After Prom Ideas - Parent Organized

[belle22]

Junior class officers parents are in charge of our schools after prom. It is held outside of school at a local banquet hall or bowling alley. In the past they have bowled and did a casino night with prizes. Idea is to keep kids at the after prom till the end (thus raffle prizes are done at the end of the night)

Looking for some ideas on the following:

Where have you hosted your after Prom?
What activities were offered?
How did you fundraise
What raffle prizes did you offer?

Thanks!

 

[Marionnette]

Junior class officers parents are in charge of our schools after prom. It is held outside of school at a local banquet hall or bowling alley. In the past they have bowled and did a casino night with prizes. Idea is to keep kids at the after prom till the end (thus raffle prizes are done at the end of the night)

Looking for some ideas on the following:

Where have you hosted your after Prom?
What activities were offered?
How did you fundraise
What raffle prizes did you offer?

Thanks!

Post-prom is a huge deal where I live. I was involved for each of my kids' senior class events. The middle school is used and the entire first floor is decorated to match the theme. It's a lock-in event and the kids can't leave until 6 AM. Kids drop off their change of clothes the day before and the local police department uses their dogs to sniff out any contrabanned items. Changing rooms for both boys and girls are provided, including hangars, clothes racks and dress bags. We had an arrangement with a tuxedo rental place to take the all of the boys' orders at a local church a few weeks before prom and then they distributed them from the same church on prom day. When the boys got to the after-prom, they only had to bag up their tux and change into comfortable clothes. The tux store picked them all up the next day.

Students arriving in their own cars must surrender their keys at the door. Parents "valet" parked the cars.Local police patrolled the parking lot to make sure that no one brought an extra set of keys and left early.

Food is donated by a local store and restaurants and is served in the cafeteria. We even had Starbucks set up a coffee bar complete with their own barristas one year. Best buy loaned us big screen TV and we hooked up video games to them and had them in the gym. The auditorium was set up for movies and a couple of corny game shows hosted by a parent as emcee.

We had lots of carnival type games in a second gym, including a ring the bell high striker game that the boys loved.

We got a lot of donations from local businesses anything from gift cards to iPads, digital cameras (those were popular back then) and TVs. Those were raffled off at the end of the night.

And there's no charge for post-prom. Not for the student, nor their guest.

It sounds like we go way over the top and we admitted that we do. The idea is that the event is so amazing that none of the kids want to miss it. Even kids who don't go to prom attend the post-prom. And if they're at the post-prom, they're not out drinking and driving under the influence, which is the whole reason that we do it.

 

[angelbaby129]

I have not helped with one before. However, one prize suggestion that I never thought about, but was highly sought after at my daughter's after prom last year was a certificate from our local community college. It was good for one free class and came with a backpack and a bunch of school supplies. Such a good idea!

 

[erinkristen04]

This was/is a huge deal where I’m from as well, but for after graduation instead of prom. My class had ridiculous success fundraising by selling Papa John’s pizza by the slice during lunch once a week. Emphasis on ridiculous because the amount of money that simple fundraiser pulled in was kind-blowing. That was one of our biggest fundraisers by far, and I think we started fundraising and selling pizza when we were freshmen or sophomores so by the time end of senior year rolled around we had accrued quite a bit. If memory serves correctly, each year the senior class could also fundraiser by selling designated parking spots to the senior students.
Our event was hosted at a Jillian’s/Main Event type place. You had to arrive at the school, then we were all taken via bus there (and then bussed back to our cars at the school at 6 in the morning). This helped eliminate quite a bit of worry of anyone leaving early or driving. Between the bowling and room that had music for dancing etc they also had set up a variety of casino-type games. several donations from local businesses had been secured and raffled off as prizes throughout the night, and On top of that each student received a new suitcase and a few little goodies inside as a parting gift.
Love hearing that this is a thing in so many other places!!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

After prom has changed so much since I was younger. In my day it was a club that went to ages 17-21 for the night or a sunrise cruise. Over the years it turned into pools parties and hanging in popular areas of the city, like times square

 

[mjkacmom]

After prom has changed so much since I was younger. In my day it was a club that went to ages 17-21 for the night or a sunrise cruise. Over the years it turned into pools parties and hanging in popular areas of the city, like times square

I remember going to clubs in the city after prom or graduation, don’t remember which. Here kids rent prom houses down the shore or poconos for a few nights, project graduation used to be at a single school facility with food, dancing, hypnotist, brought on buses so no leaving. Now it is held at metlife stadium with other schools, but they rotate them in different activities. They fundraise all 4 years to keep costs low. I think our town donates the buses.

 

[cccory]

They rent out a Main Event, and once the kids arrive they cannot leave until 6am the next morning. They don't want the kids to be driving late/early in the evening/morning. They do all the fun activities that Main Event offers, and they have raffle prices throughout the night. Prices consist of gift cards to fast food places, ipads, airpods, dorm items, all donated from companies around the area.

