When I went to homecoming 4 years ago, I did something very easy. While my hair was still wet (not soaking, towel dried a little) I threw in some gel and scrunched it. I then took a fine-tooth comb and pulled it up into a high pony tail, so the hair was straight except for what was in the pony-do you understand what i mean??
Anyways, I then took a bunch of bobby pins and pinned the curls all over my head. It's kind of hard to explain but it looked really pretty and only took about 15 minutes. If it's cold where you live, I'd advise doing it a while before the dance so your head doesn't freeze when you step outside!