Ka Ching!

Interested in knowing what the kids are spending this year for Prom? I talked to some of them today at lunch, and here's the rundown. We have the dance at Guy's Party Center, and tickets are priced at $90.00 a couple. This includes the dance, DJ, a buffet dinner, and After Prom at Stonehedge.

The dress...$300.00/ minimum. Some of my kids said that they actually went to some different consignment stores to get theirs. Others made the trek up to Legacy Village and had their folks take out a home equity loan to finance it.

The tux...$150.00. You'd be surprise to see how many of the guys go all out with the top hat and cane...I'm not sure what those cost.

The shoes...$25.00-$75.00 Often times, the guys will bypass renting the tux shoes and come in sneakers. I guess it's more comfortable for them to dance in! This way, they can use this money to buy a corsage for their date.

The flowers...$25.00 (Funny, some of the kids go really el cheapo on this part! I've had boys in the past show up with a single plastic daisy corsage for their dates...these are the real Romeos of the evening. They think it's funny, but the girls don't always find the humor in it.)

The hair...$50.00. I've often marveled at the fact that by the end of the evening, some of the girls hair never move...I'm guessing that you can tack on another $20.00 in the amount of hairspray that they re-apply throughout the evening.

The nails...$25.00 (this can run more if you get the designs embedded on the nails.)

The skin...$100.00 (5 trips to the tanning salon is a must. God forbid that you actually look like you're from Akron Ohio!)

The accessories (jewelry, purse, sweater/ shawl etc...)...$75.00

The limousine....$500.00 for the evening (8-10 kids usually split the cost of a limo)

Lyons photography Prom picture packets...$50.00-$75.00

I've been running Prom here at school for around 10 years now, and each year...the expenses, like everything else I guess, just keeps going up and up. When Marie is ready to attend, though, I figure we can cut down expenses because (since I'll be chaperoning of course) she can ride with me; I can take care of the hairstyle w/ my clippers that I use on my own head. How hard can it be to throw some paint on her nails...and if she wants the "tan" look, she can buy that stuff in a bottle. I think Cindy still has her Prom dress...fashions come back every 20 years or so, anyway...Not to mention, I'm already creating the "So you actually think you're going to date my daughter?" application. I should be able to narrow the list of candidates quite nicely for Marie.