How to Plan Prom Guide

How to Plan

Mary Elizabeth Davis 2015 Senior Capstone Project

2

August

¨ Get Organized

How to Plan How to

Plan

¨ Get Organized

¨ Buy a notebook

¨ Look through this guide

¨ Talk with your Circle of Sisters members about setting aside about 10 min every class

meeting to update your class about prom. They will want to be involved and know how

things are coming together.

¨ Introduce yourself the business office and talk about the protocol for tuning in funds

¨ Set the date and time for prom - sometime in late March or April

¨ Talk to development about the AGS auction date

¨ Look at the AGS calendar for other AGS events

¨ Look at SAT and ACT testing dates

¨ Check your calendar for any possible holidays

¨ Ask other schools when their prom is - AGS girls bring dates from other schools so they

cannot have the same prom date.

¨ Talk to grade level dean and dean of students about your findings

¨ Find possible venues for 100 to 150 people

¨ Ask grade members if they have any connections

¨ Research hotels in the area - many have ballrooms

¨ Think of locations of other parties you have attended

¨ Add venue ideas to the Venue Worksheet on page 14

¨ Organize the grade and set up committees

¨ Prom is fun and lots of people will want to get involved, make sure the expectations of

each group are clear before your grade signs up * Descriptions of each committee are on

page 11

§ Theme/ Decorations

§ Bake Sales

§ Candy Grams

§ General Fundraising

§ Invitations/ Party favor

3

September

¨ Establish your projected expenses and set a budget *Budget worksheet on page 13

¨ Get in contact with Venue

¨ Assign people to contact each venue and finish filling out the venue worksheet

on page 14

¨ First Bake sale

¨ Set a date for the sale

¨ Set the location for the sale

¨ Make an announcement or post flyers so the school knows the bake sale is

happening

¨ Assign 4 to 5 people to bring in food for the sale

¨ Assign 2 to 3 people to run the sale

¨ Remember to give the proceeds to the business office

¨ Organize Halloween Candy Grams

¨ Determine contents of the Candy Gram

¨ Set price depending on how much candy you want to put in each bag ($2-$3)

¨ Make posters and make announcements at assembly

¨ Make order slips- works great on envelopes

¨ Set collection bins out around the school

4

October

¨ Halloween Candy Grams

¨ Get lots and lots of candy - get a variety - around 4,000 pieces

¨ Buy cute bags to put the candy in

¨ Type up “to and from” labels

¨ Fill bags- this will go a lot faster if you get the whole grade involved

¨ Hand out to advisories


¨ 3 Bake Sales




happening




¨ Set up a meeting and visit the Venue

¨ Negotiate Price

¨ Discuss catering and entertainment policy

¨ Discuss what they supply, what you need to supply

¨ Take pictures

5

November

¨ 3 Bake Sales




happening




¨ Organize Winter Candy Gram sale

¨ Determine what this candy gram will consist of - candy canes work great

¨ Set price depending on what you are selling ($1-$2)

¨ Make posters and make announcements at assembly

¨ Make order slips- works great on envelopes

¨ Set collection bins out around the school

¨ Start to brainstorm prom themes with grade

¨ Make a list of all theme suggestions *Theme worksheet on page 15

¨ Research possible DJ


¨ Think about DJ’s at past AGS dances

¨ Search the internet for DJ’s with good reviews

¨ Make a list of all possible DJs *DJ worksheet on page 16

¨ Research possible caterers


¨ Think about restaurants in the area that cater

¨ Search the internet for caterer's with good reviews

¨ Make a list of all possible caterers *Caterer worksheet on page 17

6

December ¨ Poinsettia sale - the more the parent circle sells the more money you make

¨ Get in contact with the parent circle

¨ Spread the word to the school

¨ Pass out order forms

¨ Winter Candy Gram sale

¨ Buy all the candy for the sale

¨ Buy cute bags or ribbon to wrap the candy in

¨ Type up “to and from” labels

¨ Fill bags- this will go a lot faster if you get the whole grade involved

¨ Hand out to advisories


¨ 2 Bake Sales




happening




7

January

¨ 3 bake sales




happening




¨ Finalize Prom Theme

¨ Finish filling out the theme worksheet on page 15

¨ Share the worksheet with the grade

¨ Vote on the theme

¨ Get in contact with DJ’s

¨ Assign people to contact each DJ and finish filling out the DJ worksheet on

page 16

¨ Get in contact with caterers

¨ Assign people to contact each caterer and finish filling out the caterer

worksheet on page 17

8

February ¨ 2 bake sales



¨ Make an announcement or post flyers so the school knows the bake sale is happening




