Saudia Shuler had planned to send her son to Dubai for his graduation, but then she decided to bring Dubai to her Philadelphia neighborhood for a lavish prom send-off that cost around $25,000, and included live camels and a Lamborghini.
On Friday, the send-off for Johnny “JJ” Eden, Jr. that took up an entire block went viral, featuring a custom mural, three tons of sand, and a camel that Shuler had rented just for the occasion. Her friends and family helped her set up the event, working until the early morning hours to get the send-off finished.
With all that work, Shuler and the crew created three different scenes for Eden, each with a different girl and a different costume change, featuring a Lamborghini, a Range Rover and Rolls Royce. His actual girlfriend and date was the third girl and was billed as the “main attraction,” but Eden said that she didn’t mind, though he admitted that the send-off might have been over-the-top.
“It was a lot going on, but it all worked out,” he said.
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But even if Eden had at first told his mother that he didn’t even want to go to prom, she just wouldn’t hear of anything else. After all, she’d had a stroke three years ago, not to mention several other health problems, including thryoid cancer. Eden’s father was murdered, and she lost another baby that she was carrying, and she lost her ability to work as a hairdresser because of medical problems.
“I was like, I’m not going to be able to see my baby’s prom,” Shuler recalled. So, she promised herself that if she did make it to her son’s prom, it was going to be a night to remember.
“I called it my JayJay prom and graduation foundation,” she said. “Every day that I worked I put $200 in that. All my fives and change? I put them in that jug.”
Her friends helped as well, with many people charging her reduced rates or even refusing to charge her, so that $25,000 price tag was actually lower than it could have been.
As for critics saying that Shuler should have saved her money for the actual graduation and college, Shuler said, “The graduation gon be fabulous… I’ll show you receipts all the way from two years ago.”
Jay stylist killed it . You are amazing @stylesbychey . ????thank u
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My cakes was amaZing @_sweetaffection . You never disappoint me.????? thank u
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