On Saturday, seniors will arrive at the Dallas Market Center dressed in elegant gowns and sharp suits for their big day: prom.
Coppell High School Student Council finalizes all decisions regarding prom in December and starts purchasing supplies in January.
According to Student Council sponsor Benjamin Stroud, prom has a budget of $60,000 to $65,000.
“We always have to have proper decorations, shack carpeting and flower arrangements,” Stroud said. “I’m mostly in charge of figuring out the budgeting, but the senior board decides on the decorations that fit into the budget and gets them approved by me.”
The majority of the prom budget is spent on decorations. While the budget for the prom itself goes up to $65,000, the budget for the decorations is $30,000. Exactly $28,485.25 was spent on this year’s decorations.
“The mood of the prom depends on decorations, so we put our focus into that,” senior class board officer Swathi Karthikeyan said.
The senior board decides what works best within the prom budget.
“We pick out decorations and try to figure out what will fit into our budget, such as flowers, floor arrangements and the archway,” senior class board officer Kelenna Osuji said. “We find things that just uplift the prom.”
The senior board thinks in the interest of what prom attendees will enjoy.
“As a senior board we all collectively decide which decorations are the best and try to think from a student’s perspective,” Karthikeyan said.
The senior board finds decorations and props aligning with the theme voted on by the senior class during the first semester. This year’s theme is “Dancing the Night Away.”
“We made sure to buy decorations with a dark color scheme such as purple and blue flowers along with a gold and black backdrop and photo booth,” Osuji said. “We also included stars and a night-like theme in all of our decor.”
Although half of the budget goes towards decorations, about $20,000 is paid to the venue.
“We will probably use this venue as long as I’m here,” Stroud said. “It’s essentially the first time anyone will see the venue since we only do senior prom.”
Dallas Market Center has been used as the prom venue for every prom after COVID-19.
DJ, Coppell police officers, a photobooth, food and drinks totals $15,000. The remaining $10,000 to $15,000 of the budget is reserved for miscellaneous expenses.
According to Stroud, the prom budget has not seen a significant increase in recent years.
“Our goal is always to pay for prom and make $20,000 more than our budget, and what that does is give us a nest egg for next year, for this current junior class,” Stroud said. “When the process starts again, we have $20,000 to start.”
Prom tickets start at $85 in February and increase to $120 at the door.
“I know some schools charge more, but we will never charge more than $120 for prom,” Stroud said.
With careful planning from the Student Council and consideration for the enjoyment of students, seniors can look forward to a fun night and “Dance the Night Away” this Saturday.
Follow @CHSCampusNews on X.
