Things You Need To Know About Prom

The movies lie! A warning I have received before the prom, this isn't a make or break moment. Its an opportunity to have fun, regardless of your date or how you hair is done or the color of your shoes. Be true to yourself to ensure that the night is amazing. This tips will help the night go smoothly, ensuring perfection and amazing memories.

1. Find your dress and shop around

This is my dress on the model for the designer. A quick Google search helped me find it for a better price.

A lot of people put this off, for a while. But find out the date of your prom, and start shopping for dresses at least a few months ahead of time. Ordering the dress, having it shipped and having alterations can take 6 months one its own. Not to mention the amount of time it will take to actually find a dress. It's important to remember that the dress doesn't need to be classified as a prom dress either, I wanted to be able to wear my dress again so I looked at bridesmaid dresses which are both cheaper and easier to come by than prom dresses. Remember the name and designer of dresses you like by taking pictures of the tags so you can shop around.

I actually found my dress in a small bridal boutique and bought ti off the rack at Macy's by searching the name of the dress and the designer and I ended up saving over a hundred dollars.

2. Save money where you can and don't underestimate what you can do yourself

These are my shoes bought on sale and the clutch I painted to match!

Prom is expensive - mine cost $85 for the ticket, $200 for my dress, $50 for accessories (shoes,clutch,jewelry) and $20 for makeup and nails, totaling $355, which is barely expensive for prom. But it doesn't need to be expensive, by doing things yourself its easy to make it more memorable and a bit less expensive. I did my own hair, makeup and nails which helped me save a lot of money because I used makeup I already owned and only bought a new setting spray and nail polish. I bought my shoes on clearance at TJ Maxx, they are these super cute Steve Madden blocks heels with pearl embellishments, that only cost $15. Spray paint is your best friend, you can match anything to your shoes by browsing the aisles of Home Depot, where they have metallic spray paint in almost every color. I found a rose gold spray paint the exact same shade as the stone in my earrings and I painted a clutch I found in TJ Maxx with a broken chain in a terrible 1980's gold color.

3. You don't need a date... or a promposal

This custom is decades old, and unnecessary. Obviously its fun to have someone to spend the whole night with, but it doesn't need to be a date, it can be friends or people you don't usually hang out with. Its important that you have fun, nothing else matters so feel free to break away from status quo and do your own thing. I didn't take a date to prom and it was liberating. Also, recognize how extra public promposals are, it kinda forces the person being asked to accept. Sure they can be cute, but so can a nicely word way of asking without a poster, save a tree use your words. Feel free to be by yourself, it might end up being more fun for you and all you friends there, since your just going to end up as a group whats the point of dates.

4. Be prepared for everything

Okay, maybe not everything everything, like you don't need to prepare for nuclear annihilation, but bruises, blisters and bumps with occur during the night. Remember to break in you heels before wearing them, or else you will regret it. Every one is having fun but its important to be prepared. I brought a couple of band aids with my thinking I wouldn't need them... I did. Because its super common at my school to wear a corsage or boutonniere, people wore them dancing which is fun until peoples break. During the course of the night, a corsage broke on the dance floor and I stepped on a thorn while dancing and ended up needing my band aids.

5. Hollywood lies

I'm sure you knew that nothing in the movies is true in real life, and as much as we hope for fairy godmothers and glass slippers, life actually gives us pumpkins and mice. In movies, prom is extravagant, with sparkling punch bowls and live bands and everyone dances.

It might not be as perfect as Blair's scrapebook prom but it will still be amazing!

But don't get too excited, because as someone wise told me before my prom it isn't all its made to be. It doesn't matter how picture perfect prom is. Its important to have fun and make memories. You can make it fun by dancing and singing with your friends. Request your favorite songs with the dj. Eat a ton of dessert, maybe even get seconds, because you don't have to worry about prom photos anymore. Have fun, make memories, take a million pictures to look through for years to come.