The excitement, the drama, the memories, but most importantly: the preparation. The preparation for prom can be quite the experience. As prom is approaching, local students are getting their plans aligned to have a safe and fun night.

Getting ready for prom can take lots of time and effort. Finding the perfect dress, a date and/or group to go with, reserving a restaurant, and booking transportation can be a lot harder than it seems. Setting yourself a budget can make things easier in this situation. The overall process for prom is only stressful if you let it be, but it can actually be really simple.

With that being said, it is important to find a group of people that you want to go with early so you all can plan your transportation and the place you want to eat. Also, if you plan on having a date, you and your date need to talk about your outfits and correlating colors. It is better to start looking for your dress or suit in advance, so you will not be stressed about finding your ideal outfit.

¨I started planning for prom weeks in advance so I could find a dress I loved and find a party bus that wasn’t too expensive,¨ said senior Kay Jones.

For guys, they just need to coordinate colors with their date and get a tuxedo fitted. Other than that, they are about ready for prom. 

Girls, on the other hand, have a bit more of work to handle for prom: dress, shoes, hair, makeup, accessories, nails, etc. It feels as though the amount of things that girls have to do in order to get ready for prom does not end.

1. Finding a dress is the most important part, obviously.
2. Deciding what shoes would look best with the dress is next and whether or not you’ll be wearing the same shoes at pictures as you are at prom.
3. Then from there, deciding what hairstyle to do based on the look of the dress
   1. Up or down
   2. Curled or straight
   3. Bun or ponytail
4. Makeup is a whole different situation because some people pay professionals to do their makeup for prom night, while others simply do it on their own or ask a friend to do it.
5. Finding the right accessories to go with your outfit such as earrings, rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
   1. Depending on the dress you may not need some of these things, but some dresses look better if you have some accessories to go with it.
6. Choosing whether or not to get nails done
   1. If one decides to get their nails done, they then have to decide whether to match the color of their dress, go with a neutral color, etc

The most important survival tip of going to prom is to have fun. You only get to experience high school once, so it is essential to the make the most of it. Prom is not the time to be worried. People watch movies all the time with a scene from prom and now is the time to experience it.