Our oldest daughter will be going to her prom in May. Things have changed since I went over 25 years ago! Dresses are so expensive especailly since she is 18 and will only wear it once. We looked into rentals but they were not what she is looking for and we thought about having a dress made but that is expensive, too. I guess my question is how do you do the whole prom thing on a budget? Limos, dinner, flowers, hair, make-up, nails, beach house rental, etc... One of my friends spent over $1,000 last year and that is WAY out of my budget!
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Have you tried a resale shop? The other option is to wait until it gets closer to the prom. Macy's may have their dresses on sale or wait for their coupons. As far as make-up goes, See if one of the big department stores do make up for free. They are trying to sale you something though. Have her do her hair herself or you can do her hair and nails possibly.
I've got the other end of the spectrum. My middle son is a senior this year. No make-up, no hair appt. but everything else you listed is definetly up there on the dollar tree.
hello,
as far as the dress goes, try buffalo exchange or a vintage store... if her tastes lean that way. buffalo exchange offers gently used items and i have found some amazing dresses there. ebay is great too.
decide what you can spend and give your daughter a budget. it will give her the opportunity to decide what is most important and what to spend for each item.
as far as nails, hair and make up go... i was the oldest sister and my sis's friends liked how i "did" myself and all came over to be "done up" by me on many occasions through the years. do you have any options as far as that goes???
good luck and keep us posted. i hope that she has a wonderful time.
C.
I had a great time at prom, and here's what I did to keep expenses at a minimum:
-A dress exchange... my friends and I swapped dresses we'd worn to homecoming. eBay is also great. Also, if your daughter wears an 11/12 I have a red dress in great condition she could wear, just message me.
-Getting ready as a group... have some of her girlfriends over several hours before prom and let them pamper themselves. Paint nails, do each other's makeup (you can find makeup tips and hair tips online, or at www.marykay.com for makeup application tips).
-Forget the limo... it never mattered much to me. Instead, we took the car of one of my friends, who had a classic Mustang. We arrived in style!
-Flowers... we ditched these, too! Plus, most dates buy their girls corsages anyway. If you'd like to splurge on a little baby's breath to put in the girls' hair, that's very inexpensive.
-Dinner... we didn't do this, either! We ate pizza while getting ready. No need to go overboard and make prom cost the same as a wedding, right?
-Hotel room... all the girls in my group crashed at one girl's house for a sleepover. None of us could afford a hotel room, even if we split it, and our parents would've never gone for that anyway.
It's totally possible to make it a memorable night without breaking the bank. The important thing is that your girl feels and looks like a princess! She'll never forget the night, even if you didn't spend $1000 on it. I hope she's not dead-set on this kind of night like you were describing, which would put a hole in the bank account of even rich parents!
Good luck!
you should be less worried about what she's wearing and more worried about what she'll be up to on prom night....
Hi C.,
These are all great suggestions! The only point I would add is that it might be appropriate to decide how much you *are* willing to spend, and let your daughter know that's her budget. Maybe she'll decide that the limo is super important to her, but that her nails aren't - and she'll distribute the money accordingly. Letting teenagers figure out their own budgets is a great way for them to learn fiscal responsibility.
Cheers!
K.
My blog about parenting adolescents (mostly about adolescent sexuality): www.karenrayne.com
There is an organization that exists solely for helping girls to get prom dresses. Women donate many of the gowns. Right now the name of the group escapes me, perhaps someone else here knows of it. I'll look it up later tonight and send the info to yu. Try researching it online.
In sisterhood,
B.
When I went to prom, I bought my dress, the guy i went with got the flowers, i got my hair done (for my fist prom my grandma did my hair, the second one i went and had it done) and i got my nails done (which i did all the time anyway), but i did my own make up. As far as dinner, the guys paid for it. As far as the limo goes we didnt use one, he had a camero, so we went in that. As far as the beach house rental, haha yeah right, my grandparents wouldnt have even considered that as an option, i think if i would have asked they prob. would called it all off. As far as dresses go, try a resale shop or goodwill, or a family thrift, they have some good dresses sometimes, or try ebay, the hair back when i went (which was 00-01) was only i think like $40, getting nails done (at least where i go) is only $21, as far as the limo goes i rented one for my parents for their ann. one year and it only cost $275 for 4 hours (maybe if you can get other kids to go too, everyone can split the costs), let her do her own makeup, or let her have friends over and they can do each others, or if she will let you do it, or maybe a friend or family member can do it for her. It can sometimes add up, if your not careful. Good Luck and I hope she has fun on the most memorable night in her life.
