Promposals: Your Kid's Prom Just Got Even More Expensive

[MrStash2000]

Promposals are the new rage. According to Bloomberg teens spend an average of over $300 on asking a girl out. LOL

My favorite line, "Visa found families making less than $25,000 per year spend $1,393 on proms."

Oh and of course Ted "The Zodiac Killer" Cruz has read Promposals on behalf of teens. Creepy.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-25/promposals-your-kid-s-prom-just-got-even-more-expensive?xid=soc_socialflow_facebook_realsimple

[MgoSam]

I think I was a Mustachian from high school, I didn't go to prom because I thought it was a waste of money. I also didn't buy a Yearbook, instead I just stapled a bunch of computer paper together and wrote YEARBOOK on it.

[forummm]

Promposal costs are not going in my FIRE budget. ForuMMM Jr can just do it the old fashioned way. Or get his own job to pay for it.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Why in the world would anybody spend that amount of money just to ASK someone out unless they were reasonably certain the answer would be yes?

[YogiKitti]

A lot of these are for couples already, which makes it even more of a waste of money.

[randymarsh]

Is there anything more of a moment ruiner/boner killer than Ted Cruz being involved in your prom?

[warmastoast]

good grief.  My son - 17yrs old and a junior just refused to go the prom because a rental tuxedo would look stupid on his frame ( he's right) and he didn't want to pay $$ for a ticket just to feel stupid.  He'll wait until next year for that! 

youngest has her 8th grade formal which is turning out to be a bit of a pain in the derriere... we've decided to ignore all the teen hysteria and  we've just bought a beautiful, bright blue dress secondhand for $25. She looks fabulous.. It breaks at least one dress code (really???) because it is strapless so she's happy.

[gimp]

  According to Bloomberg teens spend an average of over $300 on asking a girl out.

Bullshit. I don't believe it. Who did they ask, three people?

You get the girl some roses or color on the sidewalk with some chalk, done. Ain't nobody spending $300. Not even kids who are loaded.

[dycker1978]

  According to Bloomberg teens spend an average of over $300 on asking a girl out.

Bullshit. I don't believe it. Who did they ask, three people?

You get the girl some roses or color on the sidewalk with some chalk, done. Ain't nobody spending $300. Not even kids who are loaded.

A dozen roses here is $100... not that frugal

[jim555]

When I worked they all were talking about Sweet 16 parties.  Apparently you aren't keeping up with the Joneses if you don't spend a tidy sum on an elaborate Sweet 16 party.
I was saying to myself, they will NEVER retire.

[ncornilsen]

Is there anything more of a moment ruiner/boner killer than Ted Cruz being involved in your prom?

yes... if Hillary Clinton somehow was. *shudder*

[MrsPete]

As a high school teacher, I've witnessed a couple of these Prom-posals.  They're not particularly common; in a school with a senior class of about 500, I'd estimate perhaps 15-20 guys do Prom-posals.  And they're not spendy.  Typically flowers are involved, but we're talking about a grocery store bunch costing $10-12.  I've seen hand-made posters, balloons on cars, sidewalk chalk, stuffed animals. 

A friend of mine who's the mother of teenaged boys says that this is something boys do if they're not too sure of the reception they'll receive.  It's harder to say no when the guy's gone to such trouble. 

The girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these Prom-posals, and they are the talk of the school.  If girls were doing the asking, they'd be more common.

[MgoSam]

I still remember the look on my sister's face when I asked her for a ride to the grocery store so I could pick up a rose to give to the person I was asking for our winter dance. She thought that it was weird that people gave things, when she was in high school people either just asked or would come up with a clever way (a friend of hers convinced the principal to call her into detention and he surprised her there, she was the perfect student so was delightfully surprised).

[MoneyCat]

I didn't go to my prom. I was in a rock band, so I didn't need to spend a ridiculous amount of money to get the "benefits" of a prom.

[meg_shannon]

A friend of mine who's the mother of teenaged boys says that this is something boys do if they're not too sure of the reception they'll receive.  It's harder to say no when the guy's gone to such trouble. 

