Prom 2009....Romance In Rome

Garrett asked Emily Hammond at our Easter Party to go to Prom with him. Four couples went as a group. The boys and moms planned out the party together. It was sooooo much fun for all the kids and the parents:).

Garrett wanted Prom to be an all day event, not to cost a lot and be really fun so here is what we came up with. The boys came over to our house Friday night before the Prom to get our backyard ready for several events. They also found a man in our ward who had a handicap bus for his father in law and asked to use it to get to Prom so they decorated that too. The next morning, Gary took all the kids to the Lake near our home at 7:30 am. They skied, wake boarded, tubed and knee boarded then had boxed picnic lunches on the way home. All the kids went home around 1:00 for a nap and to get ready.

The boys picked up their dates around 5:30 and came back to our house for a few pictures. Then off to my friend and photographer, Jacque to do pictures out in the country (I will post those later) then back to our house where Gary and I, along with some other parents had transformed our backyard into an outdoor Italian Restaurant. The boys had downloaded Italian music the night before and set up a sound area and brought in the seating and hung white lights. The rest of the decorations were left as a surprise for all the kids. We decorated with pool candles, candles lining the edge of the pool, lanterns, and lots of turquoise, brown, green, silver and gold accents. The moms all made food and the boys wanted it served buffet style. Cam and Griffin were the Maderdee and the Waiter. I made place cards, restaurant signs, seating cards and even had bracelets at the girls place that matched all their dresses. The cool thing was that the colors we chose to decorate with ended up being the exact colors of the girl's dresses. (not planned:)) It was soooo beautiful.

After dinner, the party bus came to pick up the kids to take them to the dance in Visalia. Brother Day Chauffeured them. While they were gone, we quickly cleaned up, put my little ones to bed and began reorganizing for the "After Party":) The kids came back and changed out of their formal clothes then enjoyed a bon fire, more candles, dessert, the spa and of course more music. Oh and water guns.

Everyone is still talking about Prom 09 and we all decided that Garrett's goals of having an all day party, keeping it inexpensive and having lots and lots of fun was met! Next year......Senior Prom????? oh no! What will we do to top this? It was such a special day! We love all you fantastic teenagers!