Pricing problems at prom
March 23, 2018
Prom is always a very exciting time for BFA juniors and seniors, but not everyone is impressed by the cost of the prom tickets themselves.
The 2018 version of the prom will take place May 5, at UVM’s Davis Center.
With a variety of students already spending money on dresses and tuxes, they prefer tickets to be at a cheaper rate, rather than 35 dollars.
This year, Mrs. Rico and Mrs. Parent are the faculty advisors, with the vice president being Ethan Shannon (‘19) and no current president because the student moved to another school.
According to Usatoday.com; “Teens in the Northeast, spend the most on prom, an average of $699.56, compared to $625 in the West, $619 in the South and $610 in the Midwest, according to the survey of 1,700 people.”
“Tickets are way too expensive, they should be 10-15 dollars because you have to pay for so much more,” Nate Parady (‘18) said.
Although the price of prom tickets is seen as expensive to some people, there are reasons behind the price.
Dan Gregory (‘18) was involved in the process of running prom last year, and was one of the members who helped arrange the price of tickets.
“We do as much fundraising as we can. We start off with a budget filled up from fundraisers freshman and sophomore year and you take all that money to pay for what you can right off and then you do the math for all of the decorations and stuff and basically pay for everything with a credit card. Then you estimate the number of people going and sell tickets based on the money you need to pay back,” Gregory said.
Freshmen are willing to help fundraise, but they wouldn’t ask a lot of people to donate money. They would do the bare minimum, only asking people they knew. So, the freshman are setting themselves up for paying more money in the future
“I probably would, but I wouldn’t go to a lot of people. I’d go to people I know well,” Dylan White (‘21) said.
Prom is a big event, and people who aren’t on the prom committee don’t really know just how much money goes into it.
“It was close to 5,000 dollars last year,” Gregory said.
With spending close to 5,000 dollars [in 2017], and having a small amount of people participating in fundraising, the prom ticket prices are going to be higher.
“They [students] just saw the prices, and then they got angry,” Gregory said.
People may be upset with the ticket prices, but they need to be that price to pay off all expenses involved.
People want the prices to be lower, but without a lot of fundraising it’s not possible.
“I do think they’re pretty expensive, 35 dollars is kind of a lot for high school kids,” Robert Gamache (‘20) said.
This year, prom will be held at the Davis Center in Burlington, which is a new place that BFA prom hasn’t yet been.
Although some people dislike the price of prom tickets, many people don’t mind it, and understand why tickets are held at that price.
“I am honestly fine with it [the price] mainly because it’s like a really big event, and frankly I’m surprised they don’t cost more. We are getting food, like there’s catering. It does not stop me from wanting to go to prom,” Zach Boudreau (‘18) said.
When asked if the cost of prom tickets was too expensive, Ben Stoll (‘18) responded with;
“No, because the cost of prom is really up there, to set up the venue and all the food, it’s like thirty dollars isn’t that bad,” Stoll said.
No matter what plans are made, there are always going to be those who don’t like this or that aspect of any school activity. The 2018 version slated for May, at UVM, is moving forward.
There are real ways to have cheaper tickets, but they come at a cost to the experience itself.
“If you really want to save money you could do what they did 20 years ago and have prom in the gym,” Gregory said.
Tony Dutkiewicz • May 6, 2018 at 10:08 pm
Northern Elegance Formalwear is owned by my wife Susie. There is a considerable cost to prom as a whole. When we went into business, our goal was to offer the best Customer Care that has been lost over the past few decades. We love fitting each person that enters our doors. Northern Elegance has nominal prices due to our demographics. We understand the cost, and, do our best to keep our prices down. But, we still offer thw higher Priceline as well. Northern Elegance carries the top lines so students, or anyone for that matter to drive hours to another state for your formal wear needs. We also offer in-house alterations provided by Susie Dutkiewicz herself as a seamstress with 25 years of experience. Steaming and pressing offered as well. I asked the higher staff to be able to offer our services of measuring for tuxes and was turned down. But the program of a cheaper tux was liked and was told one flyer may be posted. Northern Elegance slashed our tux prices by $50, giving the incentive of bringing in 5 friends and the one who brings them in received their tux for free. Thus, deferring the prom cost some. For the ladies, Northern Elegance offered handing out tux tickets and when their name/number is in the back of the card,, the young lady receives $5 off towards their alterations that are invariably needed for a proper fit. Also, these young ladies were given the chance to bring in more ladies to receive $10 off for each additional lady that made a purchase, which helped even more. Not one formal wear store can say the same. Others Elegance was not allowed to enter the school to promote for the prom because it was seen as favoring a business. But, when the Bobwhite/Comet Event came before the prom, Northern Elegance was nowhere to be found and another/other formal wear store/s were allowed in. In return was nothing for the prom committee, yearbook, graduation for the school in which we grew up in. Certain class ring business and photographers are allowed to be favored, but not a local business that was/is willing to give back. Northern Elegance would have given back 5% of our sales for tuxedos which would defer the cost of the prom tickets. Northern Elegance is a new and local business which is here to stay and not offer a pop-up store for quick profits that give nothing back to the local schools. But, we must be given the chance.
Judy Breitmeyer • Mar 29, 2018 at 9:17 am
Good article. One thing to also think of is that the fund-raising the class does is for the prom AND the class gift. Maybe it would be helpful to find out from class officers how much money the class has made already in fundraising and how much they anticipate they will make from the prom. And, then what the expenses are for the prom.
The Class of 2020 is looking at venues to hold the prom for 2019 and some students thought IF it was held in our gym then it could be far less expensive. They informally polled students and learned that most students did not want to hold the prom in our gym.
The other thing is that we need a place large enough to hold about 400 people. That is very difficult to find.