How much is your child's prom ticket and what does it include?

[Arkansan]

DD’s ticket was $45. It included a buffet dinner and DJ. It was held at a local resort-hotel. (It was just on Sat. night.). It is for Seniors and they fundraiser all through High School towards the Prom. (whole class fundraising, not individually). Underclassmen can attend, but they need to be asked by a Senior. Some attended as couples, but most that I saw went together in groups, no dates. (DD went with a group of friends, not as a couple.) I didn’t see any “prom-posals” this year, so it seems like that fad is ending here. DD and I even had a conversation about that recently and she said that few girls had been asked to Prom this year. The only people she knew who were going together were already dating each other.
There was also a Post-Prom party which is held at the HS and planned by a committee of Senior parents. Tickets to that were $30, or $25 with a donation of peanut butter for the food bank. It is a much more casual (more fun) event with laser tag, entertainment (a hypnotist, DJ), dodgeball, inflatable slides, food, prizes, etc. It went from 11-5 am. You can attend Post-Prom and not attend prom, as long a you buy a ticket. Sadly, DD did not attend, as she has her club team practice on Sundays and she wanted to be rested. I told her she could just go for a few hours (need parental permission to leave early), but she declined. I think she regretted it a little, but tickets needed to be purchased in advance and it was too late.

My older DD graduated in 2016 and, due to a large doner, her prom ticket was free! Her Post-prom ticket was $25. Both events were at the same venues as this year and included the same things.

 

[aprilgail]

I'm not sure of the reason for the rule either, but my high school was the same. (I don't think we called them 'bids', but individual tickets were not available.) And, my school (catholic school) had so many rules about who could be your date that basically if you didn't find a date within your class, it wasn't even worth going.)
-- Couples had to be boy-girl, so you couldn't split a ticket with a same-gender friend.
-- All attendees had to be juniors or seniors. Sophomores and graduates could not go, even if invited by a junior/senior (which really sucked for kids who were dating someone from a different class.)
-- If you brought a guest from another school, there were all sorts of hoops that had to be jumped through. They had to be 'registered' as your guest in advance. The guest had to get a form signed by his/her high school principal saying that they were a junior/senior in good standing, and had to sign a code of conduct document prior to being "approved." Nothing like saying "Hey, would you go with me to my prom? There's kind of a background check."

I just looked on the school website to see if I can tell whether the rules are the same or not, but I can't tell. All it says on the website is the date and time and that information will be distributed at the school.

Not surprised that it was a Catholic School that had those rules! There is no way a public school cold get away with that. My daughter went to prom with a senior boy when she was in 11th grade and the next year she said she did not want to go with a boy she just wanted to go with a group of her friends because the groups seemed to have more fun than the boy/girl couples that were at the previous prom. She brought a "date"- her best friend lives in Vermont and she flew in to go to prom with my daughter, they had to get a form filled out by her principal and signed by her parents but no one batted an eye that she had a female "date", there were plenty of kids that were actual same sex couples there and no one has any issue with that.

 

[maddiel]

I did not realize the idea of American-style proms, separate from grad, were becoming a thing in different parts of Canada. I've asked around; it's not done here. Do they still also have an event for grad?

What I am describing as a "prom" is a formal dance just for graduates and their dates that happens on a date shortly before graduation (although some schools have started moving them back into May, probably due to logistics) There is no other formal school event (other than a brief reception in the school cafeteria) on the same day as the graduation ceremony - people generally go home and have relatives/close friends over. This is the same way it was done 35 years ago when I graduated high school. except that we had the prom the day after graduation.

What do you mean by grad? We may be talking about the same thing only not on the same day as graduation. Who else goes to your grad besides the graduates and their dates?

M.

 

[ronandannette]

What I am describing as a "prom" is a formal dance just for graduates and their dates that happens on a date shortly before graduation (although some schools have started moving them back into May, probably due to logistics) There is no other formal school event (other than a brief reception in the school cafeteria) on the same day as the graduation ceremony - people generally go home and have relatives/close friends over. This is the same way it was done 35 years ago when I graduated high school. except that we had the prom the day after graduation.

What do you mean by grad? We may be talking about the same thing only not on the same day as graduation. Who else goes to your grad besides the graduates and their dates?

M.

