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Prom king Colin Napier and queen Leah Hopkins dance the night away during the Golden Gala on April 26th. Prior to the prom, the Student Government must make many preparations over the course of months in order to ensure it goes off without a hitch. However, their work eventually pays off when it comes time for the dance. “We set up [the prom] the day before, and it’s horrible. We’re there for a very long time, and then we get our beauty sleep, and then we get ready for prom the next day,” Aubrie Sandifer said.

By the time the school year reaches April, students are exhausted—particularly juniors and seniors, who are nearing the end of their high school careers and must face the stress of aptitude tests, jobs, and the question of what to do after high school. However, one particular event in the first full month of spring stands out as a beacon of motivation and fun: prom.

This year, prom falls on April 26th. Juniors and seniors alike are highly anticipating the annual dance’s glitz and glamor. But behind the scenes of this extravagant event, the Student Government junior class works from around October to April to create an unforgettable night.

Creating an amazing prom is a matter of finding the perfect venue, decorations, lighting, and food, but first, Student Government must come up with the theme. Every senior hopes to have a great theme for their prom, to make it one for the ages. 

“Usually [in] October or November, we poll the kids [in the Student Government], see what they’re interested in,” Kim Finnegan, junior class sponsor, said. “I’ll talk about themes we’ve done in the past and how we’ve done them, and then we go from there.”

For 2025, the theme of the prom is Golden Gala. Inspired by The Great Gatsby and the Roaring 20s, Student Government’s goal is to elicit an energy more reminiscent of a more stylish and elegant age.

“This year’s theme, we actually all came up with and all agreed on right away. We thought it was one of the best themes that hasn’t been done before by Oviedo,” Zachary Griffin, junior class president, said.

One’s senior prom is one of the most anticipated events of high school, and the theme is crucial in forming the foundation of the dance, so having a good theme is of the utmost necessity. The theme is usually revealed on a WROR-TV broadcast in January, giving upperclassmen two to three months to prepare for the dance.

“[Organizing prom] is basically a junior-only activity, so the seniors don’t actually know what the prom theme is until we do the prom theme reveal, which is very fun for them,” Jeweliet Jenkins said.

Once the theme has been announced, the school is set abuzz with discussion and excitement for the upcoming dance. However, the Student Government has no time to waste.

“After we come up with a theme, we start with organizing committees,” said Finnegan. “There’s usually seven or eight committees… and then we meet in both large groups and in those committee groups.”

The Student Government assembles committees in charge of decor, Prom Court, the fashion show, ticket sales, and social media. As major preparations begin, several aspects tend to pose a particular challenge.

“[A difficult aspect] is always decorations. Some decorations come in. Some decorations don’t even come in. Some cost a lot… Some never get delivered here, or they get delivered to the wrong place, or when moving decorations… things may get broken,” Griffin said.

The Student Government coordinates with the hired DJ to set up the lights, colors, and truss. Due to the DJ’s large role, the decoration committee must work hand-in-hand with him to create a cohesive experience.

“We’ve had the same DJ for years… and he loves doing innovative, different stuff, so he’s doing something very different for us this year with the way we’re setting up the tunnel that goes inside the ballroom,” Finnegan said.

Ticket sales pose a problem as well, with an intensive amount of planning and maintenance required. However, the most painstaking part of organizing prom may largely go unnoticed, but is nonetheless essential: planning each individual table reservation.

“[Table reservations are] vital for a bunch of parts of prom. Without the table reservations, people just go in and put however many they can cram at a table. It’s less formal that way… With the reservations, you go in knowing you have a seat,” Finnegan said. “You don’t have to fight for your seat… but the flip side of that is we try to accommodate everybody’s requests, like, ‘I want to sit next to this table, but I want my table to be next to this table and this table.’”

The ability for prom attendees to make specific requests regarding their tables makes it a challenge to create the layout of the tables while accommodating everyone. Finnegan described the process of organizing each table as similar to the video game Tetris, working together with one other Student Government member and using a spreadsheet to ensure all requests are met. 

“It’s kind of tedious but it’s definitely worth it because people come in and they get taken directly to their table, so it keeps that idea of elegance,” Finnegan said. “[It makes] it worth the money they spent on [the ticket].”

Once prom has come, all that remains is executing the plans made over the course of months. Members of the Student Government work hard the day before prom to set it up.

“We set up [the prom] the day before, and it’s horrible. We’re there for a very long time, and then we get our beauty sleep, and then we get ready for prom the next day,” Aubrie Sandifer said.

However, the weeks of planning, work, and organization are all worth it once prom actually occurs and upperclassmen are able to dance the night away. Griffin noted that the Student Government’s dedication to the task is in pursuit of one goal.

“Every year… every SGA member’s goal is to make the event that they’re working on unforgettable, the best, the brightest, [and] the most interesting… ‘Let’s make it one of the unforgettable proms.’”