One of my daughters is finally finishing high school this year! Yay!
I would like some opinion on how to do "formal" in an OzBargain Way.
We are prepared to pay around $4-500 for the occasion, including the dress and make up etc.
We live in Brisbane North.
Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks.
OzBargain Way to do FORMAL for Year 12
tomatosauce on 31/03/2013 - 20:25
Comments
If there's a big group, you could hire a mini bus instead of limos, it should be cheaper.
For dresses and shoes, check out the myer sales and you can always dress things up by adding a few accessories.
Also, pick clothings that can be worn for many different occasions, so its not something you'll only wear once.
Keep makeup simple and clean imo. I remember girls at my formal who wore full on heavy makeup, looked tacky.Forget the limo. Turn up in your own car and meet your friends there - it is 5 minutes at the start and quickly forgotten.
Start shopping now for the dress - Myer formal section in the major sales (June would be the only one left before the event now) can yield some decent results. If you wanted to, a trip to the Gold Coast and some shopping around could yield some good results - there seems to be a lot more shops with evening/formal dresses down there. There are actually some lovely dresses in a lot of different shops now - far better than when I was graduating high school 16 years ago! Remember that it doesn't necessarily need to a 'formal dress', an evening dress could be a lot more reusable - it just comes down to what is fashionable at the moment. I ended up in an awesome dress from a Gold Coast boutique that was closing down so offering BOGOF on all their already reduced stock. Got two dresses for $100 and then my mum sold the second dress for $80 or something.
Shop around for hair/makeup. The prices vary wildly - we actually ended up booking a mobile hairdresser who came to our house and did me, my bestie's and my mum's hair and makeup. It worked out cheaper than us going to to a salon. Another option (that my sister is doing for her uni grad this week actually) is that you can book a makeup session at a makeup counter (ie. in Myer, David Jones, chemists etc) and it is 'free' if you buy two products or spend of $50 or so - each counter is different.
Forget the picture package - buy just one or two photos at most, if any - personally, I think the group one of you and your friends is the only one that will be relevant in years to come. All other pics (family, with your date etc) can be taken beforehand. Of all my friends only one other and I can (or care to) remember our formal date - we married ours!
Most importantly, get your daughter on-board. You'll be up for a lot of head-butting and arguing if she is worried about you being a 'cheapskate' and her standing out from all her friends. I was a bit concerned my mum wouldn't be up for hair/makeup because of the cost and it freaked me out at the time, I wish she'd been more upfront about it. I did vaguely understand the financial stress that I was about to cause my family by going to uni so tried to suck it up about the lack of limo etc (which looking back, seem stupid now), but when all your friends are sitting bragging/exaggerating about how much their parents are spending then it is hard going for your average 17 year old!
Thank you so much for your detailed advice!
Ok, we will be heading to Myer sales in June and enquire about over-the-counter make up:)
My daughter goes to a public school so I'm not sure how many kids are actually turning up in the limo???
Is that the norm these days?
Or is it more like the private school kids' thing?I went to a state school and quite a few turned up in limos. Lots didn't as well. Our venue was located at the back of a building, so no-one really saw how anyone else was arriving unless they hung around in the car park. It wasn't really talked about or mentioned for more than a few minutes, the event itself was the important thing. If ALL her friends were doing it, then maybe it could be fun to pay $50 to cram into a limo with them for 15-20 minutes??? Personally I'd rather put the money towards something else - but being high school it can depend a lot on what your friends are doing.
Most of the make up counters at Myer have better professionals on them than your average random hair salon does…you can have a chat to them and ask about skills and what they offer before deciding. Each counter is different, so ask at a couple. I'd still get a hairdresser to do hair though - I think that's one thing you can't compromise on for a girl!
I never had any money of my own to spend on the night - I wasn't allowed to work in high school, so it was my parents controlling the decisions about money ultimately. As much as I longed to join in the ridiculous competitiveness it also was a good lesson in being sensible with money and not just going blindly with the herd. My next two (university) graduations were paid for by myself - and strangely enough there were no new dresses or limos for me! There was an awesome ride in a golf cart at one point after my Masters ceremony…thanks to my husband being employed at the university and deciding to hijack one of the security guards' vehicles to save me a long walk in heels!
I'll take the reverse angle on this one…
Having just been through a prom experience with our 16 year old daughter, there are some things you can't compromise on. When every one else is turning up in a limo, do you really think she'll go with getting dropped off in a car? When everyone else is getting professional makeup do you really think a counter job at Myer will work… And so it goes.
Our daughter goes to what I would call a lower socio-economic school, and everyone had a limo and professional hair and makeup. But the limo was a group book with 15 or so people, so it was only $50 each.
This is a once in a lifetime event, so I think she has the right to feel special, not feeling like a compromise, when there are so many other things and social competitions to worry about on that night.
Our daughter spent $800 - the only thing WE bought was the ticket at $100, so everything else was her money, her choice. So if you are fronting up some money, I would say make her match it, or if she doesn't earn money then pay it off in chores, etc. You'll soon see what her choices will be. This is one of those times I think money does buy a little happiness, as it is a big social event in their world.
I suppose "formal" is pretty much like a wedding.
We might make a list of "CAN'T COMPROMISE ON THIS" and "CAN COMPROMISE".
Are there any regrets, anyone?
Regret - the boyfriend at the time. should have listened to my mum and at least had him on the edge of the photos so it was easier to cut him out.
Make up at myer etc is usually pretty good. My local chemist has napoleon perdis trained make up artists which work out cheap.
If she has a dress in mind look up eBay. I am Macedonian so when we do weddings etc they are huge events. I buy my dresses on eBay from china they are custom made and cost about $130. These are for really formal gowns which would be upwards of $500 in boutiques. If she is looking for something a bit simpler you can get them for under $100. I suggest go have a look around try on some dresses and then go to eBay to purchase.lol…I love your mum's advice about sticking him on the edge of photos! Genius.
yikes, $400 - $500 - doesn't seem very ozbargain-ish to me. I can't imagine that a formal could cost much more than that to be honest.
perhaps keep your eye out for a scoopon/groupon etc hair voucher. They also have limo & car hire vouchers.