Prom fever is taking over the student body.  Prom tickets are on sale April 25 – 27, and in the upcoming weeks, everyone will be sharing pictures of their promposals, their dresses, their hair, and their makeup. However, many still have the stress of planning the limousine, dinner, post-prom plans, and how they are going to pay for it all.  For boys, there’s also the added stress of who they’ll ask and how they’ll ask them.

According to a poll conducted by the LHS Lance Twitter account, 11% of students who participated spend $0-$100; 31% spend $100-$200; 22% spend $200-$300; and 36% of students who participated spend $300+ on their prom attire. According to USA Today, both guys and girls spend a total of $600-$1000 on the whole night.

Before girls can truly plan “the perfect prom,” they have to find their perfect date. The concept of promposals has become competitive, as everyone seems to be trying to one-up each other. Often, boys feel pressure to create a promposal that is up to par with everyone else’s, and the promposal is transformed into one of the key parts of the time consuming process which prom has turned into. Throughout the years, social media has been blowing this new trend out of proportion, and promposals have become more creative and extravagant–but pressure-filled.

Even creating posters that revolve around a simple pun consumes hours of time, and still many people create much more elaborate promposals. Prom is no longer as simple as going to a dance and having fun with your friends, and it often equates to an over anticipated handful of hours spent at the dance that leaves some people disappointed.

Even if you are attending prom with someone who is strictly a friend, most want to be creative in order to guarantee a “Yes” to prom. Some might ask, “Is the answer ever not a ‘Yes’?” Yes, many girls have had an experience in which they replied “Yes” in order to relieve the awkwardness of saying “No” in front of a crowd.  Later, the prom proposee has to build up the courage to say “No.”

Class of 2020 member Ashley Ridgely will be attending Catoctin High School’s prom. Her boyfriend “promposed” to her in April used a hunting themed poster, as hunting is something often do together.

“I was very surprised when he asked me, and I loved how he incorporated something we both enjoy. I’m very excited to and ready to have a fun night with him,” said Ridgely.

After creating and presenting their promposal, guys are faced with the often overlooked process of finding a suit or tux that matches their date’s dress. Though finding a tie and pocket square which match the dress of their date isn’t difficult, purchasing a tuxedo for the dance is a time consuming process.  Alternatively, one could rent the tuxedo, but this often results in a similar price tag if you attend multiple proms, especially for several years in a row. However, in order to help ease the stress, Men’s Warehouse is visiting Linganore high school April 26. They will be taking measurements and orders for tuxedos in the cafeteria during lunch shifts. 

Girls have been shopping for dresses since winter break, finding the “right one” before they are picked over.

Every girl has a certain image of how they anticipate prom night unfolding, so they do everything in their power to make sure it is as close to perfect as possible. It’s hard to control “perfect.”  The anxiety of control can turn some into “promzillas.”

Most high school students believe that prom is supposed to be one of the best nights of high school. Plenty, though, don’t even care about the dance.  They arrive late and leave early. 

“This night represents the four years of hard work and all the accomplishments we’ve done as a senior class,” says Class of 2018 member Jacqueline Ryan.