High School Formals

Committees

04 August 2010 by Marzie in Formal Planning, Latest

The committee you have appointed is responsible for the overall organisation of your formal. The three vital members of the committee are the Chairperson, the Secretary and the Treasurer, and, depending upon how your school wants to run things, the School Representative.

The roles of these people are as follows:

Chairperson – has overall responsibility to make final decisions and responsible to ensure that the sub-committees understand what is expected of them and following the guidelines set at meetings.    The Chairperson needs to be a mature, responsible person who is willing to take on a lot of work.

Secretary – the secretary will be responsible for handling all correspondence, taking minutes of meetings, filing and preparing a folder to hand over to next year’s committee.

Treasurer – responsible for preparing and overseeing a budget for the event as well as recording monies received and spent (usually in conjunction with the school)

School Representative – a member of the school teaching or admin staff who will ensure that the school’s principles and ethics are complied with.

Venue Committee - The Venue Committee is responsible for locating a number of suitable venues, liaising with the Functions Managers and presenting to the Formal Committee a short list of suitable venues for inspection.

Music - The Music Committee is responsible for sourcing a suitable DJ, Band or Jukebox for the night, as well as ensuring that the music selection is appropriate for the evening.

Food - The Food Committee will work with the chosen venue to ensure a suitable menu is selected.    They will also have to pay particular attention to dietary needs of guests.

Theme - More and more schools are now selecting to theme their formal.   There are hundreds of theme ideas and we cover this topic further on.    Your Theming Committee will be responsible for selecting a suitable theme for the evening and then sourcing the decorations or hiring a professional theming company

Invitations - The Invitations Committee will be responsible for designing the invitation to be sent to all guests.  They will also be responsible for obtaining quotes from printers and selecting a final printer to produce the invitations.

Menu and Place Cards - This Committee will be responsible for designing and producing the menu and place cards for the evening.   They will work closely with the Food Committee and the Guest List Committee

Seating Plan - This committee will have responsibility for deciding at which table guest will sit.   It can be a very big job to ensure that everybody is sitting with friends or at the table they requested.

Entertainment - You may decide to have additional entertainment, apart from your DJ/band.   If so, you will need to appoint a committee to be responsible for sourcing and organising this entertainment.   It could be that you want to have some roving entertainers during pre-dinner drinks or fun side shows, fairy floss or popcorn available.

Sponsorship & Fundraising - To offset the overall cost of the formal you may wish to seek some sponsorship from local business or undertake a fundraising drive.    Appoint a committee to handle this.  If seeking sponsorship, you will need to work closely with your school for approval regarding which businesses you approach.

If you decide to run a fundraising drive, visit the web site www.fundraisingdirectory.com.au for a huge range of ideas.

Security - Security is a big issue at any event.   The venue you have selected will provide security staff but you may wish to have additional security in the form of parents or staff attending.    This committee will be responsible for sourcing the additional security required.    Another issue they may take responsibility for is a Cloakroom where all guests can leave coats, handbags and cameras during the evening.

Permission Forms - Your school will probably require all students to provide a permission form from their parent stating they have permission to attend the event.

Guest List - After the invitations have been sent out you will start to receive RSVP’s.   It is a big job to ensure that accurate records are kept of who is or is not attending.

This committee will take on responsibility for recording RSVP’s for who is attending the formal, which parents are attending pre-dinner drinks and which invited guests will be attending.

They will need to be provided with a complete list from the Invitations Committee. They will also work closely with the Treasurer to record who has paid for their tickets.

Official Guests - Your school will have a number of official guests who will be invited to the formal, this will include people such as the Principal and other school officials.    It is essential that this committee work closely with the School Representative to ensure that nobody is forgotten.

Photography - You will want to have official photographs taken of the big event.  The Photography Committee will be responsible for hiring a suitable photographer for the evening, arranging a back drop where photographs can be taken and organising the official photographs for the school.

Thank you - When it is all over, you will need to write thank you letters to all who participated in making your event a success.   This Committee will work closely with the Secretary to ensure this is done.

Student Liaison - Appoint a committee to keep students informed of how planning for the formal is progressing.   Your guests will be curious to know what is planned for the evening. You won’t want to let them into all the surprises but you do need a central point where they can have their questions answered.

After Party Activities - Appoint a committee to work closely with your school to ensure that all guests are aware of your school’s policy regarding after parties.

More Articles on Formal Planning: School Formal Venues, Pre Formal Photography, When to book a Formal.