You’ll always remember your high school prom — whether you did or didn’t go, who you went with, what you wore, who ended up puking in the bushes later outside Jack McPopular’s house — and so will your parents. Especially parents these days, as the average price of prom is up for the second straight year at an average of $1,139 per family. Say what now?!?

According to a new survey by Visa (via KARE 11), American families with teenagers will spend about that much on prom this year, a 5% boost from last year. So what in the heck are they spending all that money on? Well, the perfect outfit, first of all. Guys rent tuxedos, and girls apparently can’t bear to be thrifty or wear something they already have.

The supervisor of one dress store in Minnesota says that even though there are dresses in the store for say, $200, girls often want to look just like their favorite celebrities on the red carpet. Ah, vanity.

“We still have a dress in the store that is over $1,000, and it’s gonna go,” she said.

The good news for parents is that it seems teens are covering 41% of the cost, says the survey, while mom and dad shell out the rest on anything from outfits to transportation, corsages destined to wilt and a handfuls of carefully painted nails. It’s all totally necessary, a teen somewhere is insisting.

Teens in the Midwest spend the least on average at $722, but out on the East Coast families are ponying up  the most with an average of $1,528.

Visa advises teens to shop at consignment or vintage stores for formal wear and having your nails and hair done at home. Visa probably never had a willful teenager who would not take no for an answer.

One spendy shindig: prom prices up for second straight year [KARE 11]

 

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