Promposals have had much popularity in the past. In the past few years, the way people asked their dates to prom had evolved into a spectacle; people often took the dramatic route, elaborately staging an asking that rivaled that of a marriage proposal.
From asking someone in the middle of an assembly to covering their whole car in sticky notes, the general motto of the asking season seemed to be this: go big or go home.
However, is the tide now changing? Are those elaborate promposals still as popular? Or, has the way of asking others to prom evolved into something less time-consuming?
Kathryn Buchter, Pleasant Valley teacher and supervisor of the social committee, was at the high school during the peak of promposal fever; she witnessed a slew of elaborate promposals a few years ago. This was only accentuated by her position as a Spanish teacher–kids would love to ask others during the class bell ringers.
However, Buchter believes it has died down. She cited some evidence for her belief. “I think even seeing parents on social media saying their son or daughter got promposed to hasn’t been as prominent. There are not really as many promposals on the collages the Spartan Shield makes either,” she said.
Buchter believes this decline could be for many reasons. “We used to have more assemblies, which made promposals more visual and impactful. Students also get so busy by the time prom rolls around. Also, because prom has started costing so much money, people start to plan prom [and their dates] really early.”
Senior Caroline Christophersen has also seen a decline of promposals. But, she was not sure if this indicated a decline in the amount of promposals. “I think I’ve seen less promposals this year than normally but it might also be because I’m actually the senior…now it’s just normal,” she said.
Junior Margaret Huang believes that promposals are still popular. She noted an important distinction between small, sweet promposals and bigger, extravagant ones. “I think small promposals are cool. But big ones [have the risk of being] strange.” To Huang, promposals are negative if they make the other people around them uncomfortable.
In general, Huang thinks promposals are showing less effort than they have in the past; she believes elaborate promposals are dwindling for many reasons. “Elaborate promposals can be tacky and dances are [trending towards being] more for friends now than for couples.”
Christophersen agreed with Huang regarding the connection between friends and promposals. “There seems to be more [promposals] between good friends or couples, people who know each other and have inside jokes,” she said.
Students are also tending to casually ask their peers over text or in conversation. But, many still believe promposals are a fun way to go. Buchter encouraged anyone who wanted to do a promposal to go for it. “Keep doing it if you like it; posters are always sweet,” she said.
Christophersen also sees the pleasant aspects regarding promposals. “I enjoy a good promposal; they’re cute and creative and just make everyone smile,” she said.
As prom quickly approaches, some students are still finding the perfect way to ask their date. The trends change from year to year, and many people have varying opinions on what is “in.” Whether extravagant or a simple text message, each person has their own style when it comes to planning their prom.
