Month: January 2020

We know Prom is one of your school’s biggest events for students and you’ve been planning all year long! For an event this big, you really need to start planning far in advance to ensure you get everything just right. My School Dance created an ultimate Prom planning timeline for you to stick to so you don’t stress about what needs to be done by when. Let’s get to it:

6-10 Months Prior to Prom

During this time, you should create your Prom committee and subcommittees. Once that’s done, figure out your entire budget for the dance and get that finalized with whoever is in charge of your school’s bank account. Next, choose the date of your Prom. Make sure to go through your school’s calendar to ensure there’s no other events on the same night. After the date is solidified, it’s time to choose a theme! You then can begin to fundraise and raise money for the dance!

4-5 Months Prior

This is where you get a lot of your specialities booked! The biggest one being your venue. Make sure to seek out different venues and book one for the date you chose. Then, you can choose a caterer if you plan on having food. Next, book your entertainment such as a DJ, band, photographer, etc. If your school is planning on having a Post-Prom Event, you’ll need to plan for that during these months too.

2-3 Months Prior

Choose your Prom decorations and have them ordered. Design your ticket and invitations for the dance. If you want extra safety, book security for the night of the dance. Seek out volunteers to chaperone the dance whether they’re parents or teachers. Order all favors, decor, invites, and any other supplies you haven’t to ensure you receive them by the day of the dance.

1 Month Prior

If your school uses invitations, send them out. Verify with all of your specialty companies the date and time (DJ, Band, Photographer, Caterer, etc.). Figure out the floor plan and seating area. If you have assigned seats, do that during this month. Begin to sell your tickets a few weeks out to give students a chance to gather the money. Create an event checklist for the day of to ensure everything is in place and you won’t forget anything.

1 Week Prior

Finalize a general headcount for the venue. Confirm once again with all specialty companies about the date and time they are to arrive. Assemble all of the decorations for prep.

2-3 Days Prior

Pick up last minute things, if needed. If allowed by the venue, begin to decorate the room.

Day Of Prom

Pick up last minute decorations. Finish setting up for the dance. Help speciality companies get set up in their correct locations. Run through your dance checklist to make sure you didn’t forget anything. Relax, and enjoy what you created!

My School Dance knows how difficult planning a huge event like Prom is. We created our platform to provide teachers, like you, extra help and less stress. You can utilize our platform to save over 25 hours in managing Prom this year. Plus, our platform is free. Let us help make Prom managing enjoyable for you!

If you want more Prom tips, check out these blogs: Big Or Small School? How To Choose Your Venue For Prom, 10 Prom Traditions That Might Shock You, and How To Publicize Your School Dance!

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January 24, 2020

Crazy to believe it, but love is in the air! Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and that means your school’s Sweetheart Dance will be taking place soon. Change it up this year and don’t choose a basic theme for your dance. Add some edge to it with My School Dance’s theme ideas for a Sweetheart Dance. Check them out below:

Red and Black Masquerade

Make all of your attendees wear fun, black or red, masks to hide their faces. A mystery is always intriguing to all! Make all of your decorations black, white, and red to add some color. You don’t have to go all out with decor, just some basic things. With this color scheme and theme, you’ll have a classy night going for your students!

A Sweet For My Sweetheart

Deck your entire venue out in candy themed stuff. A lot of the decor can be DIY, but you can also buy a lot of candy themed items. Have licorice hanging down the entrance way, have gumdrops surrounding the dance floor, and cotton candy dangling down the room. There’s so many different things you can do. This theme will sure be sweet!

Love Is A Work Of Heart

Make your entire theme related around artwork and hearts. It could look like you’re in an art gallery, which would be unique. Get the art students involved by having them create murals and other pieces for decor!

Black Tie Gala

Want to make your Sweetheart Dance a more formal event? Turn it into a Gala! Use black and white decor and crystals all over. Students would wear formal attire with black suits. Have all volunteers dress up too so it looks even more official!

Secret Admirer Dance

Make your theme a “love notes” theme. You can decorate the walls with love notes and have your students get involved by writing some. This would be very cost-efficient and a unique theme. You can sell roses at the dance for students to purchase for their secret admirer.

Hosting a dance is always a fun thing to do for your students. It’s even more fun when you can get creative with the theme, decor, and invites too. Try something different this year for your school’s Sweetheart Dance. It’s always nice to have some change!

