Mormon Prom

So some of you non-Mormons out there are probably wondering what Mormon prom is and why is it such a big deal. It's a HUGE production that took dozens and dozens of people thousands of hours of work to put on.  My friend Cindy was the director of it and she has been working on it well over a year....all voluntarily and without pay.   The end results were absolutely phenomenal and after all the hours and hours of work, it really was the "Dance of the Decades."   

The entire church was transformed into a breathtaking walk through time and nearly 700 juniors and seniors from the surrounding 6 (or maybe 8) stakes showed up to participate in a magical night of good clean fun.   There was no drinking, no dirty dancing, no skanky clothing, and no offensive song lyrics.  It was simply a night when a big group of youth seeking to live with high moral standards could enjoy an evening together.   

The 1950's room bedecked as an old-school diner was one of  my favorite rooms.  My friends Ellen and Kylee designed this room and the details they put into it were mind boggling to me.  I can barely even decorate my own house...in fact I still haven't decorated months after our renovations ended...and together, they transformed our very vanilla YW room into an amazing step back in time to the 50's.  

Even the waiters and waitresses (which included three of my beautiful young women and a good friend of Adam's) looked like they stepped right out of an episode of "Leave it to Beaver".

The 1970's room, designed by my friend Linda, was another one of my favorite rooms. It had a  lava lamp lounge and an almost life-size VW bus for people to pose in!

Of course the room I related to the most was the 1980's room!  I felt right at home with the familiar movie posters, the Super Mario cut-outs, and 80's vernacular hanging around the room!  I daresay I also would have done much better on the 80's quiz that Cami said she failed miserably at.

It was a whole lot of effort put on by a whole lot of people, but it was worth every second of it for these wonderful youth! 

Last, but not least,  the reason why you're here in the first place....Cami's prom pictures.  She and her date, Matt, are good friends who have been in the same seminary class for the last three years.

 Cami originally forgot the boutonniere at home, so I had to make a mad dash home so we could get the proper picture of her pinning it on him.  It turned out to be one of my favorite pictures of the night.

Sadly Cami proved no less forgetful with the corsage he gave her. Shortly before taking off for dinner she took it off to wash her hands and forgot it on a friend's counter, so she went flowerless for all of about 30 minutes of the night. 

It's too bad too, since the ribbon matched Cami's necklace perfectly! 

Here are all the young gentlemen in their group...

Graham, Matt, Cole, Frank, Sam, Jesse

and the beautiful young ladies!    I seriously don't think they could have been any more gorgeous!

Faerlan, Maddie, Katy, Cami, Hannah, Jordann

Here are a few more pictures that I liked from the night!

Mental note for next year...before taking a group photo like this I will make sure that all the girls have their corsages on the same wrist!

I love how this one of Katy and Frank turned out.  They are seriously adorable! 

I take partial credit for the cute chalkboard in this group photo!  I saw a prom picture online that I liked with the chalkboard, so Cami grabbed hers off her wall and made it look cute!  I personally liked the fun touch it added.  

And here is one last glimpse at a few more of my beautiful young women... 

(NOTE:  a few of these pictures were taken by Bro. Nielson)!

Kate and Mary Kate

Meagan and Sarah

Cami, Ashley, Katy

Maddie, Faerlan -- Maddie, Hannah

I only donated a paltry couple hours of hanging up balloons and that token glimpse I got at the efforts that went into this night, made me all the more grateful for all those who sacrificed and worked for so long to make this happen.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  

And thank goodness that it's another 6 years before it's our stake's turn to host again!   

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NOTE:  The pictures of the decorations at the beginning of this post were taken by either Bruce or Ellen. 

Also a few of the pictures of the young women and their dates were taken by Bruce, since they did not end up in the same group as Cami.