On Friday, Oct. 11, the BYU Student Service Association hosted its annual Homecoming Formal Dance with this year's theme,“A Tale as Old as Time.”
The sold-out event took place at the Grove Station event venue in Pleasant Grove, Utah, bringing students together for a night full of homecoming spirit and fun.
Gracy Keim, human resources student and BYUSA director of entertainment, said she was given a blank slate and told to make the formal dance into whatever her and her team wanted it to be.
“It’s kind of cool because there’s not a lot of places where you get an opportunity like that,” Keim said. “It was really from scratch.”
Keim said the event required a lot of planning. She and the BYUSA activities committee chose everything from the theme and the food to the venue and the decor. They landed on “A Tale as Old as Time” as their theme and made most of the decorations, ranging from the pin-on roses attendees wore to the table decor.
When asked what the most difficult part of organizing everything was, Keim said, “The hardest part is 100% day of. There’s just so much to do.”
Keim said she had been at the venue since 10 a.m. to set everything up. Even though it was a lot of work to put together, she said the day of was also the best part of the event.
“Once you’re at the dance,” Keim said, “you see everybody having fun and enjoying themselves.”
The night included music by DJ TwinBoyz, dancing, a photo booth, games, food and fire pits. There was also an instructional part of the night where students were taught how to dance to the song from "Beauty and the Beast," “Tale as Old as Time.”
“The whole point of why we throw these events in the first place is for students to be able to come and feel connected to each other,” Keim said.
Lauren Kerr, a pre-business student, said her favorite part of the night was the social aspect of the dance.
“It’s just a super fun atmosphere to get to know people and just to have fun with a date or with friends, too,” Kerr said.
The dance was a positive experience not only for attendees, but also for volunteers working at the event.
“I went to the homecoming dance my freshman year and I had a great time,” Nils Young, a pre-med student and BYUSA volunteer, said. “I decided to try and come this year, but I didn’t end up buying tickets and they all sold out.”
After talking to a friend who was also helping out, Young decided to give volunteering a try this year. Young's responsibilities included being a photographer for the photo booth.
“I feel like BYU gives so many opportunities to serve and volunteer that we often kind of just forget about,” Young said. “But they’re actually so worth it.”
According to their website, BYUSA has over 300 volunteers who help paid staff create good experiences for attendees of school events. Students interested in volunteering can learn more on the BYUSA website.