How much money did you spend on your prom dress /prom makeup/hair?

Dec 20, 2015

Carmen V.

How much was your budget?
And how did you control not spending more than what you had?

Dec 20, 2015

Darlene V.

$800. Spent $600 on my dress/ shoes $200 went into my hair/makeup& some jewelry. I set a budget and just searched for things in my price range. Make a list of what you need & start adding up

Dec 20, 2015

Brandi N.

I let it depend on the year. my junior year, I only paid 150 and got it online. my senior year I wanted to go all out and I set my budget on how much my mom would pay and how much I could save at work. the dress was 420 and I paid 300 on my part.
when I went to the store to buy my dress, I told all the associates not to pull any dresses over my budget, no questions asked. I also checked the price before I tried it on. if it was more, I wouldn't even try it on just to make sure that I wouldn't fall in love with it. I hope this helps!

Dec 20, 2015

Sarah N.

I don't even want to admit what my dad spent on my dresses, I ended up with many (all my years and other guys years) dresses that I've never once worn again & each dress was way too expensive. I've seen just as beautiful dresses for cheaper but at that age I was all about the designer and name brand, still am but I'm realistic now lol. So definitely keep that in mind that you can find a beautiful dress in your price range no matter what it is you just have to keep looking & I like Brandi's idea of not trying on any dresses over budget because if you fall in love with it nothing will compare. and just remember you are most likely only going to wear it once! I wish I had realized that at the time, I'd much rather have had that money for shoes and handbags lol.

Dec 21, 2015

Kitty K.

It was more mental preparation like the ladies above mentioned. My dress was $150.00 and it was a typical Angelina Jolie type of dress. Black, off the shoulder and a high leg slit. That was $150 and the shoes were about $70.
I did feel a bit bad listening and seeing the pictures of the other girls dresses... They easily had a high budget and some fancy stuff going on.. But I'll be honest once I got there I felt bad for them cause we arrived at the hotel, took pictures if we paid for them and after that we went into a room that was dark except for the dance floor lights! Everyone spent the night dancing so girls took off their shoes and bras and all that uncomfortable stuff so really I have to say get a dress you love but don't go with a wedding dress budget cause it's really just another school dance that's just all hyped up! Our prom was at Miami beach and of course there was nothing but after parties at hotels and girls were changing into regular party dresses after. It wasn't this magical experience that people make it out to be so definitely don't go after a $1500 dollar dress you'll never wear again.
Bonus; at work we had a fancy holiday party at an upscale hotel... I was able to wear my dress and it wasn't out of style either! Lots of girls dished money on dresses that were on trend and not something you could wear in five years.

Dec 21, 2015

Hannah K.

Blimey, you all spend a lot! In England, we have 'prom' pretty much once or twice in our school years. I had one at the end of primary school (aged 11) and I spend 15 pounds (22 dollars) on my dress. My mum did my hair and makeup and my shoes were the same price as my dress.
Then at the end of secondary school (aged 16), I had another prom and I spent 35 pounds (52 dollars) on my dress (from TKMAXX) and it was a gorgeous dress! I spent about 15 pounds on my shoes and 15 pounds on my hair. I did my makeup myself.
I'll be having my final prom next year, which is the end of sixth form. I'll be 18 then, I'm pretty sure this equates to your senior prom? But I'll probably spend about the same as I did on the last prom, if not less.
So my budget for everything was around about 50 pounds (75 dollars).

I stopped myself from going over by making a new bank account and putting my entire budget in there, so that was all I had to spend on prom and once it was gone, it was gone.

I'd honestly check out TKMAXX/TJMAXX as they have some lovely, yet inexpensive dresses

Dec 21, 2015

Michelle S.

@Hannah, prom gets crazy over here. Where I went to school, it was basically a competition. It's pretty embarrassing looking back at it.
I think my parents spent around $500-600 total. I needed a ton of alterations, so I'd keep that in mind if you're setting a budget.

Dec 21, 2015

Dorothea S.

Oh Prom~ I spent about $500 roughly on my dress. By that time I was pretty good with foundation so I did my base and went to Sephora where they did a complimentary eye for me (for free), and that's how I got my makeup done. My biggest budget was the dress and from that point just whatever makeup I ended up purchasing after it was done. In order to keep yourself from going over I'd advise looking around a lot of places especially when it comes to getting your makeup done because some if not most of the time they want you to buy the products they're going to use on your face plus a smaller application fee which can really add up.

Dec 21, 2015

Shaye M.

My dress was 200$ and it was custom made, I got to choose the colours and design and they'd have it back in the shop before I needed it. I only spend 90$ on hair and makeup though because I was trying to save some money, I didn't like it my makeup much or my hair so I ended up going home and fixing it myself wishing I'd gone to Mac instead haha!

Dec 22, 2015

Catelyn W.

In America, Prom is a huge deal. It's kind of like preparing for a wedding but you don't have to go broke trying to look rich! I went to prom 3 times out of the 4 possible times I could go. For my sophomore year, my dress was $20 (bought it from China off eBay, I do not recommend doing this because of all the horror stories about getting the wrong product). I used shoes I already had and bought jewelry from forever 21 so it was very cheap. The next two years I went, my dresses were under $100 and I always used shoes I already had. I did my own makeup & hair.

That's honestly the best way to save money. Do it yourself or get a friend to do your hair/makeup.

Dec 22, 2015

Alicia C.

I only went to Prom once, because I wanted to save the night for my senior year. Even then my parents bought my dress which about $250, I wore sandals that match and already owned (didn't want to be taller than my date and my feet were covered). I went with a group of friends to get our manis and pedis, I only got my toes done so $25-30. For my hair nails and makeup I did them myself.

-Like Catelyn said if know someone or can do your own hair and makeup that saves a lot of money.
-If you order a dress, have a little extra in the budget to get alterations.

Dec 23, 2015

Erica H.

I probably spent wayyy too much. My dress was about $500. Shoes were another $100, and hair/makeup was another $100. And it really wasn't worth it for one night