I love high school dances.  Oh man.  Loved them when I was in high school and love them now (I talked a little about this back HERE).

But boy howdy I will say they sure have changed over the years…ok at least the outfit and picture part.  

When I was in high school and dances came along I pulled out the sewing machine and whipped up an awesome dress out of upholstery fabric.  (You may think I’m kidding but I don’t joke around about huge floral upholstery fabric.)  I plopped my hair up in a fancy barrette (if I wanted to get extra fancy) and I was good to go.  My date picked me up and we may or may not have been matching, and no one every thought twice.
Nowadays apparently dances seem to require matching coordination and teams of professionals like this:

HA!  I kid, but look how cute that is that Elle’s very talented cousin Brimley was kind enough to come make Elle’s hair all fancy and that her cousins and Grace and friends came to “help” too.

I think these girls are pretty dang excited for when it’s their turn to head to dances.

These flowers have nothing to do with prom except that they kinda matched Elle’s dress and I bought them for Dave to give me while he was gone to China:

He’s so kind like that:)

Elle and Brim:

 The hair that Brim did:

 Wow, that girls’ got talent!

Elle’s friend who got ready with her:

 Sweeties:

 Elle’s awesome date, Cameron arrived…

 …with a little team 🙂

A pic. with the little sisters by request of those sweet boys:

And more observers:

Elle’s date’s mom (who I love from our volleyball days…Cameron was on the volleyball team with Max), asked me to come help take pictures so I brought these cute assistants along:

 So many gorgeous flowers!

A couple friends and I left that picture spot so excited for those kids to set off for dinner and the dance and all the after-festivities.  But we were also pretty melancholy this was the last dance at their high school for all these seniors (Elle has one more Prom coming up but at another school, so it’s not really the LAST last :).  They are a pretty awesome group of seniors.  
And it seems like they were all just freshmen like Grace and her friends watching with stars in their eyes about all the dance hoopla.  How did they all grow up so quickly while I took a blink?
These kids have so much to look forward to and college is the best, but I’m with Elle on being sad it’s coming to an end.  She’s sure living it up while she can!  

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24 Comments

  1. Elle is a wonderful example of how it is possible to be both modest AND beautiful! My daughter LOVED the dress Elle wore, and us more likely to be excited about a modest dress after seeing Elle's example. Thank you Elle! Also, is there a tutorial out there that you know of for that gorgeous hairstyle? LOVED it!

  2. Elle is a wonderful example of how it is possible to be both modest AND beautiful! My daughter LOVED the dress Elle wore, and us more likely to be excited about a modest dress after seeing Elle's example. Thank you Elle! Also, is there a tutorial out there that you know of for that gorgeous hairstyle? LOVED it!

  3. Please blog everyday! You encourage so many! I can't get over how grownup and beautiful Grace is now becoming. Elle hit her stride a while ago, and I think Grace is right behind her! Lovely, healthy, happy, beautiful.

  4. It's so great to see your dance pictures! I always look forward to them. We just entered the dance phase this school year, and it makes me giddy! I have had a blast helping behind the scenes with all the asking, answering, shopping, and planning. My daughter's dates have all impressed me with their creativity and good manners. And I may or may not have developed an obsession with finding designer gowns for under $35 on EBay. Speaking of which, my daughter is tiny so it is relatively easy to find modest dresses. But I hear lots of other moms complaining about the process. It would be awesome if sometime you could collect tips from some of the moms in your area for their strategies on finding modest, age appropriate dresses and share them with us!

  5. These pictures are beautiful! I love the modesty in the dresses and how it doesn't compromise style. Elle will treasure these photos for years to come, I'm sure.

    1. I will just reply to everyone who has asked about Elle's dress here…it is from asos.com. Lots of choices and price ranges there. Neither Elle nor I like to shop much so it's nice to check things out online. I love the Ebay idea…I'll have to check that out next time.

  6. Elle looks beautiful!

    Shawni, Can you please tell me the quote about "touching the temple" and who said it? I paraphrase it to my kids all the time and would love to get it right! Thanks!

  7. SO fun to see! Love that girl! I sat by Elaine Dalton in one of the sessions of conference. Before conference started this her comment about Elle: "That girl is a leader! I just know it! She is just a great leader!"

  8. Elle's dress (and herself) is so pretty! All these girls are. I wish I had a cousin who would do my hair like that (even though I'm in my thirties).

    I couldn't help but notice that this dress and the last (red) one have long sleeves and I hope that both dresses were chosen, because Elle liked them (no reason not to like them) and not because she felt pressured by comments of strangers in the internet.

  9. Elle looked so gorgeous. I love her hair style because it is so different than the hair spray laden ones that I remember. Her dress was so simple, but pretty. All the kids looked beautiful. 🙂

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