Do's and Dont's for Hosting the Post Prom Party

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Sorry this is belated, but I promised a list to reneeV and a few others, after hosting the post-prom party. Here is a list of things that come to mind. I will add to it as I think of more-- and all you other veterans, please add your pointers</p>

<p>AAAHGGGGHHH- I lost the whole list (I had 30 items!) I will have to recreate it!
Stay tuned!</p>

2

<p>Does the list include “Don’t do it at all if there’s an organized PostProm offered?”</p>

<p>In our community, the PTSA sponsors an official PostProm, which they sell heavily to the kids and parents on the grounds of safety (it’s an alcohol-free event with a lot of supervision). There is a lot of hostility toward families who offer alternatives that drain support away from this event. I’m not sure whether this is justified.</p>

3

<p>I will try to redo the list-- but it took me FOREVER! I can’t believe I accidentally deleted it!</p>

<p>Here goes:</p>

<p>DO: …

  1. Buy LOTS of food
    2.Talk to as many parents as possible ahead of time to reassure them you will be there and to get their expectations.
  2. Get their (the parents) phone #s (home and cell) and email addresses
  3. Take post prom photos in poses similar to the pre-prom photos to send to the parents
  4. Get a coat rack for the girls to hang their dresses and guys to hang their tuxes
  5. Have masking tape for the guys to label their tuxes (they all look the same the next morning)
  6. Label all carkeys before having the kids put them all in a basket (and take ALL keys even of kids who didnt drive-- they sometimes “trade” keys)
  7. Go over the groundrules with the kids before the party begins. It is a NO-ALCOHOL party, and any found/seen will be confiscated, but that if they have any concerns about any of the attendees they are to TELL YOU IMMEDIATELY, and that you will have to call the parent to come get them (you can’t leave the party)
  8. Tell your neighbors ahead of time that you are hosting this party. They will appreciate the warning and you will appreciate the extra sets of eyes and ears.
  9. Go down periodically to “clean up”.
  10. Have lots of pillows and blankets.
  11. Have fun! Be a parent but not a policeman. You will get lots of positive feedback from the kids and parents if you take this approach
  12. Have healthy food as well as junk food, (Fruit, twizzlers, yogurt), etc was appreciated by guys and girls
  13. Have only one brand or water bottles that you put out with your sodas, and make it an off brand. That way, any bottles brought by kids with other “clear liquids” can be easily spotted.
  14. Carry the kids overnight bags into your house. The unduly heavy ones (with contraband) can be easily identified
  15. Have the adults sleep in shifts, so you can get a little sleep and always have an adult awake.
  16. Have your kid help clean up before they crash in the afternon after the party (they will be as tired as you).</p>

<p>DON’T: …

  1. Expect to get any sleep
  2. Put out Orange juice early that is meant for breakfast (it may get spiked)
  3. Turn down any offers of food from other parents
    4.Turn down any offers from other parents to keep you company during any part of the night
  4. Rent any movies or videogames without your kid expressly asking for it or they will think whatever you got is lame
  5. Let them close any doors, except for the assigned boy/girl sleeping areas (and check them)
  6. Embarass your kid too badly! (No matter how hard you try, something is bound to embarass them)
  7. Be surprised that the kids think they can pull one over on you. They forget we all were young once.
  8. Be surprised to find out that it is sometimes the girls who try to sneak in the contraband.
  9. Run outside barefoot the next morning without watching out for rocks or garden edging (spoken from experience!)</p>

<p>OK-- This is all I can remember right now. I will post more as I recall them.</p>

4

<p>Marian-
I can’t answer your question. Our school stopped having its official sanctioned post-prom party because the kids preferred to do other things, and it wasn’t well attended. However, they do host something called “last bash”, which is an all night party for the seniors. I helped with that too (no parents of seniors are allowed to help). It was a lot of fun. Lots of inflatable jumping games, velcro walls, sumo wrestling outfits, etc. And lots of food!</p>

5

<p>Addendum to Marian-</p>

<p>It probably depends on the size of the school and whether the prom is a junior-senior prom or just a senior prom. Our school found that the juniors wanted to do their thing after the prom, and ditto for the seniors, so they no longer host one big post-prom thing. There is NO Hostility towards people who offer to host the post prom parties-- only lots and lots of gratitude.</p>

6

<p>I also remembered one or 2 more:
Dont:
Promise your kid that you won’t tell any funny stories to any of the parents. While there is certainly no need to embarass any of the kids (see #7) the parents enjoy hearing about the events of the evening (as much as the CC’ers here enjoyed hearing the hourly updates here).</p>

<p>Also:
Do:
Expect to find lots of things (jewelry, cellphones, flowers, umbrellas, tux vests, cd cases, etc) after all is said and done. the photos takes help to identify who was wearing what. If your kid can send photos/test messages around shortly after the party, most of the lost and found items can be identified.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for all the tips! Hopefully brave parents next year will find this. It ain’t gonna happen here :wink: prom is over, (DS decided not to attend), HS graduation was Friday, and post-grad lock-in party was held by the school at a local bowling alley. (And no, I didn’t volunteer to help chaperone. Bad mom here! But I am VERY thankful for those parents who did.) :)</p>

8

<p>Hey, jym, your tips are fantastic! You have some suggestions I never would have thought of, such as masking tape to mark the tuxes and off-brand water bottles.</p>

<p>Your list is very timely here, since our kids have their junior-senior prom next weekend (I’m still sewing–the dress isn’t coming together as quickly as I had hoped). The parents of one of my daughter’s good friends offered to host the after-prom affair, and my contribution will be a breakfast casserole and maybe a pan of grandma’s cinnamon rolls (in-laws arriving Friday for graduation)–and all of your great advice! We are having the female half of the gang over for the getting-ready-for-prom thing so the grandparents can see them all dressed up, meet the dates, etc. That won’t be too big a deal because I’ve been busily doing little yard and house projects anyway in preparation for The Visit and graduation.</p>

<p>I was just looking at last year’s prom pictures taken in front of the clematis vines in full bloom all over the garden house. The prom was on Memorial Day weekend last year, but the clematis has been finished for a week already–almost no winter to speak of and an earlier, warmer spring than normal here.</p>

9

<p>Thanks, Reneev! Have a great prom!!
One additional suggestion-- Try to get a good night’s sleep the night before the big party.</p>