The unique decorations, expansive venue, and colorful array of food are all components to a memorable and enjoyable prom. The event, with all its facets, has become a staple of the upperclassman experience, complete with upscale wardrobes, a DJ, and wagering tables. It doesn’t happen by accident, however. Student council works with the school admin and a third-party events planner to bring it to fruition.
On May 10th, the school will hold prom at the Hyatt Regency to celebrate the end of the year for upperclassmen. The event will run from 8:00-11:30 pm, and tickets are currently $80 each.
“There’s four or five photo ops,” junior and events co-director Sena Baag said. “One of them is a giant mask. We’re planning on glitter painting it. It’s masquerade, so we have a lot of feathers. The color scheme is black, gold, and white.”
The masquerade theme emerged on top of a student vote, from a pool of options determined in tandem with the school admin and the bookkeepers. The student council picks from a variety of brochures, which influences the final options available to students. A Masquerade refers to a type of formal party in which participants, typically affluent ones, would attend wearing costumes and masks.
“We had vision boards on Pinterest,” Baag said. “This year, we might be able to arrange masks at the event for people to wear.”
The morning of the event, a team of volunteers shows up at the venue to set everything up. The venue itself is estimated to cost upwards of $20,000, which is funded primarily by prom tickets. Any money not used simply goes back into the next year’s prom fund.
“We are involved in getting volunteers for the actual day of,” junior and Student Council secretary Ansel Wong said. “And then there’s getting people to set up and make decorations the week or two before.”
This year, prom will feature a photo booth, an option not seen at previous proms, but that has been utilized in the past at homecoming.
“I don’t think we did [a photo booth] last year, so I’m excited for that,” Baag said. “We wanted to do a disposable camera sort of thing, but it didn’t work out this time.”
Much of the work that goes into planning an event is invisible to most students by design. It is important to celebrate the teams of various students, parents, and other staff working together to bring the experience to life.
“The hardest part is that we have to plan for prom while also planning for Relay for Life,” Wong said. “So it’s 20 different things at once, and then it gets very messy. But we always figure it out.”
