Prom Night! Aggghhhh...

[grangers14]

We never had prom night I didnt even have a disco at the end of school

Prom nights are just so expensive and saying well No thats too much is like breaking a childs neck and cutting their hands off!

Outfits, cars to get there and back...

No, limos, stretch Hummers or party buses left, well not ones to carry 8, larger ones but you still have to pay for the empty seats
Shocking I wont pay a deposit before I have other peoples money. Sad Mummy!
No cant have a lift in a normal car, goodness that would be terrible!
Give up!

So Prom dress I am hunting for tomorrow...

Wish me luck!
Jo

[MarkCDodd]

It is a really important occasion for them.

I used to teach boys how to dance for their prom night and they always started off with attitude and feigned disinterest.

As the event got closer they would get far more serious and intent on doing things correctly.

I could tell how serious they took the night and what it meant to them.

So when it came to my girls I made sure they enjoyed it to the fullest.

We hired a hay wagon pulled by two hugh Clydesdale horses for my youngest daughter's prom night.

20 kids fitted in it easily and they looked so cool pulling up next to the stretch limos and other expensive hire cars.

Compared to being a smaller number shoved in the back of a limo, they had far longer to talk and socialise on the way as the horses slowly clip-clopped their way to the venue.

But getting guarantees of who wanted to help pay for the hire was difficult, as you are finding out.

I had to take a gamble and hope that the numbers were sufficient to cover the cost.

Boys dress for a formal is easy. Suit and tie.

I left the assistance with clothes shopping to my wife.

Both of my girls took several shopping trips and endless time in the dressing rooms before making a decision.

Good luck with that part of it!

[Antie Em]

We never had prom night I didnt even have a disco at the end of school

Prom nights are just so expensive and saying well No thats too much is like breaking a childs neck and cutting their hands off!

Outfits, cars to get there and back...

No, limos, stretch Hummers or party buses left, well not ones to carry 8, larger ones but you still have to pay for the empty seats
Shocking I wont pay a deposit before I have other peoples money. Sad Mummy!
No cant have a lift in a normal car, goodness that would be terrible!
Give up!

So Prom dress I am hunting for tomorrow...

Wish me luck!
Jo

Busy time for me now - not so much ancestral work. Already made three dresses in the last two weeks in the last two weeks.

[gardener]

My dad refused to acknowledge Father's Day, claiming it was a commercial American import. I'm inclined to say that about Proms. Thank goodness we never had them when I was at school!

[snoopysue]

I agree about it being an american import! It's a shame for those families that aren't well off in the middle of a recesion - it's expensive enough anyway, but at the mo, it's crazy! Most of the kids would have been happy with a cheap and cheerful disco, if it hadn't already been introduced!
Unfortunately there is more and more of that sort of thing. They tried to import pancake day to Denmark a few years ago,and although we usually have pancakes I felt it was just a roose to get people to part with their money - luckily it didn't take off!!

[MarkCDodd]

We don't call them Proms in Australia.

We have two types, the Debutante Balls and Formals.

Debutant Balls are the traditional ballroom dance, pretty dress, boy in suits type of occcasion.

They were around in Europe long before the USA existed.

Formal's are much more like the American Prom but we don't do stupid things like pick a King and Queen.

The Debutant Ball was slowly replaced by the Formal since most Aussies were more likely to know an Irish Jig than a Waltz.

Today Debutant Balls are mainly the domain of the expensive private schools.

[Rob]

My dad refused to acknowledge Father's Day, claiming it was a commercial American import. I'm inclined to say that about Proms. Thank goodness we never had them when I was at school!

I agree with Gardner!!
I do not acknowledge Fathers Day Mothers Day or Valentine Day.
My parents know or knew i loved and appreciated them as does my wife(i think). I refuse to pay exhorbitant prices for flowers to line the pockets of fat capitalistic pigs!!Nice one Rob!!
Halloween and Prom Nights ?? What's that all about?
Chinese New Year, Australia Day,Yom Kippur where's it going to end?
After Parties!? Oh thats another thread!!

[grangers14]

You make dresses auntie em?

Am worn out looking
The price tags!!!
Think we will be looking on the internet too.

Im not one for all the other "days" we have either!
Jo

[Antie Em]

You make dresses auntie em?

Am worn out looking
The price tags!!!
Think we will be looking on the internet too.

Im not one for all the other "days" we have either!
Jo

I mainly design and make the Junior Prom dresses. The shop I work with orders from America and the market there for 11 year olds is a bit too extreme for parents here and it's difficult to order something suitable - so I make them. I also have to alter the dresses for the older girls, so from now until about August, I will be really busy - burning the midnight oil. Last year I was sometimes working about 13 hours a day. I have just finished designing and making up a new range for the shop. Be careful of internet shopping - I have people come to me to do alterations to dresses they have bought off the internet - seen some real nightmares, which look lovely on screen.

[snoopysue]

You make dresses auntie em?

Am worn out looking
The price tags!!!
Think we will be looking on the internet too.

Im not one for all the other "days" we have either!
Jo

Have you thourght about hiring a dress? I've done it once for a very reasonable price!

[grangers14]

Prom dresses we have seen so far are only to buy
They said they have stopped hiring!
I dont want to pay £300 + for a prom dress.
Ebay now!
Jo

[snoopysue]

Prom dresses we have seen so far are only to buy
They said they have stopped hiring!
I dont want to pay £300 + for a prom dress.
Ebay now!
Jo

Are there any second hand places near you? You'd think with a recession on, it'd be easier to hire, not more difficult!!

[snoopysue]

Have you seen these?

http://www.buypromdresses.co.uk/

http://dress.vponsale.co.uk/prom-dresse ... 7_312.html

Not cheap, but not £300 either!

[grangers14]

Just been looking on them!
Jo

[Antie Em]

Prom dresses we have seen so far are only to buy
They said they have stopped hiring!
I dont want to pay £300 + for a prom dress.
Ebay now!
Jo

Are there any second hand places near you? You'd think with a recession on, it'd be easier to hire, not more difficult!!

Not many places do hire any more. The problem is that you buy a dress in, someone hires is and it has to be altered. If it has to be taken in, we can't do that properly because we can't cut it as it then has to be taken out again. If the young lady is a bit shorter than average, we can't take them up, because they then can't be lengthened. We found that two hires were the most we could get out of a dress and then it had to be discarded. The charges for the alterations and then the cleaning made hire charges too high, so not good business. We have had dresses come back in such a state that we have had to bin them and the deposit for hire damage doesn't even cover the buy in price.

You might get one second hand, but then you have to find one you like, and that fits, and in usually in your area, so that you can see before you buy.

Ebay is your best bet, but not many dresses fit exactly and you might have to pay alteration charges, if you can find someone to do it.

Speaking from experience, and the number of job offers I get from businesses, good seamstresses are few and far between.

Good luck Jo