Laugh or Cry....HS Senior Prom 2009 Long Sorry

[NeverlandClub23]

Personally, I think Prom is over-rated.

I agree. And I remember feeling so at the time. I had more fun, and better memories, from my summer's out of school (especially the one after graduation!) then I ever did at any school function. I think shows like Laguna Beach, the O.C., etc. play up proms like it's the most amazing night of your teenage life and means more than just being a dance. I hope if I have girls that they don't feel the need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars (of my money) on a dance.

 

[MushyMushy]

I cannot imagine spending this kind of money on a Prom. I mean, it's not like she's getting married. Did you not give her a budget?

My DD16 is a sophomore, but there is no way she would even ask for this much. She knows our money is tight. In fact, I asked her about prom next year--she plans to wear a lovely burnt orange-with-gold-sequins-and-kicky-gold-shoes that she wore to my brother's wedding. The total was $69(dress) +$20(shoes) + hair & makeup($50) + nails($16)=$155. Oh, and $118 for airfare. She turned a lot of heads, I must say.

Personally, I think Prom is over-rated. I know, I know, it's important to the kids. But like any other activity, I set a budget. Anything over the budget is on their dime.

That's the way it was for my son's GF. Her mom's a single working mother and they live in low-income housing. She did so well for her gown considering their budget constraints. She's such a sweetie and I'm glad they were able to pull something together. I would have helped more if they'd needed it.

Oh want to hear something a bit outrageous? I was talking to a friend of mine today and her son came to her almost in tears this morning. He and his GF have been planning on going to the prom for months now -- everything is paid for, etc. The GF got into a fight with him last night because he hadn't "officially" asked her and bought her a gift.

A GIFT??? To ask her to go??? What else, an engraved invitation? My friend is so ticked off and I don't blame her.

 

[Nancy]

Wow, is that a lot of money!

DD's prom last year she along with her friends went low key, low budget, they all decided to keep expenses down. (thank you girls!) DD got her prom dress for free from a friend..she said we could do whatever we needed to with it so it cost us 35.00 for alterations. DD's shoes/purse/jewelry cost 95.00 for all 3 items. Hair...her aunt took her and paid 35.00 plus tip for the do. No limo..the boyfriends drove. Prom tickets 50.00 a couple, thanks to fundraisers that are held since their freshman year to help keep prom costs down. After prom party...10.00 a person, again thanks to fundraisers and generous donations of money and time from people. Camping for the weekend 50.00 a person plus the cost of food (which DD and her boyfriend paid for). DD did her own makeup, did her own nails and her only extra expense was she needed to have a tan so whatever she paid for her tanning for about 1 month before hand.

 

[joyjoy]

What struck me most about the original post was the info on the limo. Wow, it sounds like limo drivers these days do a lot more than just drive and open doors. You'd have to pay me a million bucks to keep track of 10 teenagers before AND after the prom.

 

[Becky2005]

One little interesting thing we learned recently for make-up. You can schedule an appointment at one of the make-up counters for Prom. Who knew. I would have never thought of that.

I'm thinking we are lucky in the way our prom is done here, way different than when I was in school but in the scheme of things probably cheaper! They meet at the school (WITH THEIR PARENTS!) to crown royalty and do a send-off, then the kids go on chartered busses into the city. It has been held at the Museum of Science & Industry before & also I've seen it Union Station one year (I'm nosey & have looked at the information previous years). I think the tickets are $100/person and it includes dinner plus post-prom which is held at the school.

We actually ended up at the school one prom day due to being there for something else, so we stayed and watched the kids for a few minutes (DD wanted to see the dresses and she ended up knowing someone too from her gymnastics). I liked how they did it.

 

[NotUrsula]

What struck me most about the original post was the info on the limo. Wow, it sounds like limo drivers these days do a lot more than just drive and open doors. You'd have to pay me a million bucks to keep track of 10 teenagers before AND after the prom.

We live very near a place that is the local see-and-be-seen spot on Prom Night; it's an ice cream stand. (Yes, I know, but it's a decades-long tradition, even though this is NOT a small town. They can easily get a few thousand kids stopping by in formalwear on any given Saturday in May -- wedding parties, too.)