¨ Make a decision about DJ’s and caterers

¨ Review the DJ and catering worksheets

¨ Confirm the data and time of the event with the business

¨ Make invitations

¨ Talk to Invitations/ Party favor committee for ideas

¨ Research formal invitations

¨ Come up with graphics for the invitation

¨ Research the best place to order invitations

¨ Order them - you will need about 200

¨ Brainstorm decorations

¨ This is the time to think about all the fun things you want at prom, specific decorations,

take home items, something different, brainstorm and do research

¨ Be creative

¨ Start decoration shopping

9

March

¨ Hand out two invitations to everyone in the junior and senior class for themselves

and their dates

¨ 2 bake sales




happening




¨ Get all decorations

¨ Order anything and everything that you will need to order, you can't do that at

the last minute

¨ Look out for deals

¨ Confirm venue parking details and price

¨ Send FYI email to all juniors and seniors with this information so they can

finalize their transportation plans

10

Week of Prom

¨ Check in with the venue

¨ Make sure everything is ready to go

¨ Ask what time people can start setting up

¨ Check in with entertainment

¨ Make sure they know where and when to set up

¨ Give them a contact at your venue or someone who will be setting up the day

of because you will enjoying pre-prom activities elsewhere

¨ Assign sophomores to set up the day of prom

¨ Organize all decorations so that it can be easily set up

¨ Write up an easy to follow plan

11

Committee Descriptions Bake Sales

Set a goal to hold at least 15 back sales throughout the year. You will probably be very good about

them in the beginning but as the year goes on it can be hard to keep up.

This committee will help out for most of the year but it is not a very hard or time consuming.

Tasks

• Set a day of the week for bake sales

• Decide if you want to hold it in one of two locations in the school

• Make sure that at least 4 people bring food to everyone (you may want to ask 5 people in case

someone forgets)

• Make sure at least two people are working each bake sale table

• These people do not have to bring in food or work the bake sale every week

o It might be nice to go ahead and ask to whole grade to work at least one bake sale and bring

in food for at least two

o Sign Up Genius is a great site to keep volunteers organized and reminded

Candy Grams

You need to get started on this early. They take up a lot more time than you think they will. You

probably want to do some form of this for two different holidays.

Tasks

• Set price depending on how much candy you want to put in each bag ($2-$3)

• Make posters and make announcements at assembly

• Make order slips- works great on envelopes

• Collect candy/ money to buy candy from the grade

• Buy cute candy bags

• Type up to and from labels

• Fill bags

• Hand out

12

Committee Descriptions

General Fundraising

Think of other projects to do (give them a goal to raise $250 some other way

Theme/ Decorations

Everyone is going to want to help with this but there is not that much to do. Make sure your theme is

realistic.

Tasks

• Have the grade brainstorm ideas

• Send out a survey monkey with the top (no more than 10)

• Tell everyone the theme, everyone may not be completely happy but it is ok

• Let them think of ideas for decorations but social chairs should be responsible for procurement

Invitations/ Party Favor

This is also just a one-time project. This is great for the artsy members of the class. However, it still

should be a Formal Invitation.

It is important to finish the invitations in time to let multiple people proof them before mass printing and

sending out. Remember to order enough for both the student and date.

It is nice to have something to take home from prom that will last. You may want some creative people to

think of a way to do this. (i.e.. t-shirt, candy jar, picture frame)

13

Budget Worksheet

Budget Worksheet Estimated Cost Goal Actual Cost

Venue:

$4,000

Entertainment:

$500

Food/Beverages:

$2,500

Decorations:

$800

Favors:

$200

Invitations:

$100

Total:

14

Venue Worksheet

Name Location Rating Cost Notes

15

Theme Worksheet

Name Color Scheme Possible Decorations Notes

16

DJ Worksheet

Name Rating Cost Notes

17

Caterer Worksheet

Name Selections Rating Cost Notes

How to Plan Prom Guide

Documents

Transcript of How to Plan Prom Guide