senior prom

It's all in the details...

Black tux with red vest and tie...

Red Converse Chuck Taylor shoes...(I argued why? I tried to force him to bring black dress shoes along.  But mom lost the argument.  Oh well.  He thought he was stylin' lol.  And at least he was comfortable.  His date also brought along her red Chuck Taylors and wore that most of the night.)

Ryan's Senior Prom was at Ko'olau Ballrooms, which at first was a disappointment since they would usually go to a fancy hotel for prom.  But because of the school schedule (two-week spring break, Merrie Monarch Festival, 4-day Easter break), size of the senior class (which limited their venue choices to just a few that could accommodate 450 seniors plus dates) and the fact that the hotels that could handle that large of an event were booked solid with convention groups, the class really only had one choice, which was Ko'olau.  (Thank goodness they didn't go for one other choice which would have been an outdoor prom...it was storming!)

Ko'olau actually wound up being a great choice.  They took over most of the upstairs with a dining area, candy bar (which is where I spent most of the evening, after helping with registration), dance floor (Natural Vibrations was the live band and Kutmaster Spaz was the DJ), games (video games, laser tag, carnival games, etc).  The theme was "Sweet Serenade" so there were candy decorations and actual candy all over.

Ryan's date was his friend Shannon, who plays for another school's band.  They first met up again at a football game when the host band came over to meet the Kamehameha band.  They met up again at each band tournament last marching season.  When Ryan was trying to decide who to ask to prom, I suggested Shannon and he apparently thought it was a good idea!  (One time that he actually listened to me!)  They had a really fun time.

And here's when Ryan and Shannon first met, when they were little!  L-R:  Matt (with his tongue out), Ryan and Shannon.  So cute, all with their Pokemon shirts on, which was all the rage back then!  These three are all graduating in a couple of weeks!

While I had been as unhappy about Ko'olau as a Senior Prom choice as everyone else, it wound up being great for me; when we were done chaperoning and cleaning up, I was home in less than 10 minutes!