After nine months of planning, Prom is OVER. Yay! I couldn't be happier. It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be, but it was pretty intense at times.
I put together a Planning Prom notebook, because I was only handed the previous year's receipts, and that did NOT help me in this whole endeavor. I have searched everywhere online, and I found a few resources, but not very many. I am uploading the timeline/checklist, etc. and adding it to pinterest so that *maybe* it will help a few class sponsors along the way! Granted, all of this information is specific to our school, town, and budget, but I'm pretty sure it can be easily adapted.
Our theme was "Shine Bright Like a Diamond", you know, that annoying song? At first I hated the theme, but it actually worked out just fine as far as the decorating process went. I am not a bling type girl, so it was slightly out of my element.
I had a Prom Committee of about 8 girls, and they were FANTASTIC in the planning process. They were really on top of the different elements, and they came in under budget in almost every category- crazy awesome accomplishment for teenage girls! I had all of their schedules changed to allow them to be in my study hall. That was a great decision on my part, because it allowed us to plan all year long, and I was able to interact with them constantly instead of scheduling meetings all the time.
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| This is a picture of the girls (minus two) after we finished our marathon weekend of decorating! |
The details of planning Prom were never-ending. It honestly felt like planning a second wedding. Let's start with pictures of all of the preparations we did in the weeks before Prom:
Favors:
We had a candy buffet at our Prom. Because our school doesn't really do the whole "give teenagers a champagne glass as a favor but then campaign adamently against underaged drinking in a Please Return On Monday thing the week before prom", we got personalized stadium cups. Each student got a cup, and then they got to fill it with the candy of his or her choice at Prom. The cups were 79 cents each, and the wrapping supplies were under five dollars for all of it at Dollar Tree. We wrapped approximately 130 cups the week before Prom (after we had learned the cup song from Pitch Perfect, of course). Under budget on the favors! Yay!
Our Home Ec teacher custom makes the sashes each year. They are beautiful! We also put together as many of the cardboard decorations as possible the weeks before.
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| My classroom became overtaken with Prom supplies for a month. |
Our school distributes invitations each year, and this was the one my kids chose. At first, they found them in a magazine, but it was going to be more than our planned budget. They decided against ordering them, but later found them in another magazine UNDER budget! So proud of them!
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| I forgot to take a picture of it prior to punching holes in it to put in our Prom binder! |
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| We voted for Prom King and Queen :) |
Each year, we put a basket in each of the bathrooms with emergency supplies, just in case anything happens to fall apart during the night!
Our school/town has "Grand March" every year prior to Prom. I had never heard of such until I started working at CHS, but it is a big tradition in our town. The entire gym is decorated, and a walkway is created, and each couple is announced before almost the entire town. That means we had to decorate TWO venues instead of one, and it was slightly stressful! Grand March ended up going really well, and I like the tradition of all of the kids being shown off before their big night.
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| Don't you just love those huge letters and diamonds? Fun fun! |
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| Walkway for the ladies and gentlemen! |
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| Waiting in line (sort of ) to be announced! |
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| The view from the front of the line: so many people here to see them! |
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| Coronation :) |
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| Each couple was announced and in the spotlight for a moment :) |
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| Cute! |
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| Girls in their dresses at Grand March! |
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| Panorama Shot of Grand March |
In between Grand March and Prom, parents helped to clean up the gym and rush over various decorations we were re-using. The venue looked beautiful!
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| Table Decorations |
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| Diamonds everywhere! |
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| We used the PROM letters in the background (hard to see), and we had some beautiful tables! |
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| King and Queen dance- two of my favorite kids! |
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| Our senior prom was 7 years ago... and now here we are teaching at the same school chaperoning prom. Yay. |
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| Yearly Prom Date |
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| My beautiful junior girls! |
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| Candy Buffet |
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| Stage |
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| Picture Backdrop |
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| I got my nails done for Prom, too :) |
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| Dry-erase markers= mirror messages for my kids :) "You look beautiful tonight!" |
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| "You are beautiful, even when the dress, hair, and makeup are gone! Love, Chaps" |
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| "You guys are studs" Not nearly as sentimental with the guys :) |
