Go Thrifty!
For those who either don’t want to pay for, or can’t afford to rent a tuxedo for the big night, the thrift store is a good alternative. Find gently used formal wear at stores like Plato’s closet or ARC to greatly decrease the cost involved with looking nice on Prom night.

Lose the Limo!
While most people would love to roll up to prom in a 20 ft long, 15 passenger Hummer stretch limo, but, when on a budget, the costs are astronomical, often being more than $50 per person for a total of maybe one hour of actually being inside the limo, the rest of the time is paid for so that the driver can sit outside the restaurant/dance and wait for you, a total waste of money. Skip the limo and carpool with your date and some friends, instead of paying $50 per person for a limo, get your carpool-mates to pitch $5 for gas, reducing the price to one-tenth of the original.

Eat for Cheap!
Going out to dinner is not necessarily required on prom night, contrary to popular belief. A nice dinner could, just as easily, be cooked, or even catered at home for less than going out to a fancy expensive restaurant. There are benefits to having your meal this way: there’s not as long of a waiting time for food, the cost is usually astronomically cheaper, and the menu can be decided beforehand to suit all involved.

Taylor Call and Hannah Williams after he asked her to Prom in the lobby by singing to her. Photo by Jeff Fleischman.

Cute:

Some people opt to hang a tennis ball or wiffle golf balls when parking in the garage to avoid a fender bender. Capitalizing off of this, Spencer McCarty (12) decided to make a poster with the fated question written on it when he chose to ask junior Meghann Forey (11). Synchronizing his efforts with Meghann’s mother, the two arranged for Meghann to arrive in the appropriate garage.

Cuter:

Such is the case with senior Jason DeWitt who devised an ingenious plan to ask his potential date. Using his date’s love of ranch dressing, Jason scanned the label of Hidden Valley on his computer and began to make changes to better fit his needs. Using his amazing graphic design skills, Jason proceeded to replace “Hidden” on the label with the word “Ralston” followed by the addition of “prom ?” beneath it. Afterwards, he swapped his modified bottle into her refrigerator and waited. Fortunately Jason’s efforts did not go to waste and his date accepted his proposition with a bag of salad to complement his endeavor.

Even Cuter:

In a world that favors original, inspired ideas, Mike Martin’s (12) plan satisfied these requirements and was nothing short of romantic. Making use of a girl’s natural fascination with flowers, he assembled rose petals for each individual letter spelling out p-r-o-m-? in different colors. As if this wasn’t enough, Michael displayed his musical prowess in a unique sing song form and wooed his lady whilst playing the acoustic guitar.

Cutest:

Singing is no easy feat, especially when it involves stepping out of the car/shower and performing in front of a group of strangers, particularly when it entails singing along with a barbershop quartette. An act like this requires for lack of better words a combination of courage and coordination to be unaffected by embarrassment and awkwardness. Taylor Call (12) did just this when he asked Hannah Williams (12) during school in the lobby of the school. Using his father’s harmonious ensemble, Taylor approached Williams and embarked upon a musical scheme directed at his date to be. Who could resist such an epic proposal, Hannah certainly couldn’t.

Step One: Choose A Venue
Last October, we had a big decision to make. Pick a prom location for next April. There was a long list of possible candidates, and a short list of realistic ones. We first walked into the ballroom at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. We were impressed- and a little overwhelmed with all the options and possibilities. The tour guide showed us hundreds of photos from past proms, including everything from the coat check station to an optional outdoor fireworks show. Yeah….. a little over the top, but still a very noteworthy location. One of the next venues was Invesco. We were toured around once again, and studied the entrances, ballroom, refreshment areas, field and even the parking lot, (We’re pretty thorough). We were also told that the Invesco staff would include catering, security and cleanup. That was a big plus. After we had seen and heard from various locations, we ended up with two strong candidates: The Denver Center for Performing Arts and Invesco Field at Mile High.

All things considered, we loved both; but for different reasons. We called and saw if any open dates for either of the venues matched ours. Both confirmed. After lengthy debates, we decided to book DCPA, and cancelled our reservation for Invesco. A couple of weeks later, some issues arose with the date for the DCPA location. That was a big problem. After discussing, we agreed to release the date for DCPA and go with Invesco instead. And trust us. Invesco (and all of it’s little perks) will be awesome. There’s a lobby area, a huge dance floor area, a picture and “chill out” spot, a non-alcoholic bar, and even some access to the surrounding outside balcony looking out at the field. And with the decorations we have planned, it’s going to be grand.

Step Two: Choose A Theme
This one requires a lot of discussion. All of the Juniors in StuGo (President Lauren Biddle, Morgan Parker, Josh Hamilton, Steph Larsen, Monika Schneider, Mary Claire Anderson, Aaron Decino and myself) sit around and try to consider every possible theme. Should we take the “decade” route? (sock hop or disco) Stick with a classic? (Under the Sea!) A recent movie? Go international? (Walk Like An Egyptian!) or completely original?(Prom 09: Hospital Ward Waltz) We take into account themes that have already been used in the past, the fact that the student body is pretty judgmental (it’s understandable) and what sort of decorations we could have.

This year’s theme was unanimously chosen from the numerous options by the StuGo prom committee because it provided us with a really cool name (as soon as the title “Silver Screen Serenade” was thought of we all loved it) and also has a lot of potential for cool decorations.

Step Three: the Decorations
The next step involves visits from representatives of different agencies. StuGo basically knows what it has in mind already, with the color themes and stuff like that, (this years colors are black, silver, and burgundy.) We have someone come in and show us all the photo backgrounds to choose from, someone to come and show us all the lighting possibilities to choose from, someone to show us all the tablecloth and overall design options, etc. After we all agreed on our overall vision, we chose our favorites out of the hundreds of possibilities, and then set the date with each individual company. I can’t give any specifics away, but the Saturday morning of Prom, setup of all the various decorative specifics will begin, and when night falls, it will all come together.

Step Four: Invitations and Posters
The Student Government Juniors usually spend a few class periods in the “fishbowl” in the English hallway during 4th block drafting different ideas for invitation and poster design. Once we know what we want, we send off our ideas to a professional graphic designer and we make all necessary compromises, etc. A few weeks later our invitations and posters arrive, and we send them out to every single Junior and Senior at the school. (We make a giant assembly line and knock out the stuffing and addressing of invitations in one day.) One thing that didn’t go exactly as planned: we were scheduled to mail invitations during the snow days, so Mrs. Braketa had to make the trek back to the school and do it herself!

Step Five: Everything Else
Once everyone is formally invited, our work still isn’t done. That still leaves royalty, gifts, DJ, tickets, and many other things behind the scenes – things that will (hopefully) all come together to create a truly unforgettable night, where everyone is going to feel like a 20’s Hollywood Star at a Premier Party. Oh yeah.