I ended up going to a beauty school to get my hair and nails done for prom...it was way less expensive and the students were really up on all the latest styles. My mom had a friend who was an awesome cook so he came over and made us a fancy dinner. My mom set up our dining room with a table cloth, her fancy china and silver. My dad made us all non-alcoholic "drinks". The hotel never would have flown, so we would a "crash" at one of our houses for a post-prom sleepover...sometimes the guys got to stay over too, but we were supervised. This was *gulp* almost 20 years ago...I went to prom in the late '80's. But I would think some of the same ideas would work. Hope it helps...good luck.
Have you looked at www.craigslist.com there are tons of people selling there old dresses. Even new updated ones. And for dinner the guys are soupposed to pay. Her coursage he pays. You do have to buy his boutineer. But that is like $10. Tell her to get her makeup done at the mall. It is free with several lines. Just to make an appt. Her hair is one thing you might have to pay a little more. But try craigslist for a dress! Good Luck!
Hi C.,
I too am a teacher! You can go to the mall and places lije Dillards, Foleys, Windsor, Penny's, have dresses that are reasonable. As for the limo and house everyone usually pitches in and if 8-10 girls go get their nails done together at the same place you can ask for a group discount. If they say no have the girls walk out and they usually give in.
Have you tried resale shops? There are lots of them around that sell really nice thigs. Check with the parents of recent grads at your church; maybe they have dresses still hanging in the closet, or they may be able to direct you to other graduate parents who do.
C.,
I am graduated fairly recently (2005) and for my prom night I had a bunch of girls come over and we all did each others toes and nails. We made a little party out of it. I did get my dress from neiman marcus (~$300 My grandmothers gift)but I had a friend do my hair and I did my make-up. My date paid for dinner (and since my date is my husband now I will brag about his gentlemeness: He ended splitting the bill for one of our mutual friends with another couple that went in our group because this girl was dateless! - all his own idea) and he paid for our flowers. after prom we went and got ice cream and went to his parents house and played games with his family. I am pretty sure your daughter will not be excited about my post prom experience although I enjoyed it, But I think that if the girls want to rent a beach house then they can split the cost.
that's outrageous! your friend must've paid for the ritz! i'm 18 and graduated now but i did go to prom 2 years ago and nothing was that expensive. i got my dress at JC Penny on sale and i wanna say it was $60? i did my own hair and make-up but the beauty school thing is a great idea! lots of my friends did that. as far as dinner, we split the bill (i went with my two best friends). as far as i know, a handful took a limo and even then there was at least 10 people inside and flowers the date pays for lol! i know it's prom/once in a lifetime thing and but you can look just as nice, if not nicer, on a budget. it's more fun that way! GOOD LUCK!
Have you thought about looking at second hand dresses in consignment stores? Like you mentioned, it was probably only worn once before. I don't know where you are located, but there is a consignment store in Katy that specializes in that type of clothing. It is called the Silver Hanger. If you do decide on getting a new dress, you might want to try to sell it on consignment to recoup some of your money.
Eventhough I graduated in 1991 and a brother in 2001, things aren't much different. Neither of us did the Limo thing, we didn't want to. Most kids share that expense and we wanted to be able to leave early if we weren't enjoying ourselves. I could've went to the beach, but that was an expense my mom & dad told me I had to pay for. My mom made my dress, the fabric wasn't cheap, but no one had one like it. I did my own hair because most hairdressers dont do it the way I like it. I learned make-up when I modeled in my early teens, but Merle Norman does a great job for a minimal fee. I disagree with all these other women, my date paid for my ticket to prom $75, we both paid for dinner and he for my coursage, and I paid for his. All of these dances have gotten blown out of proportion by parents who feel the need to keep up with the Joneses, even if they go into debt doing it! What are they going to have to look forward to in College of even there Weddings.
Luckily, most of my children's friends and their parents were on the same page for prom - no limo, group dinner at someone's house beforehand, and they all did each other's hair and nails. We found dresses at Ross or another discount store. We took our own photos, although that's something I might be willing to spend money on if it was important to my child.
Most of the kids - and parents! - are afraid that if they don't go over the top, the children will miserable and will also be ridiculed. Be the one who says "no" to the outrageous madness that others get caught up in, and it will make other parents feel as if they can say it, too.
Don't let anyone tell you that you "MUST" spend money that's better spent on other, more important things, on one dance!
ross has a lot of really nice dresses for about 30 bucks or less. A beauty school is a good place to try. Dinner should not cost that much. A place afterward should be a pitch in among different people. As far as the limo, I feel that is so over the top for prom.
good advice so far as to where to get what you need... but also you could have your daughter work for what she wants, so she can earn it. i know she is a full time student, and may not have a job, but you could give her jobs, jobs around the house tht would really help you... she probably already does that too, well, just a thought...
My daughter is 11 and i can only imagine how much it would be when it's her turn. I am a single mother and definetly live on a budget. So my sugestion to you is to start a month in advance go window shopping, compare prices and set a reasonable amount about of what is expected to be spent and take it from there.
