My friend and I are going to prom together, and I’m not sure who pays or how I should bring up the situation. I asked him to prom, but I know it’s traditional for the guy to pay, but I’m not sure now? We’re both seniors and go to the same school, so it’s not like he couldn’t have gone anyway.
Go dutch.
Agree.
Here the structure is very rigid, the asker pays, irrespective of gender. For the whole enchilada though, not just tickets. Nuts (to me as a parent). But it seems to work out OK.
For what it’s worth - I think the person who did the asking should pay. If you expected that you would each pay your own way, then you make that clear right from the beginning - of course, you can try to clarify who pays what now - but if I were the guy, I’d be put out if you expected me to pay when you asked me to go with you!
I agree that generally I assume when I invite to anything I pay and if I’m invited, I’m treated. For my D, she was invited to a prom and the guy paid for the bid (since she didn’t attend that school), but she paid for the photos. Each paid for flowers for the other and their own clothing. The meal was included in the prom bid. It worked out roughly even. It can be a pretty expensive endeavor and best to clarify ASAP, so there are no hard feelings and folks can save up money as needed.
Back in the dark ages, the guys always paid. This is one case where you might get more useful advice from people your own age than parents.
My D said the norm in her HS was that if you are both seniors then you each pay for your prom ticket. If you invite a non-senior or a student from another school then you should pay for both prom tickets (regardless of if you are male or female).
If it’s both of your senior prom and you’re going as friends, each pay for your ticket.
My DD bought the tickets. Her date paid for both of them to be in the limo bus with a bunch of friends.
DS paid for,the tickets also…they went with four other couples, and one of the parents gave the limo ride to them all as a gift.
When D invited a student who was a grade younger than she was to her prom, she paid for the ticket and he paid for the photos. It worked out well for them.
I just had this discussion on another forum. IMO, the “asker” pays generally. This is tricky territory when the two of your are friends. Did you discuss this before you asked? Are you interested in him romantically?
ETA: Typically if the people involved are truly just friends, they mutually agree to go together, in which case I think each person pays for him/herself. This sounds different. It sounds like you asked him, in which case I would say that you pay.
We went dutch to the prom back in the day. But I paid for the corsage. Or rather my mom did. Problem is I wanted to give an orchid. My mom brought back a begonia. It was very colorful, but not an orchid. I loved my mom, but really! A begonia???
You show your id in the asb office and buy your own ticket at our school.Your ID number is on your ticket.
If you invite a non-student or lowerclassman there’s paperwork and you pay for both tickets.
This was already changing in the '90s though most of us ended up paying for ourselves because the prom tickets even back then were ridiculously expensive.
How close and open is your friendship? Is it close and open enough to have a discussion about this without any possibilities of misunderstandings or having one’s intentions being misconstrued?
If so, discuss it with your friend.
Asker pays. He will likely offer to pay his part for the ticket(s), or dinner, or some part of the night. But the asker should assume they are paying for the tickets. Gender equality, right?
Well, in that case: 
The norm here is the asker pays. That said, the guy would/should offer to split the cost.
Here the asker generally pays. My son went with a nice girl to his prom and her prom last year. Except for the flowers (which they each bought for the other), the asker paid for everything for that prom. Each prom cost about $1000.
The only time it’s different is if the couple is in a relationship and is going to only one prom, in which case the boy usually pays. My son is in a relationship with a girl a year younger than he is. If he goes to her prom this year (there might be a scheduling issue since he is away at college), he will pay since she is his girlfriend, even though it’s her prom.
The person who asks pays for the tickets.
“Each prom cost about $1000.”
What does that $1,000 go towards? Just curious because my kids went to a private school that had semi-formals but not prom and at our public school, the costs aren’t that high. I assume you aren’t including clothing as each person would pay for their own.