Cheap prom: How can parents save?
Does it seem like prices for prom are getting out of control? I was taken back by this $13,997 prom dress from Dress Goddess this week. Although this particular dress may be more of a marketing ploy than anything else, you can still purchase a $400 facsimile of the dress sans diamonds.
And $400 is still expensive. Many women don’t even pay that much for their wedding dress.
There are ways to save on prom dresses — make one (either at home or through a custom site), buy one at a consignment shop or have your daughter borrow one from an older sister or friend. But even if you venture to the mall there are deals there as well. Macy’s has this selection of prom dresses for under $60, including this cutie patootie bubble-hemmed dress.
If your kid’s prom happens to be at the end of the season, you might be able to cash in on the formal wear clearance. I’ve found dresses for $38 and $40 at the end of the prom rush. Additionally, take your daughter on a quick cruise outside the junior’s section. A sale dress on the women’s rack could be perfect prom attire for your teen.
My parents made a deal with me for my first prom; If I bought the dress, they’d buy the shoes, purse and any other accessories. I think I had to babysit at least eight Saturday nights to save up the $100 I needed, but it was worth it. (I wore the same dress the next year when I moved to a different state.)
How have you saved money on prom (even for limos, tuxedos or corsages)? What advice would you give to other parents trying to keep costs reasonable?
– By Lauren Davidson, Atlanta Bargain Hunter
See a great deal I should know about? Email me at ldavidson@ajc.com. You can also follow me on Facebook or on Twitter @atlbargains.
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29 comments Add your comment
CC03
March 1st, 2011
11:54 am
Wow! Almost $14,000 for a dress is unreal. My entire wedding cost around $15,000. I got my wedding dress for around $400. I graduated high school in 1993, so it’s funny to me to see the “bubble” hem dresses are back in style. I remember that my prom dresses weren’t cheap, but they weren’t outrageously expensive either. I want to say they were both probably around $100. Plus, you have to consider the cost for shoes, jewelry, hair, etc. that have to be factored in.
Frugal Mom
March 1st, 2011
12:01 pm
Some of the young ladies I know started dress swapping or a friends older sisters dress. Savced tons of money!
another comment
March 1st, 2011
12:08 pm
unfortanately, my daughter is a size 00 and wears a 32 D bra, so it is a very difficult formal dress fit. We tried the BBBC at the outlet in South Carolina off 85 but even their sizes 2’s swam on her. They would have been a great buy in December at 40% off $69. We called all the consignment stores and even most of the new stores they don’t stock this 00 . Then to find a bust person. Finally we found a small shop up on Mansell Rd. That had and XXS that fit her perfect. It was only $380.00, but a deal when you considered it didn’t require any alterations.
The biggest problem is the makers of dress are now making dress for the majority of the high school girls who are overweight. Not the girls like mine who are 5′1 1/2 and weigh 98 lbs, I have the same problem with my 11 year old who is 70 lbs. Slim pants fall off her. My kids would have been normal sizes in the 60’s and 70’s.
Just Saying
March 1st, 2011
12:22 pm
@ Another Comment- YOU NEED TO FEED YOUR CHILDREN!!! Unfortunately, it’s thinking like yours that creates low self-esteem in our kids and causes young girls to puke their guts out because they aren’t 98 lbs!!
pj
March 1st, 2011
12:32 pm
I got my daughters’ off of a listserv I’m on. It was 50.00. She loves it and it’s perfect for her. I can’t believe the ugly dresses people pay hundreds for and expect to get a lot for used. I do think we lucked out finding something so easily. I hope the shoes, etc. will also be bargains.
Erin
March 1st, 2011
12:34 pm
I think “most women don’t even pay ($400) for their wedding dress” is a little overstated.
But a little more on topic, I never bought a prom or pageant dress for more than $98. Most were in the $50 range.
Dillard’s has the best dress clearance section of the major department stores, IMO, and there are dresses on clearance even during prom season, not just after.
Peach
March 1st, 2011
12:36 pm
How about the bridal shops with two piece styles that can be ordered in different sizes? Even the basic styles can be jazzed up with accessories.
