You might be surprised (I was flabbergasted) to hear this is the average amount people are spending on prom! Wow. Anyone else think that is ridiculously high? According to this article http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2012-04-12/high-school-prom-spending/54224068/1
that amount is up from the average $807.00 spent in 2011.
I've been out of high school for nearly 10 years now, and my first reaction was, "there is no way I would ever spend that much on prom! Are you kidding me?" Then I started doing my own breakdown:
Dress: $120.00 (10 years ago, the plus size gals didn't have much of a selection, so you bought an expensive dress or you wore whatever else you could get your hands on)
Manicure: $25.00
Hair: $25.00
Tanning package: ? Have no idea what I spent, but couldn't use it after 2 trips to the salon...bad reaction to the bulbs (God intended me to be pasty white for a reason, I suppose).
Boutonniere: $10? Not sure. Pretty sure my mom paid for this.
That's just the things I can remember, but I'm sure I'm being modest. I know I didn't spend over $150 on a dress. It does add up quickly, and you don't even realize it. That's a lot of money for a high school student (assuming he/she has no assistance from the parental units).
To you high school girls out there, let me tell you now.......it never ends. When you're in college, you'll go to formals. Then your girlfriends will all start getting married. Then you spend even more money on bridal showers, bachelorette parties, bridesmaid dresses, wedding gifts. Then those friends have babies. Then you buy gifts for their babies. Not to mention that almost every woman is programmed to think, "I have nothing to wear to _____, so I'll have to buy a new outfit." Or, "I always wear this dress, I think I need a new one." Or, "There are too many pictures on Facebook of me in that outfit. Time for a new one." It's a vicious cycle! Wow, it's kind of depressing when you stop and think about it.
Maybe you should start being a bitch to everyone you meet so they don't ask you to be in their wedding. God knows I have served my time as a bridesmaid (though each occasion was extremely fun).
A blessing and a curse. Just found this article extremely interesting and eye-opening. Enjoy.
-S
I was thinking all of these same things when I heard about this! I also thought about how my dress was expensive because back in the late 90s they didn't have big girl dresses at regular stores...I had to buy mine at a wedding dress shop. I think it was about $120 too and I am still grateful to my mother for buying that expensive dress. I could never ask my parents to spend that ridic amount for prom!! Who are these people?
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