This is why I hate public proposals. Women/girls have enough pressure already to say yes and please men/boys. Might as well make it public in front of a large number of people she knows.

[I'm a red panda]

You'd have to take out a second mortgage to afford the promposal in this video  (at 6:15)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt0d1bxI4fY

Because first you have to train an elite figure skater.

[gimp]

A dozen roses here is $100... not that frugal

Where do you live? Alaska? A dozen roses literally everywhere I've seen, except in Fairbanks, is under thirty or forty bucks even for the really fancy ones. Often enough they're $10-20 for normal red roses.

[shelivesthedream]

A friend of mine who's the mother of teenaged boys says that this is something boys do if they're not too sure of the reception they'll receive.  It's harder to say no when the guy's gone to such trouble. 

This is why I hate public proposals. Women/girls have enough pressure already to say yes and please men/boys. Might as well make it public in front of a large number of people she knows.

I vindictively love watching Youtube videos of really elaborate public proposals where the woman says no. I mean FFS, what kind of an ignorant asshole do you have to be to embarrass a girl in front of everyone when you're not even sure it's what she wants? Why do you think you're going to get engaged to someone you don't know that well, or don't care about enough to respect her opinions?

[RagingRanter]

A friend of mine who's the mother of teenaged boys says that this is something boys do if they're not too sure of the reception they'll receive.  It's harder to say no when the guy's gone to such trouble. 

This is why I hate public proposals. Women/girls have enough pressure already to say yes and please men/boys. Might as well make it public in front of a large number of people she knows.

I vindictively love watching Youtube videos of really elaborate public proposals where the woman says no. I mean FFS, what kind of an ignorant asshole do you have to be to embarrass a girl in front of everyone when you're not even sure it's what she wants? Why do you think you're going to get engaged to someone you don't know that well, or don't care about enough to respect her opinions?

Agreed. And yet people feel so sorry for the guy afterwards. Screw him. It's either a pressure tactic (she's less likely to say 'no' if I ask her in front of a crowd), or it's blatantly narcissistic attention-seeking, or the guy really does not understand her at all. Caught up in his own delusional fantasies about how it's all going to play out, instead of actually trying to figure out what she wants. I realize that some guys are really socially clued out, and they honestly can't read women or navigate relationships at all, though no fault of their own (yes, some people are just born like that). But seriously, if you're one of those guys, it becomes even more important that you ASK HER IN PRIVATE, SO IT ISN'T A HUMILIATING SCENE FOR THE BOTH OF YOU IF SHE SAYS NO! Isn't that just a little better than having your social ineptitude forever archived on YouTube?

[accountingteacher]

As a high school teacher, I've witnessed a couple of these Prom-posals.  They're not particularly common; in a school with a senior class of about 500, I'd estimate perhaps 15-20 guys do Prom-posals.  And they're not spendy.  Typically flowers are involved, but we're talking about a grocery store bunch costing $10-12.  I've seen hand-made posters, balloons on cars, sidewalk chalk, stuffed animals. 

A friend of mine who's the mother of teenaged boys says that this is something boys do if they're not too sure of the reception they'll receive.  It's harder to say no when the guy's gone to such trouble. 

The girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these Prom-posals, and they are the talk of the school.  If girls were doing the asking, they'd be more common.

Agree.  I teach in a very expensive private school where the kids drive Teslas and BMWs and such and even there I've never seen a $300 promposal.  It's more about getting the maximum amount of attention.  The best ones are when they get the teachers in on it, like if the promposal is question #8 on a test or something.

[RagingRanter]

As a high school teacher, I've witnessed a couple of these Prom-posals.  They're not particularly common; in a school with a senior class of about 500, I'd estimate perhaps 15-20 guys do Prom-posals.  And they're not spendy.  Typically flowers are involved, but we're talking about a grocery store bunch costing $10-12.  I've seen hand-made posters, balloons on cars, sidewalk chalk, stuffed animals. 

A friend of mine who's the mother of teenaged boys says that this is something boys do if they're not too sure of the reception they'll receive.  It's harder to say no when the guy's gone to such trouble. 

The girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these Prom-posals, and they are the talk of the school.  If girls were doing the asking, they'd be more common.

Agree.  I teach in a very expensive private school where the kids drive Teslas and BMWs and such and even there I've never seen a $300 promposal.  It's more about getting the maximum amount of attention.  The best ones are when they get the teachers in on it, like if the promposal is question #8 on a test or something.

With prom-posals becoming more common, I can see an increase in future public proposals as well. With such behaviour becoming normalized, and with "maximum attention" being the objective, I expect to be enjoying a lot more "proposal fail" videos on YouTube in the future.

[A Definite Beta Guy]

Interesting to hear about the relative rarity of these. I remember being pressured in to doing one of these stupid stunts in high school and thinking most of the guys did something similar. This was before Social Media, so....

I don't remember any guy spending more than  like $50 on one. I spent $0, just used a bunch of crafts around the house. Prom itself was already ridiculously expensive, so no need to blow even more money on the thing.

[dycker1978]

A dozen roses here is $100... not that frugal

Where do you live? Alaska? A dozen roses literally everywhere I've seen, except in Fairbanks, is under thirty or forty bucks even for the really fancy ones. Often enough they're $10-20 for normal red roses.

Things are a lot cheaper in the US.  It costs $20 for grocery store roses here... Nice of you to judge though.

[iris lily]

As a high school teacher, I've witnessed a couple of these Prom-posals.  They're not particularly common; in a school with a senior class of about 500, I'd estimate perhaps 15-20 guys do Prom-posals.  And they're not spendy.  Typically flowers are involved, but we're talking about a grocery store bunch costing $10-12.  I've seen hand-made posters, balloons on cars, sidewalk chalk, stuffed animals. 

A friend of mine who's the mother of teenaged boys says that this is something boys do if they're not too sure of the reception they'll receive.  It's harder to say no when the guy's gone to such trouble. 

The girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these Prom-posals, and they are the talk of the school.  If girls were doing the asking, they'd be more common.

Oh, women.

Ut s a "thing"among some women to make a big deal of asking other women to be their bridesmaid. The hormones practically drip as these bride to bees decorate boxes that contain  bestie friend poems and calendars and photographs. This is all well documented on the website Wedding Bee.

And it amazing how many bridesmaids cme on  the site to complain about bridezilla expectations, poor communications from bride and her family, etc. I suspect that the high emo brides who create the Asking Ritual are also high emo and unrealistic about bridesmaids performing endless duties.

I say, what happened to,having a simple conversatin such as "the dude and I are getting married and I would love it if you stood ip with me at the alter! Wear anything you like. I hope we can go out for a glass f wine  a few days before i get hitched."

[TheGrimSqueaker]

A dozen roses here is $100... not that frugal

Where do you live? Alaska? A dozen roses literally everywhere I've seen, except in Fairbanks, is under thirty or forty bucks even for the really fancy ones. Often enough they're $10-20 for normal red roses.

Things are a lot cheaper in the US.  It costs $20 for grocery store roses here... Nice of you to judge though.

There's also a lot of seasonal variation in the price due to demand. Rose prices tend to spike around Valentine's Day and Mother's Day despite growers' attempts to make sure there's a good supply.

[accountingteacher]

As a high school teacher, I've witnessed a couple of these Prom-posals.  They're not particularly common; in a school with a senior class of about 500, I'd estimate perhaps 15-20 guys do Prom-posals.  And they're not spendy.  Typically flowers are involved, but we're talking about a grocery store bunch costing $10-12.  I've seen hand-made posters, balloons on cars, sidewalk chalk, stuffed animals. 

A friend of mine who's the mother of teenaged boys says that this is something boys do if they're not too sure of the reception they'll receive.  It's harder to say no when the guy's gone to such trouble. 

The girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these Prom-posals, and they are the talk of the school.  If girls were doing the asking, they'd be more common.

Agree.  I teach in a very expensive private school where the kids drive Teslas and BMWs and such and even there I've never seen a $300 promposal.  It's more about getting the maximum amount of attention.  The best ones are when they get the teachers in on it, like if the promposal is question #8 on a test or something.