Seriously
March 1st, 2011
12:49 pm
Enter your comments here
Seriously
March 1st, 2011
12:52 pm
Most people don’t pay $400 for their wedding dress? What source are you quoting? According to http://www.costofwedding.com, couples in my Roswell zip code spend between $948 and $1,580 for a wedding dress. Mine was $700 in 1999.
Also, it’s YOUR kid’s prom, not you’re kid’s prom.
Lauren Davidson
March 1st, 2011
1:00 pm
@Erin: Good catch. It should be “many.” According to TheKnot.com, the average Atlanta bride spends $1,021 on her dress. So while some reality TV shows have us thinking every bride in the country spends thousands of dollars on a dress, many are spending less than $400.
Liz
March 1st, 2011
1:07 pm
Prom dresses for me from 98 to 02 (when I was in high school) were any where from $100 to $350. Mine were new and I got them from department stores (Dillards, Lord and Taylor) or specialty dress stores (Legends). I got married in 08 and my wedding gown was around $2,000. That seems like a lot to me but if you ever watch say yes to the dress, a $2k budget for a wedding gown is treated like a huge constraint.
Mrs. Norris
March 1st, 2011
2:21 pm
I bought my prom dress at Penney’s Outlet in Forest Park. That’s also where I bought my wedding dress. Of course that was a long time ago. I don’t even know if Penney’s is still there. And to the mother whose daughter is 98 pounds and wears a size “D” bra, I sincerely encourage you to get her a breast reduction. I can’t imagine how a small girl like that can carry around such large breasts. It must be very bad for her back.
Tuckergirl
March 1st, 2011
3:01 pm
Well, I paid about $200 for my sample wedding gown at New Natalie’s off, a place I highly recommend to any Atlanta bride. So I would qualify for the “under $400″ category. The alterations were about $100, I think, since I’m so short and short-waisted.
“Say Yes to the Dress” is not the real world, in my humble opinion. Kleinfeld’s is an amazing place and one of a kind for a reason. They sell very high-end dresses and provide high-end service. Most brides I know would not spend that much on a gown because they don’t have the money. But if I DID have that kind of dough, I might have gone there!
My nieces usually got their prom dresses at Dillard’s, there are some good buys to be had. They did usually go during the end of season clearance for the best deals. Ross Dress for Less was another place they got dresses. I never went to my prom, I was an utter nerd and guys didn’t even look my way back then.
Mrs. Norris, my best friend got her wedding dress at Penney’s Outlet, too! And the bridesmaid dresses. The store is still open as far as I know but I haven’t been there in years.
Monroe on a Budget / Paula Wethington
March 1st, 2011
3:10 pm
The girls may roll their eyes at “that’s my mother’s department store,” but try JCP. My daughter looked several places for a pretty prom dress at a reasonable price in 2007, and where did we find the dress we bought? Penneys.
Erin
March 1st, 2011
4:10 pm
@Lauren, I wasn’t trying to be your Internet proofreader, promise! Glad to see you did do some research.
And kudos to those who can find a dress they love under $400. I am getting married in a few months, and I’m closer to that average price.
The least expensive one I tried on (no, I did not go to Kleinfeld’s) was about $600. I fell like you really need to have price at the forefront of your mind to get one under about $500 in most cases.
But this is supposed to be about prom…maybe you should do a post sometime about how readers saved money on their weddings (maybe you already have…I can’t keep the blogs straight sometimes).
Lauren Davidson
March 1st, 2011
4:13 pm
NP, Erin! In fact, I have a column on inexpensive weddings coming out March 13. =D
Alterations Inc
March 1st, 2011
9:20 pm
You can also go for a custom dress. We made 2 custom prom dresses last year ranging from 250-350. And when you do custom for prom, wedding, party it is all in one price no additional costs.
http://www.alterationsinc.com
☺☻ Black & white smiley faces
March 2nd, 2011
9:01 am
@ Just Saying
It’s not really your place to tell someone else how to raise their child.
That kind of butting-in is not really needed.
By the sound of it, she’s doing quite well with her hot daughter instead of raising a young BBW like everyone else.
nothing wrong
March 2nd, 2011
1:22 pm
absolutely nothing wrong with a size zero and a 32D
Ole Guy
March 2nd, 2011
5:17 pm
Every Friday, following the big game on the gridiron, we had sockhops in the local community. The guys wore sport jackets; the gals wore whatever the gals wore. Come prom night, we all wore pretty much the same attire. maybe just a little spiffier with the flowers and such.