DH and I have been out walking several times and struck up conversations with the limo drivers while they were waiting for their groups, and they tell us that they have to deal with it; the companies put tight restrictions on minors who hire the service, and charge extra for that. They don't have to go looking for the kids if they don't show up at pick-up, but they have to call and report it if they don't. They also police for alcohol, which strikes me as kind of ironic -- I always understood that the reason for getting the limo in the first place was to avoid serious accidents if kids made the unwise decision to drink at prom. (I was told that the alcohol rules were more about keeping the limo clean -- inexperienced drinkers getting carsick was the pressing problem from the owners POV.)

 

[powellrj]

What struck me most about the original post was the info on the limo. Wow, it sounds like limo drivers these days do a lot more than just drive and open doors. You'd have to pay me a million bucks to keep track of 10 teenagers before AND after the prom.

I thought the same thing. I know last year the limo picked the kids up at one of the girls homes and took them to dinner and then dropped them off at the prom. We dropped the cars off at the prom and they drove them back to the after prom party. They then went to another house for breakfast the next morning.

 

[Christine]

My DD's prom is tonight. Luckily for me, after a few years, it is not a big deal for her. She just didn't care.

Her prom is tonight, we didn't get the dress until last weekend: $198.
She did her makeup herself. Had her friend add extensions. $40
Shoes: Used the shoes from last year.
Limo - $100
Prom Ticket - $85 for Willard Hotel in DC

No afterprom costs, no nothing.

I'm pretty darn happy!

 

[rwrocksme]

I do think a prom is a big event, and it is special (es. for girls)....but not as big as the OP is talking about. Here is my plan for prom:

Dress we got on sale: $26
Hair at the local beauty school: $15
Quick makeover at the mall's cosmetics department: $15

Now, I'm doing virtual school, but my old high school said I could come to prom.

Tickets: $25
New shoes: Not over $20

 

[Christine]

DH and I have been out walking several times and struck up conversations with the limo drivers while they were waiting for their groups, and they tell us that they have to deal with it; the companies put tight restrictions on minors who hire the service, and charge extra for that. They don't have to go looking for the kids if they don't show up at pick-up, but they have to call and report it if they don't. They also police for alcohol, which strikes me as kind of ironic -- I always understood that the reason for getting the limo in the first place was to avoid serious accidents if kids made the unwise decision to drink at prom. (I was told that the alcohol rules were more about keeping the limo clean -- inexperienced drinkers getting carsick was the pressing problem from the owners POV.)

When I booked the limo for my DD's group, the service was VERY emphatic about alcohol. I was told that if the driver even SPOTS any alcohol on the kids, the ride will stop, the kids will be taken back to the pick up point. Now, if the kids manage to drink at the hotel somehow, they don't care about that. But the limo company will not tolerate any containers of any sort with alcohol in them during the ride. I was told that new regulations/laws had been established that would make the limo driver responsible if the kids were caught.

 

[luvsJack]

Around here you wouldn't have the money for after-prom parties or the breakfast. We host a junior breakfast and a senior breakfast for each class and the after-prom parties are at whoever's house that has brave and understanding parents and usually a big field or pool or somewhere else the kids can be outside and active.

I do agree that $300 for make-up is a bit much.

 

[hereyago]

OP you are a better mom than me. My DD11 has a little ways to go, but heck no I wouldn't be going through all that especially when she will be a senior.

I didn't go to prom. I am SO glad I didn't. I dated older guys and the one wouldn't have cared about going, but I went to my 9th grade back to school dance, it was just bad, my friends got upset.
These are the same friends I would have gone to prom with.
One friend always late, so my friends didnt' get to prom until almost 3 hours later it ended up being a disaster.

 

[babytrees]

That's the way it was for my son's GF. Her mom's a single working mother and they live in low-income housing. She did so well for her gown considering their budget constraints. She's such a sweetie and I'm glad they were able to pull something together. I would have helped more if they'd needed it.

Oh want to hear something a bit outrageous? I was talking to a friend of mine today and her son came to her almost in tears this morning. He and his GF have been planning on going to the prom for months now -- everything is paid for, etc. The GF got into a fight with him last night because he hadn't "officially" asked her and bought her a gift.