"Grad" is the combined high-school graduation ceremony and celebration that encompasses most of what people here describe as happening at "prom". The ceremony is early in the day and in the evening a formal banquet, speeches, awards, tributes honouring the graduates, followed by a dance. In addition to the graduates themselves, it is attended by family and friends (tickets must be purchased and there is usually a limit per graduate). Often there is also a school-sponsored after-party for the students and their dates. It is never referred to as prom here, either now or back in the day.

 

[NAB]

"Grad" is the combined high-school graduation ceremony and celebration that encompasses most of what people here describe as happening at "prom". The ceremony is early in the day and in the evening a formal banquet, speeches, awards, tributes honouring the graduates, followed by a dance. In addition to the graduates themselves, it is attended by family and friends (tickets must be purchased and there is usually a limit per graduate). Often there is also a school-sponsored after-party for the students and their dates. It is never referred to as prom here, either now or back in the day.

Here in Ontario we do refer it to it as prom now , even 6 years ago when my son graduated it was called prom. His was a in May while this year my dd is in June . We have nothing at the school after they walk so this is the only dance/party they get. At least at the school they attend. Students have been known to have blow out parties for just the students right after this.

 

[HopperFan]

There is a prom tonight in Epcot (I think Celebration High) ........... wonder how much those tickets are?

 

[NotUrsula]

You’re right Mackenzie, every school is different, which I think is the point of the OP. What I should’ve said is, if all other factors are the same, food (type and amount, or lack thereof) will generally affect ticket prices.
And I agree with you about venues. Our junior prom takes place in the school gym, while the more formal senior prom is held at an offsite catering hall, which is significantly more expensive, as you’d expect (though both include dinner).
BTW, back in my day, the ticket was called a prom bid, and it was for a couple. You couldn’t go single to the prom; you had to have a date. I’m glad this custom has changed in most places, to be more inclusive of all students.

Just curious - I can't for the life of me think of a reason for this rule to be in place. Is it common? Can you enlighten me?

I have no idea why, that’s just the way it was at my school at the time (public HS, 1980). Couples only.
I didn’t date much in HS and did not attend my prom. Neither did most in my circle of friends. The majority of kids who went, went with their steady boyfriend or girlfriend. I was asked by a guy I barely knew and would’ve been awkward going with, so I declined. Instead, my 3 BFFs and I went to a local bar that night and had our own celebration (we could legally drink at 18 back then).
If we had been allowed to go as a group, without dates, I’m sure we would have. But I never felt bad about it, and later on found out that DH didn’t go to his prom either, for the same reason.

Ours were called prom "invitations" and they were also couples-only. I grew up in a poor rural town with a high crime rate, and in our case the reason for the rule was that the organizers did not want any boys coming stag, because historically they tended to get drunk and get into fights if they didn't have dates. It was a cost matter, actually, because the venue (the local agricultural exhibit hall) normally required one rent-a-cop, but if you had a history of fights at the event they would force you to hire 4. (The couples-only rule for that event was dropped in 1984; when several football players agreed to come stag to act as bouncers.)

Because of past racial tensions dating from forced integration incidents, my public high school did not sponsor dances of any kind. When I graduated (1979) we still had a tradition of two proms, one white, one AA; both held in separate off-site locations. The drinking age at the time was 18 and the proms always had open bars and party snacks provided by the committee; you went to dinner beforehand on your own, as none of the local venues had kitchens. We traditionally had our proms the night after the final day of class, so that getting busted for underage drinking wouldn't come back to bite you at school.

I know; horrifying, isn't it? I never went to a prom as a guest, but my sister had a photography business, so I eventually went to every dance in town as her assistant, taking the payments for the photos. The first mixed prom connected to that school was held in the late-1980's, and now there is only one, but it is still held off-site with no formal connection to the school, and there is still no meal; as Gumbo said, when the community includes a lot of folks with lower incomes, the option to pay for the dance only makes it more affordable.

 

[bjscheel]

No cost if you/your parents worked 10 concession stand events during sophomore year. Each shift counts as $20 so if you don't work them all, you pay up to $200. We worked all the required events so didn't have to pay anything. The concession profits go to prom funds. This covers dinner, dance, and post-prom. Leftover funds are used to make senior yearbooks, caps, and gowns free if possible.