Who pays for Prom?

[Poohforyou]

Sorry, I'm still in shock that a dinner/dance for a teen is basically $100 per person. And after paying that, people actually pay for a limo as well. (No way on God's green earth I would pay for his date's dress and hair appointment.)

Thank you, son, for not being interested in going.

That really isn't that much when you consider what it includes, at least not for the east coast.

My daughter's junior prom was $35 but it was held at the firehouse banquet room.

Senior prom last year was $90 as it was held at a much fancier venue.

Both included food and there was the free senior post prom party.

 

[Hikergirl]

Sorry, I'm still in shock that a dinner/dance for a teen is basically $100 per person. And after paying that, people actually pay for a limo as well. (No way on God's green earth I would pay for his date's dress and hair appointment.)

Thank you, son, for not being interested in going.

Our school's Senior Prom doesn't have a dinner, they do serve app type foods and the tickets are around $75. Most kids go out to eat after the prom. The venue that is 45 minutes away (same place every year) so there really isn't a practical way for the kids to get there unless they rent some kind of service (limo, party bus).
I would gladly pay for my kids' share of a limo if it meant I didn't have to drive them, or worry about them driving or getting into a car on prom night when drinking is most likely happening. (I didn't pay for my dd's share, that was an expense she covered on her own).

 

[NinaBella]

Interesting. My three boys were/are not interested in prom. My daughter is a Freshman and is going to prom next month with a close guy friend who is a junior. Homecoming and prom dresses are well over $300, so I am glad he is paying for her ticket at least. Some of the girls also pay for hair and makeup artist to come to their homes which is another expense.

 

[Colleen27]

The more I read this thread, the more I'm surprised that parents pay for this stuff at all. I make my kids pay for it. They have jobs. It's THEIR choice, and THEIR budget. That seems pretty much the norm in my area, BTW. It's not like I'm outside the mainstream. (My son chooses not to go. Not his thing. My daughter goes, but has always been conservative in what she spends, and does her own hair and makeup, reusing shoes, etc).

I think working in high school is rapidly becoming one of those things that varies wildly from place to place and school to school. There are very few teen jobs in my community, and those that exist tend to go to the teens with the widest availability. My daughter attends a private high school with a longer school day than the public, with higher homework loads and a expectation of a lot of extracurricular involvement and community service, and which serves a large geographic area. Few of the kids work. The kids at the far ends of the bus routes have a 10+ hour day without any extracurriculars. The private school athletic league is so spread out that regular-season games can be two hours away, so kids in sports have much longer days, and a lot of the kids also have academic or service clubs/extracurriculars as well. Some of the kids work summers, especially those who don't play fall sports, but almost none work during the school year. Even at the public school, the kids who work tend to be those who aren't involved in sports/drama/band. Kids who are in those things just don't have enough free time to also have a job.

 

[mom2rtk]

Most of my daughter's friends have jobs. She's looking for one too, but it will be a challenge given the limitations we're putting on how much and often we'll let her work. Regardless, we'll be paying for prom. She's out looking at dresses now with a girlfriend.

 

[Colleen27]

Interesting. My three boys were/are not interested in prom. My daughter is a Freshman and is going to prom next month with a close guy friend who is a junior. Homecoming and prom dresses are well over $300, so I am glad he is paying for her ticket at least. Some of the girls also pay for hair and makeup artist to come to their homes which is another expense.

I think I've lucked out with my daughter because we haven't spent nearly that much yet. We're probably right around there if I add up all her dresses from homecoming and snowcoming so far! Mostly her dresses have been vintage and resale finds, usually in the $20-50 range, though she does have one $125 designer little black dress from a vintage boutique in D.C. that I splurged on because it is the kind of dress she can wear again. This year's dress is a $35 find from Wish.com of all places - we literally couldn't find *anything* she liked locally because she wanted a 20s-inspired dress to go with the Gatsby theme of this year's prom, but one well-targeted Facebook ad and she's all set.

 

[bethbuchall]

Our school has only a senior prom, and dinner is not included. My oldest didn’t go to the prom. When my daughter was a junior, a senior asked her to go. He paid for tickets, transportation, dinner, corsage, and the after prom party. She bought his boutonnière (and dress, of course). She was dating him her senior year. We paid for everything except her corsage and his tux rental. They didn’t go in a group, though, so he drove.

My youngest was a senior last year and took a junior. We paid for everything, including his boutonnière (because it was easiest to just order at the same time we were getting flowers for her). She asked him this year and said that she’s paying for all the tickets and flowers. He’ll take money for dinner, though knowing her, she’ll insist on paying for that, too.

 

[scrapquitler]

Who paid for your or your child's HS Prom? If you have a boy, did he (you) pay for his date's ticket? If you have a girl, did her date pay for her, or did she pay for her own?

DS had a girlfriend for a while that he thought he would ask to Prom; they are still "sort of" dating, but it's kind of fizzled out to the point that she said to a mutual friend that she would "still say yes if he asks me, but I really just want to hang out with my friends while we are there"

OK, that's fine, but now DS doesn't want to ask her/go with her because it is $90 per ticket, $180/couple and he doesn't want to pay that much, plus a tux, limo, etc, for her to go have a playdate with her girlfriends.

I told him to ask her to go but she pays her own ticket. He wasn't sure about that. He also has a couple other girls who he says have been flirting with him lately that he could ask, but he isn't really dating any of them per se, they are all just friends. If he asked one of them, how would that work?

I don't care about the ins and outs of the 17/18 year old dating world, lol, I just want to know how much I should expect to have to shell out for prom this year. He's my oldest. We haven't done this yet!

Here pretty much everyone buys their own ticket for prom, their own clothes, buys flowers for their date (she buys for him, he buys for her), if there's a limo rental, everyone riding pays their portion.

 

[Katy Belle]

I have 3 sons. The youngest is now a Sr. My boys always paid for the Prom ticket, dinner, and corsage. The girls buy a boutonnière.