Danielle O’Malley, Managing Editor
@domalley_
It all started when the class of 2025 prom dress account requested to follow people on Instagram all the way back in September. Then came the promposal account shortly followed by the class of 2024 prom dress account. It seemed that the prom plans were starting far too soon. But then came the first prom dress post in late December. After that every prom related thing started sneaking up on everyone.
Between elaborate promposals and heaps of drama surrounding table planning, things started to fall into place very quickly. Even more dresses were posted and tickets were finally sent out to juniors in mid-March. This all led up to the big event on April 5 when juniors celebrated their very first prom. And this all is continuing to happen for the senior class as their prom is just a mere two weeks away. But how does this all get planned?
Math teacher and prom coordinator, Sean Killelea, explained how fundraising for prom starts as early as the beginning of the year. “We plan activities to decrease ticket prices such as homecoming week, underclassmen dances and fundraising sales.”
Mr Killelea also detailed some of the first things the Student Coalition (StuCo) along with other prom coordinator, Spanish teacher Veronica Estacio, think about when first planning prom. “We consider when we want the date of the event to be, class size, availability of the venue, pricing and the school calendar of other events during the year,” he said.
Getting the ball rolling when beginning to plan an event as big and important as prom can be difficult and requires a lot of time. StuCo class of 2024 Student Body Vice President, Kole Bavoso, described the process the senior class went through this year to begin their initial planning. “We started thinking about decorations back in January. We figured out what we wanted our theme to be, ‘A Night in Paris’, which then made planning a lot easier,” they said. “After that we made a Pinterest board and ordered things that went along with that theme.”
However, narrowing down a theme isn’t always easy, and it can take time to find the perfect fit. In order to be efficient in choosing the theme, Kole and the other senior StuCo members threw out many options. “We pitched ideas and then out of our group, the president, political president, social president and all the delegates, saw what theme spoke the most to us,” they said. “We wanted something that everybody in the grade would like, but also general enough so that people could wear whatever they wanted.”
“After the theme is decided, we work on the menu, song playlist, decorations and table arrangements, which are all based on student input from StuCo members,” Mr Killelea said.
StuCo puts in a lot of hard work and effort into planning the actual event. But personal preparations are equally as important. From the dress and tuxedo to appointments of all kinds, individuals spend a lot of time making sure their day is as perfect as it can be.
Junior Susanna Rittenberry specified the variety of things she bought and planned for leading up to prom. “To get ready for prom I spent the most time searching for a dress and shoes that I loved. I also spent time trying to figure out my table and planning pre and post prom events,” she said. “This was generally fun but at times very stressful.”
Even though personal preparations for prom begin as early as December for some, nothing is as crazy as the preparations needed for the actual day of the event. “On the day of prom, I went to school as usual, and then got my hair done immediately after. I then went home to get started getting ready. After I was partially ready I went to a friend’s house to finish getting ready,” Susanna said. “Our dates met us there and we took pictures before heading to a bigger pre prom event. We suffered through the cold weather and took a multitude of pictures before we went to prom.”
This process may seem extremely stressful to most as it sounds like a lot of planning. However, it is imperative to remember that prom is supposed to be a fun event to look forward to as a way to celebrate as a community with all classmates.
“Prom is a time honored tradition that occurs off of school grounds. Coordinating with classmates, getting dressed up, taking photos, and spending a night together as a class is what it’s all about,” Mr Killelea said.
Susanna shared a similar sentiment. “Even though at times the preparation was stressful, prom is a rite of passage. Half the fun is the planning and all the jitters that come with it, as long as this stress is more of an excited stress than a truly anxious stress.”
“I would say the stress is definitely worth it. It definitely ended up being worth it in the end,” Kole said.
