Prom 2011

All ready for Junior Prom!

Not to make this about me....., but I can really dress a girl for a dance!!  It helps that she is gorgeous and has great personal style.......

Waiting for the fella.......India is actually a bit nervous at this point

McKay arrives in the perfect tux combo



Fabulous!! 

Here are a few details-  McKay is a hockey player and is in India's seminary class.  He overheard her lamenting to a friend about her original prom date backing out and offered to take her.  She doesn't know him well, assumed he was just being nice, and didn't take it seriously.  A friend-and our YM President-in the neighborhood set her straight by explaining that shy teen aged boys don't really have the confidence to be nice in that way.  He assured her that this boy probably really wanted to go to Prom, has an interest in her and saw this a safe way to go about getting a date.  I think this is exactly what happened.  He took her ice-skating Wed night and took care of all the details for the dance. 
He shared with her that while he was 'Facebook-stalking' her-a term that means combing through her FB page to learn more about her-he discovered that he hates all the sports teams she has listed as her favorites.  Kevin and I capitalized on this by wearing Red Wings and BYU gear when he came to pick her up!
They ate at a Brazilian grill-style restaurant and then joined the dance at the Utah State Capitol.  When they returned here to watch a movie, they had a phone video of the thousands of dancing teens filling up the Rotunda and surrounding galleries.  They had a great time finding their friends and talking and dancing with everyone.
India's amazing dress sort of chose her.  She was looking for something in green-her signature color-and was also attracted to blue.  She doesn't think of herself as a 'pink' person.  I can't remember why she even tried this on, but it looked so great that when we were done shopping, it stood out at the most fabulous, unexpected look on her.  Because of my surgery and the uncertainty about her date, we did not do anything about the alterations or accessories until yesterday, the day of the dance.  In the morning, we shopped for her head band and earrings and had her nails done at the mall.  She went to school briefly to take a test and then spent the afternoon napping and doing her hair and makeup while I pleated fabric to add sleeves to her dress. 
I usually oppose buying immodest dresses and altering them.  If the dress is sleazy to begin with, adding a jacket or sleeves usually doesn't change this materially-pun intended :)  If the dress is really lovely, changing or covering it up for modesty destroys, covers up or distracts from its lovely details.  What I have discovered over the last few years with my girls is that making them look and feel fabulous, and standing up for modesty and appropriateness in dress, is a challenge that we are up to.  Sadly, one of our go-to shops has succumbed to current economic pressures and is no longer in business.  It has left a gaping hole in the availability of 'modest' dresses that are actually appealing.  India's dress came from a nice shop that is accustomed to altering dresses for modesty.  Because of my surgery, I could not work with their seamstresses to add sleeves to her dress.  We just brought the fabric home and hoped that I would feel up to doing it myself.  I am pleased with the results.  I think the pleating makes the additions look like part of the dress rather than a cheesy nod to covering up her shoulders.  At the restaurant, a woman stopped her to compliment her dress and accessories and to say that of all the Prom couples she had seen that night-the city was undoubtedly overrun with them-India and her date were the best.  
I was so pleased last night that she looked so great, and in spite of the initial date drama, was off to Prom feeling good and loved and beautiful.