This made me think about you guys. Not because you're getting married (if you are you're in the wrong place!) but because you've got a big event coming up next year, one involving dressing up and dancing, just like a wedding. Yup, I'm talking about your prom night, and it's made me wonder how much you are planning to – and perhaps you've already started to – spend on your prom.

I'm talking about prom guests here, not the prom committee, who are likely to be spending money on a larger scale to pay for decorations, food, entertainment etc. When it comes to prom night, the little things can all add up. Off the top of my head, a prom guest will be spending money on:

• A prom dress / tuxedo
• Accessories – shoes, jewellery and corsages
• Hair and make up (less for the lads of course!)
• The ticket price for the prom itself
• Prom transport
• Any contributions to a post-prom party

etc…

Over to you!
So I'm curious; how much are you spending? For prom year students it can be hard; you're still at school so dependent on a contribution from parents, or finding the money through the small amount of part-time work you're able to do. How are you finding the money? Is it a worry for you and your family?

If you don't feel happy to put something in the public comments below, drop us a line. I'm thinking about writing a couple of posts on ways to keep your costs as low as possible, I'd like to know where your budget is going so I can tailor my advice to what you need.

Thanks Atif!

SMALL HEATH SCHOOL PROM 2010

When I started secondary school in 2005 the idea of going to prom didn’t even cross my mind. Furthermore it also didn’t cross my mind that it would be a big part of my life in the last year of school, never mind remain in my heart for undoubtedly the rest of my life.

It was around about the start of this year when it was confirmed that the idea of prom happening this year was going to become reality. I remember thinking about what I was going to wear and how it’d be like 7 months in advance!

1 week before Prom

Now it was the 1st July and I had finally bought all of my prom clothes and accessories. I still couldn’t believe that in 7 days it would be Prom and school life would be coming to an end.

I remember thinking ‘hold it together Atif’. So that’s what I did!

I was going to make this the best prom of Small Heath School!

3 days before Prom

It was the 5th July, and I had got 4 friends together to help out with an idea that I’d come up with.

The idea was to create a ‘backdrop’ which fellow students/friends would use as a background to photos they were going to take on the day.

So for the full day we put our heads down and ended up with something awful!

I spoke to a teacher Mrs Usman about it and we ended up arguing about changing the whole ‘backdrop’ idea but I was persistent about not changing it, in the end however it was changed but not until the final day…

PROM DAY!- 8th July 2010

Venue: Bia Lounge Time: 6PM-9PM

I was so excited I woke up at 9am even though prom wasn’t until 6 in the evening.

I spent most of Prom Day running around sorting out ‘my beautiful backdrop’. I was looking forward to putting it together and I remember saying to myself ‘stick to what you wanted to do, don’t listen to everyone else’.

However this would later turn out to count for nothing. It was 3 hours before Prom and Mrs Mckee, Mrs Usman, Anisa, Awaas, Bushra, Halima and I were all at the venue blowing up balloons, sorting the backdrop and generally decorating the place as much as possible.

As Mrs Usman, Anisa and me were trying to put the backdrop together they kept saying ‘it would look nice Atif it we cut the stickers out instead of sticking them like that’. Deep down I knew they were right but I wasn’t going to budge; this was my idea and I was going to do what I wanted to do! In the end I just went along with what they said however the last word was always going to be mine!

3 hours to go till Prom

I set off from the venue, when I got home there must have been about 2 hours to go – plenty of time to change – or was it? I remember my mum saying ‘Atif do this do that’ for an hour!

There was just one hour left and I finally got into the shower and had a trim. ½ hour to go till Prom which was at 6, I knew I was going to be late. I ironed my shirt which took 15 minutes! 15 minutes to do my hair and put on my clothes? I knew I was going to be late.  So I started on my hair and was done by 6PM! Great I was late to Prom!

I put my clothes on, sprayed some perfume on and got out the house by 6:15 I must have arrived by 6:30 PM with the sound of Jay Sean Ride It was blasting in the car I was in. As soon as I arrived I remember one of the teachers saying ‘C’mon Atif we’ve been waiting for you’ which I must admit made me feel special.

The Prom!

I went inside Bia Lounge, our prom venue. Something stunned me: a DJ with music playing and two fellow students sitting down like they were watching him play.

A friend, Zain approached me as I went further in and I remember saying ‘what the hell is going on? This is prom, you don’t sit down, get everyone up!’

By 7 o'clock 9 out of 10 students were dancing, from the ‘geeks’ to the ‘gangsters’ which was a real achievement. Although I would like to take the credit, all credit goes to the DJ!

From 7- 7:30pm we had awards. Congratulations to Prom King and Queen; Khasad Ali and Rehana Kauser although I still believe I should have won Prom King, Next year eh?

