Prom Dress Photo Shoot and Prom Night 2023

  I really hoped that the weather would be good on prom day. It had rained hard overnight, but it stopped in the morning - thank goodness! With B's prom being so early in the year (March is so dang early for prom), I also hoped it wouldn't be too cold. Luckily, the temperature was perfect that night.

 

Before Meredith arrived to take pictures with Briana, I did a little photo shoot with Bri on her own (with glasses and without)...

 

Then Meredith arrived and I took pics of both the girls...

 

They were so elegant and lovely that evening. Just beautiful...

 

 I asked them to show me their shoes before heading out...

 

The prom venue was located in downtown Atlanta. They are both very new drivers and Atlanta is hard to navigate for the most experienced drivers. Doug and I (and Mere's parents) didn't want them driving on their own, going in a private car or taking an Uber, so Doug and I offered to drive them down to the prom.

I suggested they eat a nice dinner together before going to the dance (the girls loved the idea). Doug and I took them to Ruths Chris Steakhouse. We all ate there, but the girls sat at their own table and Doug and I had our own dinner date across the restaurant...

 

Dinner was delish!

We then dropped the girls off at the venue...

I snagged these next couple of photos of the venue off a school FB page...

  I asked Briana to have fun, mingle and take some selfies so I could see what the prom looked like. She took so many pictures with friends! I was so happy...

 

While the girls were at the dance, Doug and I went to the nearby Four Seasons Hotel to have a few drinks. It didn't make sense to drive all the way home, so we just hung out and had some quiet time...

 

The girls stayed at the dance for about 90 minutes or so and then they texted me that they were ready to go.

Positives of the prom (according to the girls): Seeing and talking to a bunch of friends, dressing up and seeing everyone else dressed up, the cool lighting of the venue, and a delish dinner beforehand.

Negatives of the prom (according to the girls): The music was way too loud - the kids had to shout at one another, the venue was two stories with stairs only (had a club vibe) - it was difficult to keep going up and down the stairs in long dresses and heels, mostly base-thumping club music and remixes were played - not one slow song, and the dance floor was very crowded and really warm.

Even though there were some downs to the prom, the girls were still glad they got to dress up and see what prom was all about.

Before ending the evening, Doug and I asked the girls if they wanted to stop at Starbucks for a drink and hang out a bit...

It was fun because the girls got a number of compliments from people at the restaurant and at Starbucks about how pretty they looked.

Briana is quite introverted, but she has definitely been coming out of her shell more this junior year. The fact that she really wanted to go to prom (with so many teens!) was wonderful. I'm proud of her for wanting to experience something new and for putting herself out there.

In less than two months, she will be done with her junior year! Yikes!