Cost of Senior Prom surprises many

The Grand Ballroom at the Palace Hotel

The announcement of the price of senior prom bids left many seniors shocked at the high cost. Starting at $120 with an ASB card and $125 without, these expensive bids garnered several complaints among the senior class.

“I know a lot of people are complaining about [the price],” senior class president Michelle Wang said. “Definitely some people are not going because of the expense.”
In recent years, senior prom bids have typically been quite costly but have mostly been $90 to $100. This year, much of the price can be attributed to the bus transportation and the venue.

“The main [contributor to the overall price] was definitely the venue,” Wang said. “I think that if we had chosen somewhere closer or less upscale the bids would have been a lot cheaper.”

According to assistant principal Karen Hyde, the price of renting the Premier room at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco is around $6,000. That price divided by 350 students, and added to the costs for bus transportation, dinner, the DJ, the bids itself and decorations, the price of the bids is a mere sum of all the factors of prom added together.

“We just did the base cost [for the bids],” Hyde said.

Although the bids may be costly, some seniors do find the cost reasonable.

“I mean the price is high … $240 for both bids is insane, but that’s what you have to pay to have prom in San Francisco at the amazing hotel we’re having it at,” senior Brandon Pierce said.

According to Wang, several girls are offering to pay for their own bids instead of following the tradition in which guys pay for both himself and his date. Even so, many guys still adhere to that belief and pay for both bids.

“I’m kind of traditional so I insisted I pay for both of the bids,” Pierce said. “Chivalry is not dead!”
While the cost is higher than what many seniors expected, they are still looking forward to their final dance of the year, being held on May 21.

“It’s our last dance together as the class of 2011, everyone will just be having fun and it will be an awesome atmosphere to be in,” Pierce said. “Just being with all your friends in San Francisco, the whole night will be amazing.”