L O C A T I O N There are a variety of locations to be found for use for high school proms. The most common are hotels. But even these can vary widely in the both the size of their ballrooms and the services offered. It would be wise for you to go and look at various locations in person so that you can see what they offer. Most hotels send out Prom Packets which list the size of the room, menus, charges, and extras, but I have found that some facilities are much easier to work with than others, and you won't know this unless you check for yourself. Facilities that are more self-contained are much easier to maintain security, and some overestimate how many could comfortably fit into their ballrooms. Looking yourself will eliminate any surprises you might otherwise encounter. There are also other facilities which are built or used just for big events such as a Prom, where there is no hotel involved. These sites are nice in that you do not have to fight with the issue of students trying to make reservations to stay there, and you are usually the only event in the facility; thus making security easy to maintain. Some questions you may want to ask yourself when looking at locations would be. Is it convenient for students? Does the facility decorate for you? What type of food services do they have? (Be prepared to ask about special diet situations, i.e, vegetarian or other serious food preparation considerations:"Gluten-Free" eating at www.glutenguide.blogspot.com/) Do they provide some security personnel? Does their price include food, tax and tip? Do they provide rooms (one or two) for chaperones? Also, remember that if you want a prime date in May, you will have to book most facilities 16-18 months in advance. Believe it or not, the best places are usually gone more than twelve months before your event. S E C U R I T Y There are many horror stories out there when it comes to security at Proms. This is a crucial element to a successful event. There are many approaches, but if you err, err on the side of caution, and have too much security rather than not enough. There should be three parts to your security. You should hire security, such as a security company or off-duty police officers. These should be your most aggressive agents. You may want them to frisk all your students, or use a metal detector. (Your school should have some kind of a policy regarding this.) They should also circulate throughout the dance, and patrol the bathrooms as well as the perimeter of the ballroom. They should constantly be checking the parking lots to see that no students are staying in cars instead of coming into the dance. (Once the students are in the dance, they should be required to stay until they want to leave the event.) The facility in which you are holding the event should also have security, which will be the second part of your security. They should be patrolling the perimeter of the ballroom and the parking lot as well. It should be their job to keep others out of your dance as well as your students in. And the third element of your security would be teachers and administrators. These people should stay inside the dance and mingle with the students to be sure that all is well. They should also check bathrooms occasionally, as well as watch doors. Most students will cooperate with instructions regarding security, and if they don't, just call their parents and send them home. D E C O R A T I O N S Decorations will vary widely, depending upon where you are having your Prom. Some hotels and other facilities do all the decorating of tables, as well as providing a balloon arch for the dance floor. Other places will expect you to do all of the decorating. Many ballrooms are quite beautiful, and will need very little in the way of decorations. But your student committee will have ideas about this. They will be able to choose the color of the linens, and whatever other extras the facility may provide. Decorating can be very time consuming. So if you find a facility that is willing to decorate for you, it will be very helpful. But if you are having your dance at a facility that doesn't help, the students are usually very capable of doing the work themselves. D J ,   M u s i c The DJ can make or break a Prom. You need to book a DJ about six months in advance. December is a good time to book for the following May. Always get a contract, and put in writing what you will be expecting from the DJ. Students are usually very good at choosing a DJ. Let the student committee do the legwork and get the DJ pool down to three or four before you start doing your checking. References are absolutely essential for a DJ that works a Prom. It is your biggest dance of the year, and you don't want it to be ruined by a bad DJ. Some DJ's may not have the right music for your group, some might just display a lousy attitude, or some may not have enough equipment to play such a large room. Anyway, he has the potential for ruining your dance, so be very choosy. The experiences other schools have had with a DJ are most relevant and so you will probably find those recommendations to be the most helpful. Call them and ask what their experience was with that particular DJ. If you get a favorable recommendation, you will then want to ask yourself some questions. Do the students want to choose the music? Do they want video screens? What about strobe lights? or smoke? The students need to help you make these decisions, and what you decide will make a huge difference in the price. DJ's range in price from $600 to $1500 for a Prom, so shop around. Make a careful, informed decision. You won't be sorry you spent the time researching this. C O U R T The Court is a relatively easy element of the Prom, but it is one that the students care about a lot. All of the elections for court should have taken place at school so that the necessary photographs, tiaras, flowers, and souvenirs can be purchased for them. Be sure that you hold elections early enough that if someone is elected to court who wasn't planning on going, there will be sufficient time for him/her to still get a date. P H O T O G R A P H E R The photographer you use for the Prom will probably be the one that your school has a contract with for the school year. The single worst thing that can happen with the photographer is that your students would have to wait in line all night for pictures instead of enjoying the dance itself. Be sure that your studio sends enough photographer set ups and backgrounds. There should be couple set ups and group set ups. It seems that some studios try to send too few photographers. Be very alert, and don't let that happen to you. One thing that may be successful for you would be to let students come an hour early for photographs only, before the dance actually begins, so that they don't waste time during the dance. You may find that a lot of students come early to get the photographs out of the way. Or you could schedule photo settings at your school before the dance beginsat a different location. Students sign up for appointment times that are 10 minutes apart at the school gym hours before the Prom. This will make the process easier for everyone. Remember that most photographers provide the invitations to the prom, help subsidize a souvenirs and should give the school a percentage of the shoot. The studio generates a huge amount of income from your event. They should be giving a percentage back to you in some way. S O U V E N I R S Most Proms have some kind of a small memento for students to take home. Some have glasses printed with the date and theme, candles have become popular, as well as a photo memory book that includes all the photographs taken that evening by the photographers as well as a few candids. It is important that the students like the souvenir. Your student committee should choose what they want as they probably know better than you would, what the rest of the class would like to take home. Remember to order early--six months out will allow for personalization and correcting possible errors. F O O D There are basically three options for food at a Prom; a sit down dinner, buffet style, or finger foods. The facility you choose will usually have set menus from which you may choose. They will make minor changes for you if you like, but for the most part you choose from their banquet menus prepared specifically for high school proms. The most expensive option is usually a buffet, and a facility must be really good at food preparation to make a buffet palatable. Your student committee will usually have pretty strong opinions as to what they want, so let them choose, as long as they stay within the budget you set ahead of time. You will find that at most places the difference between the cost of a sit down dinner and finger foods is negligible, so you might as well go with the sit down dinner. An unlimited soda bar should be included in the price as well as some type of dessert. Don't be afraid to negotiate. You are the advocate for your school, and facilities expect you to ask lots of questions so that you get what you want. T I C K E T S   S A L E S Your final banquet count will have to be in to the caterer/facility by at least 10 days prior to the event. That means that you will need to have a solid number of tickets sold by that time. All tickets should be pre-sale, as you need to be able to plan, and you might want to do a cursory security check at the time tickets are sold. Your Dean's office should have some knowledge regarding students that are under suspension or have been sent to other schools for disciplinary reasons. Have them check your Prom list, and eliminate any students who would be inappropriate attendees. You may also want to tier your prices to favor those students who have ASB cards. A computer list of Prom guests with names and home phone numbers is a necessity in case of an emergency, and parents need to be contacted. During ticket sales is the perfect time to generate this list. Welcome / Credits / Feedback © Copyright 1997 Prom-Night.com. All rights reserved. Design and Production by Brian Truong