The high school year ends with a flurry of finals, the hope of sunshine-filled days, and, of course, prom. Planning prom is a challenge in itself. Who’s in whose group? Where are we getting ready? Where do we go to eat? What are we doing afterwards? On top of all the frenetic happenings lies another relevant issue: the cost. It’s no surprise that money is an important factor in one of the most anticipated nights of high school. Between the gown, the tux, the eatery, the flowers, the tickets, shoes, and possibly a makeup artist or hairstylist, the numbers seem to slide upward with haste. This prom season, a few friends and I decided to cut the superfluous spending with the purpose of reinventing the bejeweled evening.
Here’s how we did it:
First of all, we capped the budget for the dress to a mild $40.
With spending a small bounty of money comes expectations, and because our dresses were so inexpensive, we kept our fashion standards low and somehow managed to still love our cheap finds no matter how awkward in length or horribly seamed they were. (I included fuzzy socks with my ensemble, which went virtually unnoticed.)
When it came to dates, we ditched them. A couple boys tagged along, but they weren’t glued to the sides of anyone, which made the other girls in the group feel comfortable with being boyfriend-less. Our group decided to eat at a local gem not many people know about opposed to the few other expensive restaurants in town where belly laughs are less-welcomed and prices are higher than our makeshift updos. Lastly, instead of the school-approved bowling alley after prom, we decided to huddle together in our best pajamas for movie night, free of charge.
Here’s why this mattered:
Each of us picks what’s important to us in life. As a collective group, prom didn’t make the list of events we thought deemed worthy enough of worry, time, and cost. With tests spilling out our ears, prom became one prolonged moment where we could twirl around to throwback songs while getting dressed and we could stuff our faces full of delicious carbs unashamedly. Shouldn’t prom be stress free, anyway? It’s a celebration of all the year-long endeavors we triumphed and a reason to keep hope in the following week or two left on the academic calendar. It’s not a social hierarchical contest dedicated to those capable of spending however much they see fit in order to achieve this false sense of perfection idolized by vain medium.
Oddly enough, compliments about our bargained apparel, quick hairstyle hacks, and gorgeous makeup (thanks to my friend, Lori) still found us. Perhaps we can pay homage to the styles we picked because of their offbeat appearances compared to traditional prom gowns. In the end, I’m glad to say I wore Forever 21 to prom next to my best friends on one of the sweetest nights out I’ve ever enjoyed while saving a few pennies for a different adventure, a.k.a. college tuition.
Sound off below on ways you’ve saved on prom!