 

[MrsPete]

The school where I used to teach had a tradition of a lock-in at the Boys & Girls' Club after prom. It was well attended -- maybe 90% of the prom-goers also went to the after party. What made it work:

- It was highly advertised.
- Parents wanted their kids to attend the after-event because it was chaperoned /no drugs or alcohol.
- Kids had only about one hour between prom and the after party. This gave them time to go home and change into casual clothes (they're so silly -- they spend months planning every detail of their outfits, then whine about how uncomfortable they are!) and get to the after-party, but not enough time to drink or get into trouble in between. At X:00 the doors were locked and no one was allowed in.
- The event cost about $5 -- enough that they could get a good head count on how many people would actually be arriving, but not so much that kids couldn't afford it (on top of prom). In reality it was funded by parents.
- Parents served a GOOD breakfast for the first hour of the after-event. Everyone likes breakfast foods, and after dancing for hours they were ready to eat.
- Kids got a GOOD gift for attending. For years it was a beach towel embroidered with the date /prom theme. Kids LOVED those towels, which were made by the home ec class. Then it became a tee-shirt. The prom gift in those days was always a picture frame or a small album in which to collect prom pictures.
- Kids could also win GOOD gifts through games at the after-event.
- They showed movies in one part of the Boys & Girls' Club, had games in another part, and had places just to sit and talk in yet another. No one really slept, and the kids were "sent home" about 6:00 am.
- We never had trouble of any type at this after-party, and -- in retrospect -- kids were a lot more innocent then. This would've been the 1990s.

When I moved to my new school, our local amusement park used to have an all-night thing for after-prom goers, but it was never quite as popular. It included too many people from too many schools, and because you can go to the amusement park any old day, it lacked the "specialness" of that other event. We also don't have nearly as many parents willing to do a lot for events like this now.

 

[LoveSpringsteen]

The class parents of the current graduating class hosts the After Prom. They start fundraising during that class's freshman year and continuing through senior year. I have heard they typically need to raise $30K - $40K, but only hearsay as I've never been directly involved with the committees - I just participate in the fundraisers. They usually sell tickets for the After Prom, with a cost around $20.

Some places that they've held After Prom:
A water park (it's over an hour away). They ride a bus that leaves around 11:30 PM, go to the water park and have free use of the water park all night. The bus then leaves at 6 AM and takes them back to the school. They have snacks on the bus on the way there and back. At the water park, they get a voucher for food.

A local sports park. They have carnival style games, casino tables (with fun money), they have food trucks and inflatables. The have use of the indoor soccer field, batting cages, golf, basketball.

At the After Prom events, students are usually gifted cash of any excess money collected by the After Prom Committee. I'm not as familiar with other items they raffle off.

For fundraisers:
Parents who volunteer at concession stands or the apparel shop at the high school earn money toward the group of their choice - a parent can choose After Prom or their child's sport, band, etc.
Selling 50/50 tickets at home football games (different organizations take turns selling the 50/50 and get a donation)
Football squares - Super Bowl or "big" college games (this is an easy fundraiser as nothing really to do except sell the squares and draw numbers).
Paint and sip nights - Drink wine and paint (a painting, a wine glass, etc.)
Custom tumblers - a local Mom makes custom drink tumblers with the high school logo - you can add your child's name, graduation year, sport or band.
Scentsy fundraisers - one of the Moms is a Scentsy rep and donates some proceeds
Pure Vida bracelets - with the school colors
Dinners - a local catering facility offers dinners for 4-6 people for pick up on a weeknight. The committee receives $10 or $15 per dinner from those sales.
Dine to Donate - We get X % of sales on an assigned weeknight from the restaurant
Food Sales - Our local committee sold pepperoni rollers before Christmas this year.
Craft Fair - the committee hosted a holiday craft fair. Vendors paid to rent space, ticket sales at the door, pictures with Santa and food sales on site (this is one of the largest fundraisers)
Reverse Raffles at a local banquet hall - with basket auctions (all baskets donated by the parents) (this is also one of the largest fundraisers)

 

[disneyeveryyear]

We held after prom at the high school gymnasium, common area/cafeteria and auditorium. There was food in the cafeteria, we had photo booth, cash tunnel, putt putt, games in gym, the hypnotist was a big hit, and ended the night with a raffle. The raffle gifts were all donated, and included, everything from theme baskets, to gym memberships, college size fridge, etc.

There were chaperones that monitored every door. You had to be in the bldg by a specific time (I think midnight) and if you left, you were not allowed back in.

We even had a father who created a computer program that checked every student in, so we knew who was there, and was given a wrist band with bar code. The students used those wrist bands to scan in for the raffle. It made life so much easier.

 

[cookiecar]

After prom and after graduation events I have supported were at a local recreation center that had an indoor pool, ice skating, basketball and volleyball courts, and rock climbing. The event staff would also sometimes have a casino night space set up. It was set up as a lock in similar to the other examples. My son’s event had a hypnotist at the end and they gave away raffle prizes like gift cards, tvs, etc.

 

[StephMK]

The post prom at my kids' school was also a huge deal. It was held in the school and had tons of decorations, all kinds of activities, food, inflatables, games, hypnotist, and included a quiet meditation room for kids who needed a break.

The weekends before, during, and after graduation was a series of open houses when kids party hopped.

This makes me sentimental for those days!

 

[Boopuff]

We lived outside of Chicago. Prom for my DD was held at Navy Pier. Immediately following, they boarded a boat for a "midnight' cruise on Lake Michigan. They were bussed down, attendace taken, no private cars or limos. They had to take the schools busses. They arrived by bus back at the school around 6am. Nice safe prom and after party.