It’s August which means all across the United States, Summer break is rapidly coming to an end, and the new school year is beginning. For many of us, that means we are in a season of last-minute school clothes shopping and buying supplies for our kids to prepare for the start of classes. For kids, it means that Friday night football games are coming back, and Homecoming is not far behind! If you’re a student, parent, or Faculty Advisor, involved in helping your Student Counsel plan the Homecoming dance, it’s never too early to get started!
A lot goes into planning an event like this, like finding a venue, caterer, musical entertainment, a theme, and an activity to keep everyone entertained when they’re not dancing. And this is just the start! So to make the planning more manageable, you must start making your list of planning tasks as soon as possible, so you have plenty of time to complete each task.
Your first step is to create a to-do list to keep everything organized and on track. Some of the items you should put on that list include:
- Location
- Theme
- Date
- Decorations
- Music (DJ or Band)
- Photographer
- Refreshments
- Chaperones
- Budgets
- Faculty Advisor
- Entertainment
The next thing you’ll want to do is find your volunteer staff to help run the event. Homecoming dances are a lot of work, and there are many moving parts, so you’ll need a healthy team of students and adults to help ensure the event goes smoothly. In the first couple of weeks of school, you should seek out students to help with the planning phase. Make sure you ask students from each grade level to get involved so that each class is represented in the planning process. You’ll also need adult support, so reach out to parents and teachers and ask for volunteers to sign up to help plan and chaperone your dance. Many schools require a faculty advisor to be part of the planning process, so ensure you have one lined up immediately.
When creating a budget for your event, you need to know how much each part of the dance will cost. Start calling around to party vendors in your area to gather quotes for different aspects of your event, such as photography, refreshments, venues, and musical talent. Once you know how much each piece costs, you can adjust your plans based on what you can afford. For example, if your planning committee wants the best DJ, you may choose to forgo an expensive venue and utilize your school gym. You may have to go with a less expensive DJ or band if you want a better venue. Instead of having your event catered, enlist the help of volunteers to bring quick snacks and drinks for everyone to enjoy. Setting (and sticking to) your budget is an integral part of any party planning process, and it’s a great way to lay your cards on the table and make some big decisions. This step will also give your team an idea of how much money you’ll need for your dance and whether you’ll need to plan additional fundraising outside of ticket price.
The next step of the process is going to be setting the date. In most cases, this task is a simple one because the date of the dance coincides with your school’s homecoming football game. Whether you choose to have your dance the night of the game or the following Saturday is something that you’ll have to decide with your committee and the help of your Faculty Advisor. Once you have the date and time nailed down, you can start booking your vendors and putting down deposits.
Delegation of tasks will be a critical part of planning your dance without anyone feeling overwhelmed. So when you get your team in order, you can start assigning tasks to each person on the team based on their skill set. If you’ve got someone who is a whiz with numbers, put them in charge of the budget and making sure each vendor gets paid on time. Next, split up your vendor list amongst your group and have each student call to get quotes from their list of vendors for the group to vote on which one to choose. Once you’ve made your choices, each student can call the selected vendors back to book their services and make the deposit payments. You’ll also need to organize a decorating committee, ticket sales team, and clean-up crew, just to name a few.
For the most part, a Homecoming Dance is all about dancing, right? But, it’s always wise to have another form of entertainment so people can take a break from the dance floor while still having a great time! In our experience as party vendors, we’ve seen that a Photo Booth is the perfect addition to a high school dance! A modern Photo Booth allows students to take a breather from all the dancing, grab their friends or date, and capture some great photos of the big night! With a Photo Booth, your attendees can be creative with posing, and props and quickly and easily share their pictures on social media. You’ll also get a flash drive with a copy of all the photos taken during your event, which is perfect for the Yearbook or school paper, so everyone can remember what a great time they had! With a Snap n Pics Photo Booth, you’ll get hours of fun with zero hassle! We set up, maintain, and tear down the photo booth, so you never have to worry about assigning that task and ensuring it’s done correctly. You just get to enjoy your night!
