While prom can be stressful, expensive, and, in some cases, a waste of time, there are plenty of ways to make prom one of the most memorable nights of your young life. As long as you’re careful not to take things too seriously, prom is an exciting, delightful evening to dress up, dance, and spend time with your friends.

Girls, especially, find prom to be a critical part of their high school career. While this isn’t entirely true, it is definitely an opportunity to have spent a couple of hours trying on crazy, bright dresses and buy yourself an outrageous necklace or extremely loud pair of earrings. There’s nothing wrong with spending money, as long as you have it, on a poofy dress or tiara to top off your outfit– everyone likes to feel like a princess every once in awhile.

Don’t like spending money to go out to dinner? Don’t go. If your date’s insistent, consider asking your parents for a little bit of financial assistance; mothers are often overly-ecstatic about helping make your prom magnificent.

Dancing can indeed become a bit tiresome after an hour or so, so consider asking your date if you can bail out a little early to catch a movie or head over to a friend’s house.

All in all, prom is only as great as you make it. If you spend less time leading up to the date worrying about your outfit or the place you’ll go for dinner, you might find that this seemingly-stereotypically pivotal event in your high school career may be surprisingly delightful.

Don’t dread every little detail; enjoy it while it lasts.