Once you’ve chosen your theme, start creating your dance on your school’s My School Dance landing page. Your dance partner can help assist with any other details. If you aren’t already signed up, just sign your school up for free and get started!

If you want more helpful tips and tools, check out these blogs next: Big or Small School? How To Choose Your Venue For Prom!, How To Publicize Your School Dance, and How To Host A Sweetheart Dance On A Low Budget!

But that’s not all! Go like us on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest!

Contact:

Stephanie Hamilton

833-336-8656

January 17, 2020

When you are in charge of planning and managing your school’s Prom, it’s hard to understand everything that it entails. However, one of the biggest things to consider for Prom is the venue! A lot of schools have different venues when it comes to this formal dance. How do you know which one is right for your school?

When it comes to your school, are you considered a big school or a small school? My School Dance considers small schools to be 500 students or less. A big school is 500+. Now that you have decided on your school size, it’s time to start thinking about the proper venue. One thing to consider is if you’re allowing your students to bring out of school dates. If you do, you’ll have to increase your school size so you’re accommodating enough space with more students. If you don’t allow students to bring out of school guests, then you don’t have to worry about it!

When choosing your venue, you’ll want to make sure the venue location isn’t too far of a drive for students. I’d highly recommend nothing over a 30 minute drive for students. If the venue location is too far, a lot of students will not go.

Small Schools

If you have a small school, you might want to just stick to somewhere local like your school’s gym or cafeteria. However, a lot of students aim to have their Prom at a different location than the school. I’d suggest looking at local community centers, halls, and hotels. With a smaller amount of students, you can get a smaller venue room.

Big Schools

If you have a big school, you aren’t going to want to cram all of your students and volunteers in a small gym or cafeteria. You’ll want to look for an outside venue! Convention centers, bigger restaurants, halls, outdoor pavilions, parks, or even big boats! All of these venue options have been huge hits in the past for bigger schools.

When you start looking into your venue options some things to consider are:

• Is the venue location available for your desired date and time?
• What’s the cost for the venue?
• Maximum capacity size for the venue?
• Are there any amenities onsite?
• What type of lighting is available and will you need additional lighting?
• Is the building secure?
• Can you bring in your own DJ, Catering, Photo booths, etc.?
• Who handles setting up and cleaning up?
• How early can you arrive to prepare?
• Are their any package deals for booking?

It’s important to take into account all of these questions when you book one of the top things for Prom. I would suggest looking at multiple places first before choosing your destination. That way you get a feel for a variety of environments and deals. If your school needs help making the management process for Prom easier, sign your school up with My School Dance for free! 

Our platform allows you to save over 25 hours when it comes to Prom planning and managing! If you thought this blog post was helpful, take a look at these: 10 Prom Traditions That Might Shock You, How to Publicize Your School Dance, and Top 5 Prom 2020 Trends You Need To Know Before You Shop!

Don’t forget to follow us on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest! Watch some How-To videos on Youtube as well!

Contact:

Stephanie Hamilton

833-336-8656

Prom is one of the most magical times for a lot of high schoolers. However, did you know that a lot of schools across the country have traditions that they’ve had for years now? Some schools are definitely stricter than others, but a lot of schools share the same traditions. Some seem pretty normal, but some seem very strange!

Here’s an insight of what My School Dance has found out about Prom traditions:

Tradition 1

Garters-It’s very common for girls to get garters that match the color of their dress. There’s always the typical “garter picture” too to show it off. I know you know what I’m talking about. Once at the dance, the girls give their garters to their dates and their dates wear them on their arms. This tradition is supposed to resemble how it’s lucky to keep a piece of a bride’s gown so they do it for Prom too.

Tradition 2

Ties-Once pictures are done, the guys usually give their dates the tie they are wearing. The girls usually wear the tie throughout the dance just like how the guys wear the garters.

Tradition 3

Pep Rallies-A lot of schools for all of their dances will have a school spirit pep rally either the day before or the week of. These are usually pretty fun because they hype the students up and make them get more involved. A lot of times, schools have fun activities or games involved too.

Tradition 4

Ditching-Some schools actually still host Prom on a Friday night compared to a Saturday night, which is crazy! How does anyone have enough time to get ready after being at school all day? That’s why a common tradition is a lot of students skip school the day of if Prom falls on a Friday. Sometimes students will even skip the Monday after Prom too.

