I've first heard of Princess Project many years ago when I donated my dresses. I think it's a very…read moregood project for high school teens to pick out their prom dress and have an opportunity to attend prom. The project usually starts in March and ends the end of April; basically before Prom starts.
This year location was in Mission Valley Westfield mall, located by the USPS, DXL - Big & tall and restroom. For teens you'll have to go through Eventbrite website and pick a time slot to attend the dress event and sign an online waiver. Everyone else who is accompanying a minor, they would have to sign a waiver as well. Only one guest per teen. Other pop up locations are available on the website but Mission Valley is their main location.
This year my daughter signed up for the Princess project, they didn't specify where it is located on their website so we walked around the mall looking for it. Once we found the spot, we had to sign in. We got a wrist band with a number for our bag, we cannot take cellphones, personal belongings or drinks/food inside the event space. You'll have to surrender your items until the end of the dress picking event. No drinks/food because of the prom dresses. No cellphones/cameras due to their privacy.
Upon entering the store, it was very organized. There were so many volunteers, they can measure you to get the "right" size but everyone is different in shapes and sizes, so you can either add up a size or go down a size. Whatever is comfortable for them. They said there was about 5,000 dresses at this site, it was very overwhelming, seeing all the beautiful dresses. So many colors, style etc. I love it! Teens will get 45 minutes to look around and try on dresses. They are very strict with time management because another round of girls will come in and do the same. I love that they thought about the times, the rules, it's very well planned.
They have dressing rooms for the teens to try on their dress and a lounge area for the guests. The volunteer staff is there to help zip you up, help choose dresses/accessories, they are very friendly.
Once you got your dress, let your host know and they'll guide you to the accessories area. You can pick one accessory to accentuate your dress. There were so many necklaces, earrings and purses to choose from.
After the accessories, you can check out with the front volunteers. You'll give them your wristband number and they'll give you back your personal items.
Overall experience was wonderful. It was a bit stuffy inside the space because so many people are running around looking for dresses, AC would been perfect. My daughter had a great time, unfortunately she didn't find something that will fit her right or her style but she did choose a dress and we will alter it. I do suggest booking the event at an early date if possible in hopes to find "your dress", as times go on there will be limited dresses to choose from.
Keep up the good work Princess Project. Thanks for everything and all you do. I am looking into signing up to volunteer for the future.