible for part of the cost, say dinner and limo. We actually drove our younger DD to one of her proms.

 

[dpswift]

I wanted my daughters to find a middle-point between wild extravagance and too cheap. I wanted them to learn to be frugal and use their resources, and to realize that this is a one-night event -- in fact, it's only a couple hours -- yet still feel festive.

When my first daugther hit high school, I told her that I'd give her $50 + tickets for a small dance (homecoming or winter semi-formal) and $200 + tickets for prom. She could spend it anyway she liked, but that was my limit.

My rationale was that I wanted her to have a reasonable amount of money for a fun event, but I also wanted her to realize that you can't splurge-splurge-splurge on every detail -- you have to pick and choose which things matter most.

I did the "+ tickets" thing because I figured that tickets cost what tickets cost, and they had no opportunity to be frugal in that area.

How'd it work?

For her first small dance, she picked a short, sparkly dress in the $40 range, which left a little for some cheap jewelry. She wore a pair of silver sparkly heels that I already had. Perfect.

For her second small dance, she found a similar dress in blue, but it was a little over the budget -- she put in some money of her own, and she wore jewelry she already had.

For all of her later small dances, she traded dresses with friends. Everyone seemed happy.

For her first prom, she picked a budget-buster dress. It took the whole $200, but it was beautiful and very "her". When she picked it, I pointed out that it meant she'd have nothing left for shoes, etc. No problem -- she wore a pair of my shoes and carried a clutch purse of mine. She did her own hair and make-up.

For her second prom, she was fortunate enough to find a $50 clearance dress -- very different from her big, princess gown first dress, but "older", more mature. With her remaining money, she bought a pair of sparkley Toms . . . but in the end, wore the same pair of shoes she'd worn to her first prom. She was left with a little over $100, and she asked if she could spend it on college clothes instead of prom clothes.

My youngest has done similar things:

For her first small dance, she picked a nice dress that fell into the $50 range, and because she won't wear heels, she wore a pair of ballet flats that she already owned.

Before her next small dance came along, she found a great little B&W dress for $15 on a clearance rack, and she asked, "Mom, I know we don't have a dance coming up right away, but I love this dress -- could I go ahead and get it and credit it towards my budget when it's time?" Uh, yeah. That's exactly the type of thinking-ahead that I want you to learn! When the time came for that dress to be worn, we did end up adding a light sweater because it was sleeveless, and the weather was cold.

She hasn't done prom yet, but we're actually going out TODAY to see what's on New Year's clearance. She's interested in a black dress.

I'm completely happy with what we've spent, and they are too.

That is what I was striving for. Yes dances are memorable but so are vacations and other occasional splurges. We live in a school district where my kids go to school with both very poor students and the University sports coaches as well as other very well to do families. So budgets very considerably.

 

[angierae]

Our tickets are more, but proms are held at fancy wedding venues, with a multi-course sit down dinner, plus the DJ, dancing, favors, etc. I had no idea that some proms didn't include dinner - even the 6th and 8th grade dances here are held out, and include dinner.

Yup. Both mine and my DD's prom included dinner and I was really surprised when I learned that that's not true in a lot of places.

 

[angierae]

YMMV, but I think prom and other high school events are a really good time to teach our kids that life is not keeping up with what "everybody else does.". Not everyone has the same income, the same budget, the same amount of discretionary funds.

Never would I spend more $ than I had or was comfortable spending because "This is what people around here do." In my opinion, that's exactly how we get adults that are tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt because they have to keep up with the neighbors.

My daughter had friends in HS from all situations - from kids who lived in poorer surrounding cities and came to her school via Schools of Choice, to kids who lived in the ritziest part of town, to kids who were pretty solidly middle class like us. All of our choices - from dance prices to what we spent on her graduation party to what sort of clothing budget she had all through school - was based on what we could afford, not what was trendy or what everyone else was doing.

To me, it's an important financial lesson to learn. If you think buying your daughter a $500 dress she'll wear once is something you are okay with, and you can afford, that's fabulous, and you absolutely should do that. But don't spend that kind of money if you can't just because "That's what people around here spend."

 

[dpswift]

YMMV, but I think prom and other high school events are a really good time to teach our kids that life is not keeping up with what "everybody else does.". Not everyone has the same income, the same budget, the same amount of discretionary funds.

Never would I spend more $ than I had or was comfortable spending because "This is what people around here do." In my opinion, that's exactly how we get adults that are tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt because they have to keep up with the neighbors.

My daughter had friends in HS from all situations - from kids who lived in poorer surrounding cities and came to her school via Schools of Choice, to kids who lived in the ritziest part of town, to kids who were pretty solidly middle class like us. All of our choices - from dance prices to what we spent on her graduation party to what sort of clothing budget she had all through school - was based on what we could afford, not what was trendy or what everyone else was doing.

To me, it's an important financial lesson to learn. If you think buying your daughter a $500 dress she'll wear once is something you are okay with, and you can afford, that's fabulous, and you absolutely should do that. But don't spend that kind of money if you can't just because "That's what people around here spend."

Excellant post

 

[pigletto]

When they get to prom age there are many large expenses in addition to a one night dance.

This. I was just saying last night that this will be the year of DD. There is so much in addition to prom. We just did University applications ..$190 to apply to four schools. We'll do college applications this week (she's covering all her bases).. another $100. Campus visits to check out schools .. gas and lunch out etc, senior pictures, another dress/shoes for graduation, a grad gift (probably going in with others to get her the laptop she needs for university or college).
Then there's getting all the things she will need for school and dorm life in the Fall. The list is pretty big with mini fridges, printer, bedding, towels etc.

That's all before we even pay for actual school. It's all adding up. One fee here, another ticket there is going to be eating a lot of discretionary funds.

As much as I think prom is an important event.. these are ALL important things and I am going to find a deal, cut a corner, use a coupon wherever I can. It's more important to me that she get to experience all of it than have a $700 dress she will wear for one night. We just have to shop smart and keep some perspective.

In fairness to dd, she helps where she can and she would look at me like I was insane if I suggested a $700 dress.

 

[lovin'fl]

In Maryland here too. DS is senior and twin DDs are sophomores (their senior prom will be ).

I saw that tickets are crazy expensive...$75pp (at Ravens stadium) and he'll probably buy his GF's ticket (she's a senior too). I am shocked because the school already hit us up for senior fees of $60 per kid and was supposed to cover stuff for senior year (paid it last year...even paid for my freshman DDs last year). Yet I keep getting bills for everything...cap and gown $50, prom tix, senior group photo was like $25, yearbook $90, senior portraits (which were like $275 and that was the cheapest I could get). I feel like some of us are supplementing for others, maybe.

I told him we could do a limo but he had to go with other couples and each set of parents would divide the cost, though now I have learned that his GF's parents can't even afford a dress for her so I don't think they'll be pitching in for a limo.

I am curious what it will cost. There is the tux, corsage and after party tix. Their prom comes with a meal, I do believe (it better).