It’s quite an adventure to plan for a prom.

But imagine what it’d be like to plan for a prom for twins — twin girls for that matter.

In January, Albert Lea High School twins Chelsea and Katelyn Anderson, and their mother, Jacki, started doing just that.

At first, Jacki said, she thought it was too early to begin. But she soon learned otherwise.

Chelsea and Katelyn, both 16, had been asked that same month to go to prom.

Chelsea, who will be going with student Tyler Haaland, decided to go to the prom after Haaland took her down to his ice fishing house one Sunday and pulled the wooden word “Prom?” out of his ice fishing hole.

Katelyn, who will be going with student Jordon Cooper, decided to go to prom after Cooper went up on stage at Winterfest and asked over a microphone for her to come with him.

The twins will be two of 412 students to attend the event at the high school, which will be Saturday. The theme of the prom is “Viva Las Vegas.”

It will be a culmination of months of planning.

Chelsea said the first thing she and her sister did in the planning process was to schedule their hair appointments at Studio 22. When they called to set them up, they got the last two appointments there, she said.

After that, they started tanning, and then they began the search for dresses.

At first, they started looking online, and Chelsea found one she liked that was more than $400.

“That was a little too much money to invest in something you’ll never use again,” Jacki said.

Then they went to store after store, mainly at the Mall of America, and Katelyn ended up finding a dress at Bloomingdale’s — a lime green, strapless dress that goes down to just above her knee.

“She didn’t have any problems finding hers,” Chelsea said.

Chelsea, on the other hand, found a dress that she liked, but when it came back, it was too big. She ended up finding a different dress at David’s Bridal that was an iridescent brown and gold, strapless and long and flowy.

After the twins found their dress, they began the search for shoes, which Chelsea noted she’s still looking for.

They got their jewelry — simple earrings and bracelets — at Icing by Claire’s.

When it’s all said and done, they will have spent probably $40 on jewelry, another $60 or $70 on shoes, more than $300 for dresses, and then of course there’ll be costs for hair appointments and of course makeup. The girls paid for their own dresses, and their parents are helping them with the rest. Some girls even pay to have a practice round of their hair done and to have their makeup done.

“It’s been fun but tiring,” Jacki said. “I’ll be glad when it’s Sunday. It seems like we’ve shopped almost every weekend since January. It’s fun to hang out with the two of them.”

Their schedule on Saturday will be to wake up, go to their hair appointments at 10 a.m., go home and finish getting ready, and then they’ll go to some punch parties.

Promenade at Northbridge Mall begins at 3:30 p.m., there’s an open house at the high school from 4 to 6 p.m., and then the actual dance begins at 8 p.m.

Chelsea said she is going with a group of six couples, and Katelyn is going with an even bigger group of about 20 people.

After the prom is over, Chelsea will be going to play paintball with her group on Sunday, and Katelyn will be going with her group up to the Grand Lodge Hotel by the Mall of America.

“The groups stay together the whole night and then stay together through Sunday, too,” Jacki said.

There will also be other after-prom activities hosted at Crossroads Church.

Look to the Tribune a week from today to see how the experience went for the twins.

Chelsea and Katelyn are both juniors at ALHS and work at Hy-Vee. Chelsea is involved with tennis and enjoys hanging out with friends.

Katelyn is involved with tennis and cheerleading, the prom committee and helping with blood drives through the Freeborn County American Red Cross.

Both are involved with church activities at First Presbyterian Church.