The First and Final Prom

Hi Internet,

Kris had to loop/ tighten the corset-y backing of this. 

Today we had to run yet another 'formal dance' gauntlet, this one being the Cannonball's last Prom as a Senior (which, you know, Kris got all emotional about, as that's her speed these days with Alayna about to wrap up school.) Coincidentally, it was also Abby's first prom - her boyfriend, Logan, just so happens to be a Junior, so he obviously invited her along ('cause, as you know, Prom is exclusive to upperclassmen.)  

Earlier in the afternoon, getting her hair done at Danielle's. 

As always, the months leading up to this event were far more stressful (and expensive) than the actual event itself, forcing Kris to drive the girls around to various places throughout Central Michigan for months hunting down 'the' dress that would satisfy each girl's insatiable expectations. Then came shoes, jewelry, hair, flowers, etc. - a frickin' racket. When all was said and done, however, we managed to once again limp across the finish line and both girls were adequately prepared for a two-hour dance that neither one of them give a shit about.

Seriously. What's the point of all this, dressing up and getting some pictures taken?

Anyway, Midland High and their rivals across town, Dow High, both hold their dances at the same venue on the same night. The reasoning behind this bizarre combination of rival schools is beyond me - had they done this with my high school back in the day (Clare), forcing us to attend a prom with our rivals, the po-dunk, shanty town of Farwell (Kris' alma mater), there 100% would have been scores of fights breaking out. Maybe that's 'cause that was back in the '90s and that's how shit was back then, maybe it's because both those small towns are full of illiterate hicks, who knows. Ultimately, there was no major drama between Midland's rival school at the dance later on in the evening, but the considerable downside to both schools holding the biggest teenage event of the year on the same night was that thousands upon thousands of people settled on Dow Gardens as the best, possible spot for picture-taking in the afternoon.

This process took a little longer than originally anticipated.

And yes, dear readers, that included us as well.

Every, f***ing year I tell myself that I will never again fight the crowds and bottle-necked walkways of Dow Gardens for the mandatory, pre-dance photo-shoot with my girls. Every dance, every year. But every, Goddamn time the girls want pictures taken before a dance, I find myself sighing in defeat as I lug my SLR around through Dow Gardens amidst throngs of students and parents, taking hundreds of pictures of my girls (that I'll spend the entirety of the rest of the day whittling down and editing.) Having both girls attending the same dance obviously doubles the amount of work that goes into something like this, but we do end up with some good product when it's all's said and done, that's for sure.

So I'll leave you now with a crap-load of pics of the girls and their dates and friends, along with a few other ones that I took off their phone galleries. I took way more than this, but cut a bunch of the pics I did for other kids and their parents ('cause that'd be weird sharing pics of other peoples' kids without my kids being in them.) Also, don't expect much in terms of captioning with this post - there's only so much with you can throw in under a pic of a teenager in a dress, cut me some slack.

Enjoy. . .

Alayna's hair appointment ran over by an hour or so, so she had less time to finish getting ready back at our house. Which, of course, meant that everyone was late out the door to the rendezvous point of the Dow Gardens parking lot (which was packed, with the spillover seeing folks having to park in the library across the street.) We ended up getting their a half hour late, eating into the girls' photo op time before they would ultimately be forced to leave for their pre-established dinner reservations.

Alayna would end up driving separately with Sebastian, and Kris and I drove Abby to the parking lot, where Logan was waiting with his mom. She was able to get a pic of them exchanging their corsages and boutonnieres (while most of the pics in this post are from my SLR, there's a handful she shared with us from her phone, because obviously we couldn't all be at the same place at the same time.) 

Cristina's dad and I were asked to recreate the female 'bent knee' pose that girls always do in pictures (you've seen this crap from us before.) Anything for the fans.

Kris and Cristina's mom, Ana.

Once inside the gardens, we split off from Abby and focused on capturing Alayna and her group first (seeing how this was her last Prom and everything.) Here's her with Cristina and Rita.

. . . and with her friend and co-worker from Taco Bell, Sara.

