What sounds better than an evening with live music, vendors, photo ops and snacks alongside all your best friends from college?

For senior creative producing major Mackenzie Holmes and senior film production major Sydney Denman, the answer is nothing. Back in January, the duo began to float around the idea of throwing a prom event for their fellow class of 2024 peers.

“We really wanted to throw something to get everyone together and have a celebration of the past four years, especially because our first year was kind of weird with COVID and stuff,” Holmes said. “We only really got three years of school together, so we just wanted to do something that was nice. You know, it's a party, but it's also a celebration of the artists at our school. 

The evening’s theme is Nostalgia Night, with a “prom aesthetic inspired from classic movies,” and will take place on May 4 at The American Legion in Orange. Students can expect DJs, tarot card readers and even some special guests at the event. Everyone is encouraged to dress in a prom theme.

One of their featured musicians is senior television writing and production major Tobey Lynn, who told The Panther that performing at a prom event is fulfilling her “Disney coming of age” dream moment.

“I’ve done so many (shows for Chapman events) over the last few years, and having this one be my last is so full-circle and sentimental,” Lynn said. “I’m definitely gonna be singing a ton of covers but also some originals that will get the crowd moving. These are people I’ve been surrounded by for the last four years, so it just feels very comforting and heartwarming to be able to perform for them for maybe one of the last times since we are all going our separate ways.”

Despite the inspiration being pulled from an event associated with high school, this prom is meant to hold the memories of college.

After Denman and Holmes began to figure out the logistics, the pair had to find a hardworking team because collaboration played a huge role in making all the details come to life. 

“We have a few other people on our team who have been helping out with things like food and figuring out drinks and decorations and using their network of people to see who we can bring into the team and help elevate what we're already doing,” Holmes said. “I feel like everyone's willing to help, and it feels just so much like a community and like everyone does really want to make it happen.”

The entire creative team being in the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts made it easier for them to work seamlessly together by using what they’ve learned in classes and on sets to build the event.

“There are a lot of moving pieces to coordinate when planning an event like this,” Denman told The Panther. “However, our whole team being film majors has prepared us for things like budgeting, scheduling, coordinating with talent and advertising. We’ve definitely approached this in similar ways to a film set.”

Prom is just around the corner, and while everything has just started to fall into place, there were a few problems the team ran into along the way, one of which was finding a location to host it.

“We (wanted) someplace that's centrally located, but it's hard to find a place in Orange that can hold a lot of people, and it (had) to be relatively inexpensive because we don't have anyone backing us,” Holmes said. “We're fronting money ourselves to get it off the ground, and the cost of the tickets covers the money that we fronted. We're basically just getting reimbursed for what we're putting into the project.”

For Holmes, making prom come to life has been so important for her because she wants it to be an event people will remember for years to come.

She continued: “There's some people that I may not see for like five years, so I feel it’s a great time to come together and celebrate all of these friendships that we've made. (We can) have a special moment that we can look back on in five to 10 years and still be like, ‘Oh my gosh, I remember when we went to prom. I should contact that person. That was so cool.’ It's a send-off for us.”

Tickets will be $20 and can be purchased here. For more information about prom, visit their Instagram page.