A GIFT??? To ask her to go??? What else, an engraved invitation? My friend is so ticked off and I don't blame her.

that's what I thought when Cassidy came home with a necklace as her official invitation to prom...I said "Haven't you had this thing planned since January?"

Cassidy's young man paid for all of his stuff by himself...he had me order the corsage and made sure to pay me for it the next day. The boy is a foster kid whose foster parents seem to have checked out of parenting already.

 

[Disney Doll]

Man, prom is sure different than it was when I was a kid!

I didn't pay $1500 for my entire wedding ensemble.

 

[MELSMICE]

Wow...............I'm speechless.

I have twin girls going to junior/senior prom this year. My limit is about $100 for a dress - give or take a few $'s (I'll go to about $120 if they completely fall in love with the dress).

Here's our cost so far:

$99 + tax for dress = $108 total
$00 for shoes & garter for one DD with a gift certificate someone gave us
$50 for limo that I said I would pay
$00 deal is she'll pay for her own hair
$25 for prom pics for her & date
$3 for boutteniere (sp?)
$00 for make-up. She has her own & will do her own (older sister may help)
DD #1 = $185

$25 for dress because DH promised each of them $25 if they found a dress out of their sister's closet!!!
$00 for shoes - using ones we bought for homecoming
$45 for limo (they're in separate limos )
$00 deal is she'll pay for her own hair
$25 for prom pics for her & date
$3 for boutteniere for her date
$00 for make-up - works the same for her as it does for sis
DD #2 - $98

$30 for dress alterations for both of them.

I will probably have to get charms for the garters - $10 each maybe.

My cost is about $333 in & that is more than enough for me. I'm sure there will be little incidentals. We'll probably give them money to go out to eat with after the prom or something, but seriously, it's prom, not a wedding.

I even think some of the things the OP priced out are ridiculous for a wedding, but that's JMO.

Like I said - I'm speechless.

 

[Alyssa88]

My little sister and her friends just left for her junior prom. Mom took them to the rose garden for pictures, and I stayed at their place to recover from the prom drama.

I am going to make sure I don't visit for senior prom, lol.

 

[wdw4us2]

Wow! Prom sounds expensive in NY!

DD went to her senior Prom last Saturday. The biggest drama we had was getting her from her State Track tournament (in Winter Park) back home (over 2 hours away) by 5 pm so she could get ready in time to meet at her friend's house for the limo at 6:15!

Dress: $170 - she bought her homecoming dress at Ross so DH and I said she could have whatever she wanted for Prom.

shoes: Not picky, wore the same shoes from last year & Homecoming.

tickets: Seniors are free at her school - boyfriend goes to a different school - $50

hair & makeup: We did her makeup and her hairdresser (one of my close friends) came to the house to do her hair because of the Track meet. She said the hair was DD's graduation present.

limo: $60 each for 14 kids

dinner: her boyfriend paid

after slumber party (co-ed with host parents at home) free

breakfast: Denny's - inexpensive

They all had a great time for a reasonable amount of money.

 

[MScott1851]

Dresses sure are cheaper now than they were in the late 80's/early 90's, though!

I went to one prom my sophomore year, two in my junior year, and two in my senior year. That's three dresses that cost between $400 - $600 apiece!! That was when the handbeaded silk dresses were in style.

Of course, each year I had to wear the same dress to both proms, and in the beauty pageant that year, and anything else that required a formal dress. They weighed more than I did!! (I'm in the blue...BTW..don't laugh, it was 1994!)

I was relieved when I got to college and the simpler, cheaper dresses came in style. I had to have at least two per year for sorority functions, and it was a lot cheaper to go to Macy's or Dillards and pluck one off the rack for around $100 apiece!

 

[luvmy3]

I think that sounds pretty typical for a prom in NYC. And to have it at the Hammerstein Ballroom It sure beats the local Hilton mine was at

OP I'm sure your dd will have a night she'll always remember and to her it will be worth every penny.

 

[figment52]

Wow, youre a better mum than me. No way will I be able to do all of that.

They'd better start saving now ( at 9 and 10 ) if thats what they want. I am not going to pay for all of that! Dh would have a heart attack.

I'm not even that nice of a childless aunt!

WOW! just WOW!!

I don't want to the see the bill for her wedding.