Meanwhile, Abby and Logan hooked up with more couples they're friends with at another area in the gardens. . .

(Some of these girls are on the Varsity Pom Team with Abby.)

The exchange of corsages and boutonnieres (in front of pink flowers, of course). . .

Didn't get any of Alayna and her crew in front of the ol' wooden gateway (that we usually do every year), 'cause it was absolutely packed this year and you had to pounce on photo ops as they arose.

Sitting on a stump.

This location ended up being Kris' favorite, she waited in line for a long time in order to get Alayna up there on that little stone bench.

Not the best pose, Sebastian looks like he's her dad or some shit.

A couple with Cristina. . .

We spotted Abby nearby, about fifty feet away, so while Kris and Ana continued taking more pics with their phones, I ran over to Abby and her group to get some proper SLR before they moved on and we lost them in the crowds.

Couple of dorks.

Pommers.

I usually like the stone bench pics, but the lighting was super shitty this year - everything was cast in shadow. The editing process was a bitch.

Back to the trusty white fence, which usually yields some good pics. . .

Got a handful of decent sister pics this time around, but this is probably the best one.

(The fact that Sebastian isn't leaning in the opposite direction really bugs me. . .)

This is a common practice I've noticed while photographing parties at Dow Gardens: as you're walking to another photo location, the kids will pass by friends of theirs from other groups and demand they get a pic or two together. This happens with Abby especially a lot. . .

Not as good as my fence pics, just sayin'. . .

Abby takes a lot of selfies with this chick during class, and I have no idea what her name is.

For a short time, both our girls' parties were roughly in the same neck of the woods, so I was able to bounce back and forth between either one and nab some better pics with SLR. . .

This bridge is usually packed, with a line of people waiting for their turn to shoot their kids, so we took advantage of this when we came across it totally empty.

You can never have too many bridge pics, folks.

There's this little barn nearby the white bridge that Abby and her party were utilizing while I was covering Alayna's party elsewhere.

I took some here in the sun-riddled patch in front of these flowery bushes, at Kris' request, despite me telling her they wouldn't turn out because the sun would illuminate the girls' faces and darken the flowers in the background (you know, the whole point of Kris wanting to use this location.) I only included this one in the series to show that I was right and Kris was wrong. You're welcome.

In front of. . . a big, green door.

Alayna's group's turn on the white bridge. . .

Kris wanted a shot of the back of Alayna's dress, so coordinated this shot of her and her friend turning back to look at the camera.

More pics with friends as they begin to make their way towards the front of the gardens (think this one is called Erika, the exchange student from Korea). . .

. . . and one with Nica (from Pom.)

Kris, having a blast. Just look at those f***ing crowds in the background, this afternoon was insane.

Getting some pics of the kids in front of the waterfall on our way towards the gardens exit (by this point in time in the late afternoon - 4:45pm-ish), most people had moved further into the Gardens, so there wasn't much of a line for this classic photo op.

Only downside to this spot is the shade, which mutes everything and reduces the sharpness.

Kris wanted one where they were looking at each other, aaaaaaand this is what we got.

Heading out of the Gardens, at long last. Probably put two hours in this afternoon, which is a hell of a lot better than Homecoming was this year, Jesus H. Christ. . .

Sebastian was definitely stressed about making their dinner reservation at The One Eighteen (or Gratzi, I forget - one of those two) at 5pm, but he got them there on time.

Sara and the Cannonball, at their table.

My child enjoys herself some steak, that's for damn sure.

Abby (and Emma? think that's her name) at one of the photo ops at the dance, later that evening.

Alayna, Cristina, and Lexi, at the dance.

So there you go, folks - Prom '26. Both girls aren't huge fans of the dance itself, but love the getting ready process, the dressing up in expensive dresses, the pageantry of mingling about at Dow Gardens and being photographed among their peers while looking their absolute best, and otherwise just blowing through their parents' money. We'll do this whole song-and-dance number again in the fall for Homecoming '26 - stay tuned. . .

- Brian