Unless you have a younger sibling or cousin, you might be unaware of the bullet we older Millennials barely dodged. The average junior or senior high schooler today spends $324 on promposing costs.
I’d Better Come Up With An Awesome Promposal Or I’ll End Up Like This Guy
No this isn’t a high school self portrait on the left. It is the self image of every high school boy when he thinks about what will happen to him if he does not have a date to prom.
Promposing took off after the invention of Instagram and Snapchat. iPhones made it possible to broadcast gorgeous pictures to the whole school showing off how much you cared about a girl. The bigger and more elaborate the promposal, the more you think of your date. Guys started borrowing fire trucks with a banner hanging off the ladder. Others make elaborate floral arrangements or baked goods creations. One guy rented a private plane and created a message visible from thousands of feet in the air just to (probably temporarily) win the heart of some sixteen year old girl. Some guy even got star NFL defensive player JJ Watt to send a Snapchat for his promposal.
A VISA study quoted by Bloomberg News noted that American families’ spending on prom continues to rise. Concerningly, households making less than $25,000 spend twice as much on prom as households making more than $50,000. Guess what that amount is for poor families. Almost $1,400.
Clearly the same “once in a lifetime” mythology that became associated with weddings over the past several decades has made its way to prom. I’m pretty sure the majority of my readership is in the 20 to 40 range. However, if anyone out there is younger than 18, what can you do when all your peers out there are spending their parents money like there is no tomorrow?
Some Fun Ideas To Keep Promposing Costs Down While Making An Impression
Have no fear, Millennial Moola is here. Check out a few of the cooler ideas for promposing I found around the net. If she really likes you, unless you totally insult her or bomb the ask, she will probably go no matter what you do. No pressure.
Have some fun promosal ideas to share with your younger siblings, cousins, or friends? Post them below! I for one am glad my generation dodged the promposal bullet. We just focused on going there and having a fun time.
I think the link to the $1400 stat is broken.
I added a citation for it. Blows my mind that poor families are spending 5% to 10% of their annual income for one night.
Holy cow (lol)! That’s insane. I didn’t go to my prom and don’t regret it, either. I am shocked, but not entirely surprised about the costs.
This is a shocking. I never thought prom could cost a fortune. I remember going to prom with friends and that’s about it. No asking, no buying stuff, just being with good old friends and having fun.
I love the cow promposal but what does a guy do if he ends up marrying the girl? Lasso a bull? These costs are astronomical for one night. I had no idea.
I have a younger sister that just went, she got her dress on sale for less than $50, and her friends did her hair and makeup. I thought she did good, until I found out that she bought a boutonnière for $30 .. I mean c’mon, it’s 1 flower.. so tip, ladies, there is a site called you tube that will show you how to make that 🙂
Yet another celebration that has gotten completely out of hand. We’ve come to understand the costs of prom, even on a more extravagant level (limos, pre-parties, dress, tux rental, corsage/boutonnieres, etc.) but the fact that those poor teens are bending over backwards and shelling out big bucks before even attending prom? Ridiculous.
Having taught at a high school, I can tell you that the pressure is high for guys to come up with inventive promposals. Girls get the credit on social media for being asked by the cutest idea (not even necessarily the cutest date!).
Of your clever alternatives, my fave is the iPhone home screen app arrangement!
I can’t even imagine the pressure. I thought getting up the courage to ask a girl was tough enough.