Pricey pre-game! Parents shell out upwards of $30K for elaborate pre and post-prom festivities: ‘Go all out for your kid’

Keeping up with the prom joneses. Gone are the days of posing in gowns and tuxes at a designated classmates’ house while snacking on some chips and soda before hitching a ride to prom. Today, highfalutin parents are spending upwards of $30,000 on over-the-top pre-prom parties that are in the same realm as an A-lister jetting off to a fancy award show. Think professional photographers, stunning decor and catered food so good it could tempt high schoolers to skip prom altogether. Proud Philadelphia mom Lanise Gartei spared no expense when it came to her daughter Lakyia’s prom send-off. She not...