Tradition 5

Weekend Long Festivities-Many students will make Prom not just one night, but a weekend long event. Usually, they’ll plan activities or places to go to the day after Prom and sometimes even the day after that too. It’s a weekend event for many students! A lot of students go to an amusement park, to the city, to a festival, etc.

Tradition 6

Promposals-Getting asked to Prom has changed drastically over the years. Couples went from simply asking each other a question to having to create an extravagant proposal to get their hopeful date to go with them. A lot of time and money can go into creating the perfect promposal. Once it’s Prom season, we see the creative ways that students ask their dates!

Tradition 7

After Prom Parties-When I was in school, we never had post Prom parties associated with the school. Now due to safety measures, a lot of schools are hosting After Prom Parties to ensure their students are safe, while still having a fun time. Over the past few years, I’ve seen more and more schools doing this.

Tradition 8

Assigning Dates-Some schools require students to be assigned their dates. For example, they either have their students choose a name out of a hat or they randomly assign the dates. A lot of students would freak out about this, but many students that go to schools that do this don’t actually mind it. It’s a way to make sure everyone is included! Interesting tradition!

Tradition 9

Photoshoots-Prior to taking pictures at the school dance, a lot of students meet and take pictures as a group at another location. Some even go all out and get professional photographers for these photo sessions.

Tradition 10

T-Shirts-Lately, a newer tradition has emerged with the idea of Prom t-shirts. Schools create a design based on the theme of the dance and create t-shirts. They sell them and usually the money goes towards some aspect of the Prom. This seems to be a popular tradition that might be here to stay.

Now that you’ve read some of the typical traditions, which ones does your school follow? I want to know! It’s interesting to see what schools do what and to see which traditions are more common compared to others. Send me an email to let me know! 

If your school is looking for an easier way to manage such a big event, check out My School Dance’s platform! It’s free and easy to use. 

If you liked this blog post, check out these ones next: How To Publicize Your School Dance, Top 5 Prom 2020 Trends You Need To Know Before You Shop, and 10 Actionable Tips To Manage Prom Better!

But don’t stop there! Give us a like: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram!

January 3, 2020

Over the past year, something I’ve noticed a lot of dance planners struggle with is how to publicize their school dance. Me being a marketing manager, thought I could give all dance planners some helpful tidbits when it comes to the best way to market your school’s dances and events. Let’s get started!

1. Social Media-If your school doesn’t have their own social media pages, then that’s step one for you. The hot platforms for schools to be on are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The majority of students are on all of these platforms and check them regularly. Create creative content about the dance and post all over social media. Students will likely see these posts more than seeing a flyer hanging up in the cafeteria. Some things to post: dance theme, decor, polls for music selection, voting polls, members of the dance court, details, and throwbacks to past dances.
2. Email Marketing– Have your school’s Communication Associate draft up a crafty email all about the dance. You can do a series where you send an email once a week, once every two weeks, or even do once a month leading up to the dance. You can send these emails out to parents and students!
3. Club Contests– Want to get students more involved with the dances? For each dance, have a club contest related to the theme of the dance. For example, which club can create the best decoration for a Great Gatsby themed Prom. Then give the winner a pizza party or money towards their club. If it’s a fun contest, more clubs will want to participate which will bring more students in.
4. Mascot– When ticket sales start happening for the dance, have one student participate to be the dance’s themed mascot. Have this person dress up and walk around handing out flyers or some little knickknack at lunch. If the person stands out, more students will be talking about them.
5. Businesses– Go around to local businesses to try to get donations whether that’s money, decor, entertainment, etc. Then, promote these local businesses on your website and social media. Have the local businesses hang up a flyer of the dance in their shops as well!

Marketing a school dance should be fun to do! If it becomes a hassle, then you’re doing something wrong. When it comes to the content creation for the social posts, have students get more involved by creating content for it. They’ll have fun while doing it and be more excited about attending the dance.

You can get more marketing tips for your school dances when you manage your dance with My School Dance. Our platform is free for all schools to use. Check us out now!

If you found this blog post to be helpful for you, check out these posts next: Top 5 Places To Get Your School Dance Decorations, How To Hire The Right DJ For Your School Dance, and How My School Dance Was Created!

Give us a like: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest!

Contact:

Stephanie Hamilton

833-336-8656