Analogy of the Day

(I would make a pun on 'Analogy' but it would sound too much like Allygy)

Going to the Formal is like going to watch the fireworks; hours of waiting and hype for a glimpse of brilliant colour bursting, sparkling across a midnight canvas; and in a moment its all gone and its time to move on.

The day after Formal is like a hangover (or literally if you went to the afters); a hangover of high school, of glitz and glamour, of hype and anticipation, and of the life you led in the microcosm of a thing called school.  

My Top Seven School Formal tips:

• Bright Colours: Black and navy dresses may look amazing but to create lasting memories and stand out in photos go for bright colours e.g. Greens, Yellows and Reds
• Bring some flats! Four hours or more of walking and dancing and just standing in heels can hurt (a lot!), not to mention the humungous and impressive but extremely daunting staircases for thoes inexperienced in walking in heels. Be careful going barefoot in case of broken glass and well being stepped on.
• Take photos for others: If you need someone to take some full length photos of you and your friends offer to take some for others and they might just offer to take some for you or even with you!
• Set a Budget: It's one night so set a reasonable budget and try to be as creative and resourceful as possible with clothes, hair, makeup...If you're tight on a budget or just want to experiment choose an aspect to work with yourself e.g. your hair, or your dress- I did my own make up- it was fun!
• Long dresses: If you have a long dress that is starting to look like a train, my advice is to get it altered. Otherwise you'll spend most of your night trying to hold it up while dancing and walking, trying not to trip and being accidentally stepped on by others. So many people stepped on the ends of our full length dresses and almost tripped, and one of my friends had holes at the bottom of her dress from people trampling on it, which didn't help her future selling plans.
• Being on time: to capture every beat! Formal only happens once and whilst being late may get you that splendid moment of attention on entering, you'll have missed a tonne of fun and photo opportunities especially the outdoor ones that make great dps where everyone is still fresh faced and excited with great lighting; trust me on this one I was an hour late to my first formal and missed so many amazing group photos!     
• Have a great night, smile and take plenty of photos, both silly and straight ones, (don't forget the straight faced ones or you'll end up with rows of ridiculous faces and poses that are too embarrassing to show your parents or relatives).