I stand corrected.  This morning a boy (grandson of a very famous very wealthy man whose name anyone in North America would probably recognize) told me that for his prom-posal, he has rented an ice-cream truck and will be giving free ice cream to everyone in the graduating class.

I'm thinking of writing a book called 'Private School Moments'.

[Kitsune]

I say, what happened to,having a simple conversatin such as "the dude and I are getting married and I would love it if you stood ip with me at the alter! Wear anything you like. I hope we can go out for a glass f wine  a few days before i get hitched."

Basically what I did 4 years ago, but I was also asking my best dude friend to be a bridesdude, so, wedding Notions were already all messed up right there. :)

Proposals for prom are even more ridiculous than prom, which is already ridiculous enough. And yes, that was my opinion as a 17-year-old girl. I got a cute dress, I went alone with my friends because I didn't want to pay for an extra ticket to invite a friend, and I skipped out early to go play d&d near the fire pit at the after party. And I probably had more fun than the more drama-filled relationships at prom, so, no regrets.

[Grif]

As a recent graduate, I was in the heart of promposal land recently. I can give you pretty much a first hand account of all these. And for those wondering, my promposal cost about $40 to $50.. I did a bunch of balloons and flowers. Apparently helium balloons are extremely expensive, I just never knew. I bought a tank for $35 and it DIDN'T even manage 30 balloons. More than a dollar per balloon. I couldn't believe it. Now, on the other end of the spectrum are the "stereotypcial rich kid school" promposals I witnessed...

1. Someone rented a white pony, and painted PROM? in pink letters ON THE PONY.
2. Huge lawn ornament type PROM letters that stick in the ground
3. Mariachi band.

Not to say these aren't creative and memorable.. but definitely expensive!

[I'm a red panda]

Apparently helium balloons are extremely expensive, I just never knew. I bought a tank for $35 and it DIDN'T even manage 30 balloons. More than a dollar per balloon. I couldn't believe it.

The earth is running out of helium, it isn't a renewable resource. It should be expensive.

[CheapskateWife]

I got a promposal in highschool 20 years ago and it was free but cute.

Back when the top 10 lists were still a thing, he got his friends to rattle off the 10 reasons I should go to prom with him.  Cool thing was it was right before a state competition and I was already nervous about my solo and the promposal totally took my mind off choking during the performance.  Nailed it and had a cute prom date to boot.

So if you have a teenager who is feeling pressure to do such a thing, why not help him/her get creative instead of spendy.

[MandalayVA]

A friend of mine who's the mother of teenaged boys says that this is something boys do if they're not too sure of the reception they'll receive.  It's harder to say no when the guy's gone to such trouble. 

This is why I hate public proposals. Women/girls have enough pressure already to say yes and please men/boys. Might as well make it public in front of a large number of people she knows.

I vindictively love watching Youtube videos of really elaborate public proposals where the woman says no. I mean FFS, what kind of an ignorant asshole do you have to be to embarrass a girl in front of everyone when you're not even sure it's what she wants? Why do you think you're going to get engaged to someone you don't know that well, or don't care about enough to respect her opinions?

I don't think anyone filmed it--I've looked--but I witnessed an epic proposal shootdown in Yankee Stadium.  Like any big US sports event there's a time when the arena or stadium puts birthdays and anniversaries on the video screens and the PA person reads them aloud.  The proposal came at the end--KRISTY, WILL YOU MARRY ME?  Of course the crowd around me starts yelling "No!" but a very loud female voice came over it--"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE, I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THIS!"  A few rows ahead of me was a VERY pissed-off young woman and a VERY red-faced young guy holding a Tiffany box.  She marched up the stairs and the guy started crying.  I did feel bad for him, but then again I really wish the production numbers around proposals (and now asking people to the prom) would just stop.

[zephyr911]

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE, I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THIS!"

If the relationship was going to suffer an irreparable breakdown over failure to communicate, better that it happened before joint property and kids and all that mess.

The earth is running out of helium, it isn't a renewable resource. It should be expensive.

There you go using science and logic again. Friggin' MMM'ers.