MARIETTA — For nearly 35 years, it has been a tradition for Marietta High School students attending prom to gather for group photos prior to celebrating the dancing festivities.

Marietta Principal Leigh Colburn said it all started when a group of senior superlatives, or “the best of the best” as they are often called, decided to get together for a photo opportunity at the home of Bobbie Burruss off Kennesaw Avenue.

Colburn said the tradition has grown from that small group of students to nearly 300, so it was moved to Brumby Hall off Powder Springs Street three years ago.

Her son, Phillip Colburn, a sophomore at Marietta, attended his first prom this year with 18-year-old Sarah Moore.

The couple went with a large group of friends to dinner at Blue Ridge Grill in Atlanta before heading back to town for the dance.

“We are going to go bowling with a group of friends afterwards, and then everyone is going to come back to my house for movies,” Moore said Friday afternoon.

Senior Nikki Friedman, who went to prom with a group of her close friends, said she was most excited about going to dinner in downtown Atlanta at Canoe.

Claire Dodd, a Marietta High junior, also had a fun-filled evening planned with her date, senior Brad Schieble.

They were trying to be in two places at once during picture time. The Blue Devil seniors always meet at Brumby Hall, and the juniors at The Garden Center off Kennesaw Avenue.

“I am very excited and a little nervous,” she said.

Dodd got out of school early to prepare for the dance Friday.

They went with three large groups of students in party buses to Ray’s on the River for dinner before hitting the dance floor.