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Prom can be one of the most stressful times for a high school girl – the hoping to get asked, finding a dress, figuring out where you’re doing pictures, planning the after party – it can be really get to be too much. As prom passes, it is a major relief, but there has to be a better way to handle planning for prom.
This year, I was hosting pictures at my house. I have a huge backyard and I was inviting anyone who needed somewhere to do pictures. Everything was running smoothly until I checked the weather forecast – it was supposed to thunderstorm all afternoon into the night. This was not going to work because we couldn’t be standing in the rain but we couldn’t do pictures inside of my house because of the poor lighting. At this point, I had over 40 people planning on coming to pictures at my house, and more people were asking to come. Trying to find an inside location that would fit everyone was incredibly stressful. I had my mom searching while I was in school, and I was distracted in all of my classes. Everyone kept turning to me for the answer but I didn’t have any. It was beyond stressful, especially as I was nearing my last week of high school with piles of projects, papers, and tests in each class. It was truly more than I wanted to handle, not to mention that no one knew anything about where the after party would be. It all turned out fine and luckily it didn’t rain, but the stress it brought about was ridiculous.
Planning for events is so stressful, and while I know that I (thankfully) won’t have to deal with preparations for another prom, there will always be another event that will require planning. Does anyone have some advice on how to plan these types of events without letting the stress get to you?
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Welllll I just went to prom! Yes there was all that worry leading up to it but it was key to try to let it go when it finally came. For me yes I was all about if I looked okay and all that overwhelming stuff, along with of course wanting my date to think I looked pretty (which he did). the other thing I could’t get out of my thoughts was how I was going to prom sober. I’ve been in recovery for ten months and was nervous about not being able to take part in those festivities. I was scared but I plowed through. My prom date is in recovery too and was the perfect person to go with. He kept me calm and kept reminded me that it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks or does. We had sooo much fun and danced our ass off (no alcohol needed). Turns out you can have a good time without drinking or using. I’m so grateful that I have to opportunity to make memories that I can actually remember.