Holy cow. I am now officially glad that S did not attend prom. (Neither did a significant number of his friends, including those who were socially desirable.)
This is like the wedding industrial complex. It is just more and more and more.
I look fondly back on the days when decorating the gym was the done thing.
And I thought paying nearly $100 for each individual prom ticket was highway robbery back in the mid-'90s to the point I almost didn’t attend.
It was only after the older cousins got wind of my intention to not attend my HS prom that they took up a collection, insisted I take the offered money despite my protestations of what I considered(and still consider to some extent frivolous spending), and attend the prom.
My graduating HS class’ prom was held at the Plaza Hotel and included dinner.
Greatest highlight of the prom other than spending most of the night dancing with two women who turned me down so they could also go stag was working with another HS classmate to sneak a female classmate into the prom after someone defrauded her with a fake prom ticket and she was turned away at the door.
Though she thanked me plenty of times for this over the years including this year, my main motive back then was to stick it to the prom industrial complex. 
I believe the “all in” cost for daughters Prom and related events was over $1000 per couple, not including dress make up and hair. Her boyfriend insisted on paying every cent of that. I even called his mom and said we wanted to pay half but she said no. We paid for her dress hair and makeup.
Breakdown was this.
Tickets to a Prom including bus ride and dinner at downtown museum $500/couple.
Party bus to Lake House where they stayed overnight $200/couple
Limousine rides home $100/couple
Lake House rental ( it was a mansion) $ 350/ couple
After hours Pizza Party $40/couple
Brunch next day catered $80/couple
One family of the group had everybody for a catered preparty where pictures were taken that was 100x nicer than my wedding. They paid fir it in full and refused offers to pitch in.
Daughter did have a great time at Prom and the next day. Though she didn’t get any sleep because she and boyfriend spent most of late night hours in bed ( sorry to those shocked by the fact that I had no problem with this) mostly talking and crying ( " hey the crying was mostly him" said DD " ) because they long ago decided to break up when they went to college and spent the night discussing how sad they were. " But other than that it was the most fun I’ve ever had"). I thought the expense was crazy but boyfriends parents are very wealthy and this seemed " normal" to them.
They came home around 3pm next day and were at our house and they fell asleep after about an hour on my couch and slept all night. ( we still marvel that Boyfriends mom eventually called me to ask if I knew where he was the next morning. Let’s just say he had next to no parental supervision which was ok because he was the sweetest guy with no interest in risky behavior.)
My son paid for everything for his prom and his date paid for everything for her prom, but he would have covered all the costs if there had only been one prom, but since they went to different schools, the double cost would have been too much. I don’t regret a cent of it, and he realized later that he got some very cool pictures for his facebook with girls. Coming from an all boys school, he was lacking those types of photos on his social media!
I would say the asker pays for the ticket. The other stuff can be worked out and split.
@maya54 That sounds like a wonderful time! Such a great idea.
DS offered to pay and both years, his date paid herself. Tickets were affordable but the class had done some fund-raising. Most kids chose to pay for themselves.
His date and her friends all “competed” to look lovely on as few $ as possible, figuring that even $50 for a dress that would be worn for 5 hours was a splurge. The local consignment stores experienced a boom! I secretly hope he rekindles this relationship when he’s ready to settle down. 
“Lake House rental ( it was a mansion)”
I’m just amazed anyone would rent their lake house to a prom party!
Do you think the prom or wedding industrial complex came first? Kind of like the chicken and the egg. If you have a big splashy prom, of course you might feel the need to top that for your wedding.
This is a tough one. I would say whoever’s prom it is. Last year D was a Junior, her b/f was a senior - she paid for the Junior prom tix, he paid for the senior prom tix. Tickets are $85 per person. This year, she’s going to Junior prom with a friend - I think he’s paying. Then she’ll go to her own senior prom and take her b/f, she is paying. however, Since this is her 3rd and 4th prom - she’s planning to wear same dresses as last year to save money. They drive themselves, no limo or anything. Very few kids get the limo anymore.
“I’m just amazed anyone would rent their lake house to a prom party! Do you think the prom or wedding industrial complex came first? Kind of like the chicken and the egg. If you have a big splashy prom, of course you might feel the need to top that for your wedding.”
“Everyone” rents one ok not everyone but about half the kids attending do. But I don’t think the kids around here in any way relate their Prom to their weddings. Now their Bat Mitzvahs? That’s another story. I swear that many I’ve been to are more elaborate than any wedding I’ve gone to. Here’s a picture from one that was done by the same planner as one we attended as a family. Crazy. http://linzievents.com/tag/bat-mitzvah-themes/
How you top that? I have no idea
@maya54 . Wow, just wow.
Gosh! My daughter would have been clueless about those designers at that age. I think even now in her 20s.
My D knows but honestly doesn’t are about most of the designers. She’s good at finding clothing that looks great on her and doesn’t want to be a walking billboard for any designer anyway. S has a strong aversion for being a walking billboard too. Understated elegance is the look both seek and achieve. I think it’s FAR classier!
Holy JP Morgan…
Mindy Weiss needs to grab a share of the prom industrial complex!
My son went to a prom at another school with a girl who is just a friend. They each paid for their own tickets.
No way would I pay $1000 for kids to have a night out. My kids both went to the prom with friends, not boyfriends. One boy paid for a lot of things (not sure about the ticket) but he was the one who wanted to go. His family hosted an after prom party at a lake house they owned, but I wouldn’t let my daughter drive down (at night, on rural roads) so his father drove up and then drove them down. She originally said she didn’t want to go to the lake, but ended up staying 2 days! Lots of kids rented condos at the beach, but I wouldn’t allow that either. Mean, mean mother.
My daughter did the hair for a lot of girls to go to that prom, and the previous years too. Both girls had dresses that were above budget, but below $150. One did buy expensive shoes. I went to buy boutineers but the store was out, so bought a dozen roses and we made our own, plus I got 10 roses for my table out of it.