An end of an era nears as the last high school class to experience online class leaves the halls of Newton South. But before they go, the senior class officers have organized one final age-old event: prom.
Contrary to popular belief, prom is not an easy event to plan. In fact, for this year’s class officers, planning started a year ago in order to hurdle over all of the challenges they would be presented with.
The class officers started by scoping out venues – the New England Aquarium, the Museum of Science, the State House – from the end of June to the beginning of August. All the class officers agreed they would not settle for a subpar location, so searching for a memorable venue was their most daunting challenge.
After visiting locations, getting quotes, and finalizing options, they decided on the Fairmont Hotel in Copley Place, one of Boston’s most luxurious hotels.
The senior class officers chose this venue for multiple reasons:
For one, the Fairmont is gorgeous. Its historically floral interior along with its iconic decor furthers the special ambiance of prom. The venue also inspired a loose theme; the class officers decided on “Old Timey Boston” to match the hotel’s decor.
Another reason the Fairmont was chosen is ease in reservation. Catering to a 400-person event is an extremely challenging task for any class officer. But choosing the same venue as last year made the challenging deadline schedule slightly more bearable.
Kevin Yang, Senior Class President, said an even bigger challenge has been funding.
“The issue is not cost, but fundraising. We needed to meet down payments for the venue,” he said.
In total, Yang estimates the cost of renting the venue for four hours along with food, a DJ, photo booths, and other amenities, is equivalent to that of a high-end, brand new BMW Beamer.
The biggest hurdle the officers had to jump was ticket sales. Although prom is such a fundamental and iconic event, many students shy away due to ticket costs.
One way the class officers overcame this issue was by introducing a special promotion where they told the class of 2024 that the first 100 people got 20 dollars off their ticket.
Yang said at the end of the day, finding the perfect prom venue and accommodations was important to the class officers because they wanted the event to be exceptional.
“Prom is the epitome of the American high school experience,” he said.
So for one last night, and one last sunrise, the class of 2024 checks out, and all plans for prom finally come together.
