My 2018 Prom Experience: dress, date, dancing, + more!
March 30, 2018My 2018 Prom Experience: dress, date, dancing, + more!
I’m currently running on four hours of sleep so I’m only half awake right now but I wanted to write this now before I lost all my thoughts about last night.
Prom is truly an amazing experience. Just the fact that I’m able to go as a homeschooler is pretty cool because it’s something I never expected to be able to do. I get a lot of questions about things like prom, homecoming, and other formal school events and if I’m allowed to go. Don’t quote me on this, but I am almost positive that where I live I could possibly attend a public school event if I was invited by someone who goes to the school.
But what really is the fun of that? What if your school didn’t have a prom and you had to go to another school’s prom just to be able to go. It’s not the same. That’s why I’m extremely lucky to be able to go to this event. As you might already know, I went last year for the first time and absolutely loved it. So ever since this time last year I’ve been counting down the days until I could go again. And that day was yesterday.
Dress
Okay so one of the biggest parts of prom (for a girl) is the dress you wear. You want it to be something that suits you, fits you, meets the dress code, and something you can dance in. Do you know how hard it is to find all those things in one dress? Not to mention one that’s in your price range. This year I had a much more difficult time picking out a dress and it was actually my mom who found the dress I ended up wearing (thanks mom). I was not impressed with it when I first saw it, but it grew on me as time went on (literally and figuratively).
The style is a little more different, which is why it took me some time to get used to it, but by the time prom rolled around I was in love with it. It was exactly the color I wanted and it with a few alterations, fit me perfectly. I got it on sale for only $75 online (which is very inexpensive for a formal dress) and a huge thank you to my grandma for buying it for me!
Here’s the link to the dress:
Hair and Makeup
If I’ve never told you about my hair, you’re about to hear about it now. But seriously, I have the most awful hair. I’ve never liked it. It’s always oily and greasy no matter how many times I wash it or don’t wash it, it’s very thin so it’s very hard to style (that’s why in all my pictures it’s just down and straightened which is pretty much the only thing I can do with it). So if you have any suggestions on hair care, please let me know.
As I was looking for inspiration for a prom hairstyle, I was sad because all the girls that were wearing the hairstyles had really good and thick hair, unlike mine. But in the end it all worked out and my best friend’s sister was able to work some magic with this mane of mine.
For makeup I wanted something simple but elegant at the same time, and I think it came out very well. For my eyes I wanted the colors to match my dress so I had gold and then a bit of a plum color in the corner. There wasn’t a lot of time for makeup so I wasn’t able to have a full face, but for what we did have time for it turned out perfect.
Date
This year, my lovely best friend agreed to be my date to prom. Or I shouldn’t say she agreed, rather I “dragged her along”. This year was definitely better in terms of who I spent the evening with. As I like to think of it, it’s better to have one real friend than a lot of fake ones. Over the past year I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone to meet new people and have some incredible new people in my life, but also cut the line on some not-so-good ones.
Some people have asked me recently when I’ll date again, and the truthful answer is that whenever God brings me the right person at the right time. As I’ve said in a few posts before, the waiting game is one that is hard and tiring sometimes, but I know it will be completely worth it one day. Even if that day is not soon. Until then, I’m surrounded with the most amazing friends, girls and boys that I am incredibly thankful for.
I’m getting sidetracked already. Back to prom.
Dinner
Unlike most proms, this prom serves a three-course meal before the dancing. I think this is one of the things that make this prom unique, because from what I’ve heard, most school proms don’t serve food. This year’s meal consisted of: a salad, stuffed chicken, sauteed peppers, broccoli, bread, and a brownie for dessert. It was delicious!
There is only one complaint I had about the dinner and it may be partially my fault. There was no initiative on when we should eat the dessert (that has already been set out on the tables when we arrived). We knew it wasn’t meant to be eaten until after dinner, but we weren’t sure when. After we did a few dances, we came back to our table and it had already been taken away, along with our water glasses. So we never got to eat dessert! But other than that, the meal was fantastic.
Dancing
The dancing. Perhaps the best and most anticipated part of prom. Another unique thing about this prom is that they don’t just play music from the past decade. We did dances that originated back in the Revolutionary War period, such as The Grand March and The Virginia Reel. That makes it unique and interesting for everyone and provides a general structure for the dances, which is nice.
There is also a DJ that plays songs that are a bit more recent. Before prom you can send in requests of songs you’d like to be played and the DJ might play it at prom. One thing I noticed is that they played a lot of the same songs as last year, but I suppose that’s because there are only so many they can play that are clean and acceptable. Not a complaint, just something I thought would be worth mentioning. Overall, the dancing is a lot of fun, especially with the mix of old and new style dances.
The Second Time Around
Prom is five hours long, but not nearly long enough. This time when I left I was sad, knowing I only have one more time to go back. I do have to say that my second prom experience was a lot more different than the first one. Last year I had mixed feelings about going and ended up being pleasantly surprised. This year, I knew more of what to expect but I didn’t really get the “pleasantly surprised” vibes as last year.
To sum things up, junior prom was a fantastic. These kinds of memories are memories I’ll keep with me for a long, long time. There’s only so much time to be young, and as I always say “you only live once” (seriously, I don’t get why people don’t say that more often). Prom is truly a wonderful experience I’ll forever be grateful for.
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