Prom night was last Saturday evening, and it didn’t disappoint. 

As it nears the end of the year, many schools are pulling out grand and expensive decor, food, and music for their annual prom celebrations. 

The venue was an amazing choice; prom was held at the USF St. Petersburg campus ballroom. Not only is it one of the most beautiful campuses overlooking the bay, but also a common choice of college for many graduating Lakewood seniors. 

Entering the building and getting past security you’re met with an impressive aquarium before ascending the stairs into the room where the decorations were set up. 

The prom committee had been selling snacks every day at lunch to fund the event and the increase in budget was unmistakably apparent. I loved the mood lighting mixed with the vibrant and shining colors found all over the room. All of the decor matched with the masquerade ball theme joined with the usual photobooths and 360 camera activities, as well as a stage for the prom king and queen to be announced when the time came. 

Another way that you could tell a lot of planning was put into the event was the food and drinks catered by Sofia Forte’s Catering. We were provided with a choice of steak or chicken on top of mashed potatoes as a main entrée and although it was a little basic, I still enjoyed and savored it. For dessert there were red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and small servings of warm apple pie with whipped cream. While the cupcakes were slightly dry, the apple pie made up for it. 

The drinks were amazing; in addition to the usual water, there was also a berry-cider-tasting juice with a hint of cinnamon that was my personal favorite part of the refreshments. 

Not everything was perfect though, the music left something lacking for me and only a few songs really made me want to get up and dance, this was also seen in a lot of the other students since only one small group of them was up on the dance floor the entire time. 

Despite this I still had an amazing time and will definitely be buying my ticket as soon as possible next year.