Half 7 to 8pm was eating, personally I hated the food and didn’t eat most of mine, although people were going for seconds not mentioning any names (Mr Deaves).

8pm was when the DJ started the Music! 1 hour of non stop dancing – we were going to rock this dance floor by we I mean from everyone including Imran (receptionist) to Deputy Head Mrs Wilson.

8pm to 8:30 pm were the loudest most amazing times of times of my school career but it wasn’t over – we still had 30 minutes and we were going to use them wisely. I called over Hashim and said to him lets grab all the teachers from Mr Deaves (Head of DT) to Mrs Midworth ( Assistant Head) and at first they refused but this time I wasn’t going without a fight. In the end we had Mrs Wilson, Mrs Midworth, Mr Deaves, Mr Bhugvandeen, Imran, Nadeem, Mrs Kumar, Mrs Mckee & Mr Mohammed all on the dance floor!

8:30-9pm was incredible, fantastic, amazing, brilliant and not forgetting LOUD! We danced to everything, from YMCA to Bhangra.

I was enjoying every moment of it and I wasn’t going to stop! I was dancing with Mrs Wilson showing her how to dance.

9pm and it was over!

Small Heath School Prom for Class of the Decade was over and boy I was an emotional wreck but I kept it together. I was actually lost for words; I couldn’t describe this feeling, it was happiness and a sad feeling both in one.

All I could remember saying to myself was ‘I feel sorry for anyone who didn’t come tonight because they missed out on one of the best nights of their school careers’.

A feeling that I never thought I’d experience with a school had hit me; the feeling of pride. I was proud that I chose Small Heath School as my secondary school and I was proud of what had been achieved that night. The idea of making prom night the best night of our school lives had finally been made reality!

Atif Ali
Small Heath School
Class of 2010

—-

It's not too late to send us an article about your school prom – we'd like to post them over the whole summer. So if you want to show off your writing on your university application, or just get the kudos of being a published reporter (and a little thank you pressie from us too), check out the details in this post and drop us a line!

So that's the hard work done, right? Well yes, kind of, but I thought I'd list a few things that it's good to do in the days running up to the prom.

The week of the prom

To look your absolute best, the following small actions can have a big impact.

Go to bed early every night that week
I know it's boring, but believe me, it'll do wonders for those dark shadows under your eyes and it'll mean you'll have tonnes of energy to devote to the prom.

Drink plenty of water
It's good for skin and good for energy levels too. Did you know that professional make-up artists can tell what famous actors and rock stars have been up to just from their skin? Being fully hydrated reduces the chance of your skin looking dull and being dry.

Avoid bread
Bread can make your stomach bloat and take a couple of days to go down. Cutting it out a few days before the prom would be a good idea if your one of the unlucky souls like me whose body just doesn't like bread. There's nothing worse than a stomach like a beach ball when you're wearing a posh prom frock…

If you've ordered a corsage, check the order is okay
It probably is, but finding out if there's a problem three days before the prom rather than on the day is much better.

Buy your prom date's present
This should always be done when you have a couple of hours to devote to it, rather than a last minute panic.

Buy a spare pair of tights/stockings and clear nail varnish
So many get laddered in the excitement of getting ready – spares can be an absolute godsend, and the nail varnish is for your emergency kit.

Things not to do in the run up to prom night

Change any part of your skin care regime
Don't go for a facial in the last week before the prom – it can bring you out in spots. Stick to tried and tested products so you can be certain you won't have any break outs that could have been avoided.

Go on a mad tanning spree
Either in the back garden or at the salon – everyone knows it's bad for you, and there's nothing attractive about lobster red…

Experiment with fake tans that stain skin
Any fake tans that are designed to last for a few days are not good to try three days before prom night. You don't want to end up going orange, and then scrubbing yourself like a mad thing for hours on end to get rid of it.

Good things to sort out the day before the prom

Check that every part of your prom outfit is clean, ironed, polished – whatever!
This goes for the lads especially – look at every single thing you are going to wear and see if it needs to be cleaned. If you're hiring a suit, you still need to check you have other things ready; complacency can lead to last minute panics as your limo is waiting outside.

Wash your hair the night before the prom
If you're having your hair put up, wash it the night before so it doesn't just slide out of your hair grips. If your hair tends to go fluffy or frizzy after being washed, a night's sleep can help to calm it down.

Pack your emergency kit
Yes, it may only be a few things as listed in the Prom Organiser e-book, but trust me, the day of the prom will whiz by, so getting it all together the day before is the way forwards.

Check camera batteries
Well, that's just common sense, right?

So all that's left for me to say here is have a fabulous time! And don't forget, we'd love to have more people writing about their prom – check out this post for details.

Anyone got any other tips for the lead up to the prom?