Prom is a night for graduating seniors to celebrate their twelve plus years of school. It is one of the last few times that your class will get together and have a good time. It is a time when you realize that you are leaving high school behind and are growing up and becoming a young adult. It is a time for graduating seniors to make a great memory and here are some ideas to have a fabulous and memorable prom night:1. Create a prom scrapbook. Fill a binder with mementos such as the price tag from your dress, your corsage, your ticket stubs— anything that has to do with prom night. Then decorate the outside of the scrapbook with a collage of your favorite prom pictures. Theme the scrapbook with the same theme as your prom.2. Be organized with your prom planning. Have a checklist of everything you need to get done for prom including your dress, activities before and after and who you are going with. Also, plan your pre-dance dinner if needed well ahead of time. Prom night is a popular night for local restaurants, so reserve a table for you and your date at least a month prior to the event.3. Be sure to rest before the big night. Having fun on prom night will use up a lot of energy. You will be stressed from all the preparations and with all the dancing you will be doing, you need to make sure that you get a good night’s sleep before prom and maybe even take a nap the day of prom. If you talked your parents into extending curfew on prom night, you will need all the sleep you can get beforehand. Believe me you will have more fun if you are not dead tired.4. Most students find the prom a lot more fun if they go in a group. Couples can share a car, and several cars can go together and arrive at the dance at the same time. Or super size your prom ride by renting a minibus. Pass around a list and recruit your group. A ride this size costs less than a limo does per person. You will all arrive together and you can all sit together at the same table and enjoy each other's company all evening. Remember that the earlier you arrive, the better your chances will be of finding an empty table where you can all sit together.5. You may want to get together at one person's house to take group pictures and have hors d'oeuvres. Throw kind of a pre-prom “mocktail party” with virgin drinks. This gives everyone an opportunity to get a good start on the evening. It will also give parents a chance to make a fuss over all of you and take as many pictures as they want. They will probably be having as much fun as you are.6. Buy a bunch of one time use cameras and pass them around to your friends. Set a goal to use every last picture before the night is through. Hopefully, you will want to remember this night forever and this way you will get plenty of candid shots.7. Dance away the night. Don’t be a wall flower on prom night. Get up and dance! If you don’t want to slow dance with your prom date, don’t let that stop you from having fun. Pull your friends onto the floor and dance in a circle.8. Sometimes students don't spend much time at the dance, but just show up for pictures and leave. These are the ones that really miss out on the fun. This may be the last time you will be seeing a lot of the people you have spent the last four years of high school with. It may be the biggest party you will ever attend where you know so many people in attendance. Enjoy it and have a great time! You'll remember it when you look back years later, and it will be a good memory.9. Take care of your belongings. Don't leave valuables on the table or in bathrooms. Even if you think you know everyone at the dance, it would be very sad to lose a camera or your money just because you were careless and left it sitting around unattended.10. After prom is over, be playful and have fun. Some suggestions: After prom, go bowling or to a late-night arcade. There’s nothing like friendly competition to really get everyone laughing. Or go to a late night diner all dressed up and order fries and a milk shake; it’ll hit the spot and you’ll get lots of attention. You can even gather in a friend’s house or backyard or on the beach, take your shoes off, turn up the music and really dance. Even the most ordinary things become more fun when you’re dressed up! You’re only in high school once. You might as well enjoy your night and make it last as long as you can.Prom is a wonderful way to celebrate with your class but please don’t make choices on prom night that you will regret later. Don’t drink or use drugs as both impair your judgment, can hurt you and are illegal. You want this to be a night you can remember in a good way not a bad one.Article by Patricia Kopp.
