Prom Ticketing

In a nutshell, there are three critical aspects to get right when it comes to Prom tickets:

  • The ticket price

  • The design

  • When to start to sell them

Here are some things to bear in mind for each one.

THE PRICE

To get the ticket price right, you need to strike a balance between what the tickets need to earn in terms of revenue to pay towards the Prom and what people are prepared and able to pay. The latter is actually more important, as you can always top up the money in the pot with your fundraising activities. So how do you guess what people are willing to pay?

Here are four sources of information:

  • Find out about last year’s Prom
  • What was the ticket price?
  • Were there any complaints about the price?
  • What percentage of the potential attendees actually bought tickets? The lower the percentage, the more likely the ticket was over priced, though this is only one factor.
  • Find out about other school prom ticket prices in your area
  • What are they charging this year?
  • What did they charge last year?
  • Is their school prom of a comparable size? If it’s for double the amount of students, the prices may be very different.
  • Ask each other and your friends what you spend on a night out
  • This can be a good place to start: what would it cost you to go to the cinema and have a meal out?
  • Is the suggested ticket price a lot more or a lot less than this?
  • Ask parents and teachers for a second opinion
  • Ask the parents of the committee members only – and swear them to secrecy! You may change your mind by the end of the consultation period and you don’t want a rumour about ticket prices going around that is completely wrong. Teachers can also provide a sanity check, but again, swear them to secrecy for the same reason.

THE TICKET DESIGN

Designing the Prom ticket can be really fun but it’s also really important. Aside from the promotional posters, the ticket will be the first taste of the prom theme that students will get. Remember that the following information must go on the tickets:

  • The start time 
  • The end time 
  •  The date! 
  • The theme (if you have one)
  • Information about anything the ticket provides in addition to entry, e.g. one free drink or a free ride on the dodgems (if you’re going to have them of course!)
  • Ticket price 
  • Dress code 
  • If the bearer must have the ticket to gain entry, you must put this on the ticket itself  (though you should keep a list of people that have paid as there’s always one who’ll forget the ticket on the night!) 

Optional information could include:

  • Information about the DJ 
  •  Hints of the attractions and activities on offer 
  • Information about the formal prom photos

Tip: Once you have a design, leave it for a week and then look at it again with fresh eyes. Once you’ve decided upon a rough design, make sure it can contain all of that information without looking crowded. Then you need to consider the printing, and what that ultimately comes down to is cost and convenience.

These factors will increase the production cost:

  • Weight of the paper or card the ticket is printed on
  • Whether it’s colour (and how many colours) or black ink only
  • Any special types of paper or card, e.g. shiny, marbled, sparkly
  • One-sided or double sided tickets
  • How many tickets can be printed per page of paper (the more per page, the cheaper) It can be tempting to come up with some amazing designs, but remember; the more complicated the design, the more expensive and potentially fiddly it’s likely to be.

For example, if the design is folded, someone will have to sit there and fold for a couple of hours at least. If the design has a curved edge, some poor soul will have to cut each ticket out; print and cutting services are likely to cost far too much for the average prom budget.

If you are printing your own tickets in school, don’t forget to print one sample to check the layout, then print in batches. This means that if an ink cartridge dies halfway though, it won’t ruin all of the remaining tickets.

WHEN TO START SELLING THE TICKETS

At least two months in advance is a good bet – but bear in mind any other events or factors that might get in the way. If your ticket buyers will be on exam leave for the month leading up to the prom, you might want to start selling a week or so before formal exam leave, to give people a chance to get sorted before exam craziness sets in.

Ask your head of year or the head teacher to announce the fact that tickets are going on sale (ideally a day or two before they do so people can bring in money). Then another announcement on the actual day to remind people is a good idea. If sales are sluggish, do a weekly reminder in registers and in assembly – it’s most likely that people are just forgetting to bring the money in.

Don’t forget to check with the supervising teacher about school policy on buying tickets – they may require a form that’s signed by parents due to the exchange of money being involved.