Now that we’re all either on, or rapidly approaching the medicare years, we all seem to have survived, MOSTLY INTACT, despite such modest teen years. We’ve all contributed, in small ways and not-so-small ways, and while we mourne those no longer with us, we can, somehow, look back on a rather fullfilling life, even if our folks didn’t go nuts treating us like princes and princesses.
mystery poster
March 4th, 2011
9:11 am
@Ole Guy
Your posts always strike a chord with me. I love your writing!
Our prom was in our gym, no one had a limo and I wore a dress that had been my aunt’s bridesmaid dress, and a stylist friend of my mother’s did my hair.
I don’t recall any of us being scarred because of it.
Ole Guy
March 4th, 2011
2:53 pm
Thanks for your kind words, Mystery. It seems that parents try to win their kids’ approval by lavishing the so-called “good life” upon them. In all fairness, however, this parental propensity is probably nothing new. What has changed, however, is the health fear/lack thereof, which…once upon a time…enabled parents to simply say “NO”. Inasmuch as kids used to have that fear in authority (parents, teachers, etc, etc), the roles, at some point in time, were allowed to reverse. Whereas that fear was simply the precurser to social discipline and self-control, it has now become a symbol of adult insecurity…ie “If I deny the kid such and such, he/she will hate me”.
Thanks again, Mystery.
Denise
March 8th, 2011
11:23 am
I have plenty of cute bridesmaids and formal dresses that I cannot fit or want to rewear. Where can I donate them? I’ve reworn a few of them enough to not want to consign of them.
Denise
March 8th, 2011
11:25 am
@Just Saying – it is none of your business how small someone else’s child is. She may be naturally slim and if other girls are jealous or make themselves sick to look like her, THEIR parents may need to do a better job instilling self-esteem in THEM.
FormerPromMom
March 8th, 2011
12:22 pm
My daughter (who is WAY tall) modeled prom dresses and got some discounts that way, when she was a SR she had her eye on a dress at the huge shop she modeled for, but ended up getting it WAY cheaper and in the color she wanted by ordering from the Internet (since she already knew how it would)–Where we lived at the time also had a program called “My Fairy Godmother” started by some women who took donated dresses and had one big trying on session once a year for those interested (we had a large impoverished sector)–the dresses I believe were given to the girls (or sold cheap) who then had to accessorize them. With as many of us who have old bride’s maid dresses gathering dust, it would be a worthy cause.
Jamie G.
March 8th, 2011
1:01 pm
Another recommendation: Consider vintage. We found an amazing dress for my younger sister at a vintage shop in Lexington, KY, while we were there for a college visit. I think it cost $20. I wore a vintage dress for my wedding last year — $350 on Etsy.com, plus some alterations here in Atlanta and a crinoline purchased at Stefan’s in L5P. There were dozens of gorgeous dresses on Etsy that would be prom appropriate, and not nearly as costly as my wedding dress. (Ebay seemed to have plenty of great deals, but Etsy offered a better curated collection, and sellers I could get in touch with much more easily.) Highly, highly recommend it for all things wedding, prom or party.
high motabolism
March 8th, 2011
1:10 pm
The comment about feeding her daughter is out of line. I was one of those kids that ate everything in sight and gained nothing. I am 5′10 and weighed 126. Now my daughter is 27 and has my same motabolism. She is 5′5″ and is lucky to weigh 100 lbs. She is continuously eating. She gets sooo frustrated when people comment on her lack of weight. People will actually walk up to her and comment about how she must be anorexic or bolemic. Sometimes people who are thin are that way due to their motabolism and nothing else.
Top School
March 8th, 2011
1:28 pm
Go Vintage!
http://www.MyMyMyAtlanta.com
Bev Jones
March 8th, 2011
1:45 pm
For my daughter’s high school years we scoped out Ross every now and then. One time we found 5 beautiful formal dresses on deep discount for a grand total of $100. She wore them for homecoming, prom, and formal dinners. She loaned them to other girls and now that she is in college, and living away from home, she and her friends have a whole new forum for these inexpensive but lovely gowns. Every girl is different and each one is beautiful in her own way regardless of height or weight.