• Decorations and fun theme layouts can make a prom memorable.Colour Streamers image by Peter Jarvis from Fotolia.com
  
  Proms vary widely from school to school, but they are usually the culmination of a high school senior's secondary education, complete with music, dancing, food, socializing and in most cases, an ornate theme. Whether the prom is held in the school cafeteria or a rented venue, students and faculty work hard to create a special atmosphere for attendees, transforming a plain hall into a special evening's locale.
  
  

The Undead Dance

• Take advantage of the reigning popularity of vampire books, movies and television shows by decorating your prom with a vampire theme. Use deep, dark colors such as maroon, purple and black to festoon the venue with balloons, streamers, posters and linens. Prom attendees may match their attire to the theme colors as well. Party favors may include gummy vampire teeth, miniature coffin place holders with the students' names, and black cloaks with a silk lining to match one of the school's official colors. Many proms feature a professional photographer on site taking posed pictures; the vampire theme can work well to provide many photo opportunities--set up a background with a full moon (the art department can participate with producing hanging backdrops) or ask students in shop class to build and paint some velvet-lined coffins, which can also be used as benches for students to sit on between dances.
  
  

College Spirit

• Since the prom often signals the end of high school, make students excited for their next step with a theme of college spirit. Decorate the prom venue with an assortment of banners, jerseys, posters and signs from local (or national) colleges (the student outreach or senior class advising department may be able to furnish information on the chosen colleges of the graduating senior class; the prom committee can also poll students to get this information). Use college colors for balloons and streamers; you can also find college logos on paper goods such as plates, cups and napkins. A prom party favor may feature the theme as well, such as a pillow, sleeping bag or set of sheets for the college dorm room. The layout for the photo posing area may also be set up to look like a dorm room, with piles of posters, string lights, textbooks and coffee cups.
  
  

Candy Craze

• Although schools often encourage students to make healthy and smart eating choices, let the prom be one evening where teens may indulge their sweet tooth with a layout theme of Candyland. Many facets of the student body can come together to work on the decorations--the students in shop class can cut huge lollipops and candies out of wood and fiberglass, then hand them off to the art students to paint and decorate with glitter. Students taking home economics or crafts can make large pillows and posters resembling candy bars and chocolates. One area of the venue may be set up as an enormous candy buffet, with each student receiving a glass jar (labeled with the school's logo) to fill up as a take-home gift. Students can also add to the theme by wearing candy necklaces, ring pops and licorice bracelets.