Prom Spot - Prom Spotlight: Alicia & Brandon in Dulles, VA

Alicia heard through the school grapevine that her friend Brandon was going to ask her to prom, and she was waiting for him to just do it already. They'd been buds for five years, but Brandon was super shy. Finally at lunch one day their mutual friends took Brandon's food away until he managed to ask!

SHE IS: Alicia, 18, senior
HER DATE IS: Brandon, 18, senior
DAY OF PROM: May 16
THE SCHOOL: Osbourn High School; Manassas, Virginia
THE SCENE: Westfields Marriott; Dulles, Virginia

PROM PLANS Alicia began her prom prep two months in advance. "I was pretty calm about it," Alicia recalls. After shopping around at ten stores, she spotted the perfect dress at Macy's. "My dress was gorgeous," says Alicia of her floor-length turquoise halter gown. "It was completely different than what I was looking for," she tells us, "and no one else at prom had it!" She found silver shoes at Payless and picked up some sparkly accessories at The Icing. On her hand, Alicia wore a genuine heirloom diamond. "My grandmother's wedding ring," she informs us.

BEAUTY TALK As thrilled as she was with her dress, Alicia unfortunately could not say the same about her hair. She went to a local salon and regrettably gave the stylist free reign. "It wasn't that nice," she says about her do. "It was kind of lopsided, and way too expensive." She decided to take matters into her own hands with her makeup. Using products from brands like Maybelline and CoverGirl, Alicia was able to create the look she wanted. She wore Victoria's Secret Dream Angels Heavenly, her signature scent.

THE BIG NIGHT Before the dance, Alicia, Brandon, and about sixteen of their friends met up for dinner at Angelo & Maxie's Steakhouse. The group enjoyed a wonderful dinner and then drove in separate cars to the Westfields Marriott for prom. The theme of the night was Happily Ever After, but as far as decorations went, Alicia wasn't impressed. "[The theme] was not very apparent, except on the invitations and on the ice sculpture." Still, she conceded that the hotel ballroom was ornate enough not to require many decorations. Alicia, Brandon, and their friends danced the night away to tunes spun by a DJ. "They played the Electric and Cha-Cha Slides -- that was fun!" she says. She tells us that during those dances, the floor actually shook!

POST-PROM PARTYING When the DJ played the last song, the couple got in their car and drove to an after-prom party at the Freedom Center at George Mason University. "It was incredibly fun," Alicia says. Her class was treated to swimming, dancing, food, volleyball and basketball, miniature golf, games, and even a caricature artist. Alicia and Brandon enjoyed some time there, then headed to a friend's house and capped off the night by watching Carrie -- the super-scary flick featuring a hellish prom -- totally the opposite of their night.

--Jackie Fisherman