Spring time is typically represented by a rainbow of flowers. But for juniors and seniors, spring and flowers are related for an entirely different reason.
At Hastings High, April 16 is the night of prom. And as any upperclassman girl will tell you, there is much more work that goes on behind the scenes than you might think.
Starting a couple months ahead of time, you absolutely need to pick out the perfect prom dress. It would be a truly horrid situation to wait for too long to purchase a dress, and end up wearing one that another person has.
Junior Shyann Chitty has experienced this type of stress first hand.
“I am really picky, so I spent a lot of time trying to find one,” Chitty said.
Chitty found her dream dress while she was on vacation in Seattle. However, it wasn’t an easy task until she came across this store.
“I probably tried on over 15 dresses while I was there. The store I got it from was the best, and it didn’t give me a lot of stress,” Chitty said. The process of selecting and ultimately purchasing a picture perfect dress is arguably the most tedious aspect of prom preparation. But all of the less important necessities add up quickly, and can be equally stressful.
Considering Hastings is a rather small town, it doesn’t boast a plethora of hair salons. Because of this, it is crucial to make appointments for hair and makeup as far in advance as possible.
“I waited until really recently to make my hair and makeup appointments at the Style Lounge. It’s a popular salon so that’s probably why the day of prom was completely booked quickly. I’m going in at noon, and prom isn’t even until like nine. My hair will be messed up by then,” junior Whitney Brown said.
Something like this may not be relevant to others, but for some, it can seem like the end of the world. For many girls that will be attending the dance with a date, they have a whole additional body to take care of.
When referring to tradition, if a girl and a boy attend prom together, the boy will match his tux and bowtie to the color of her dress. This can be a very problematic situation, especially in the event that one of the parties doesn’t know the difference between teal and green. In that case, the couple won’t match and the whole night is ruined. It’s all about looking picture perfect for the millions of photos that will be taken.
Setting up a place to take photos and eat dinner with your friends is, undoubtedly, a struggle. Chances are, one group’s idea of a perfect photo shoot location is also the idea of another group.
It would be awful to end up with random people in the background of the photos soon to be plastered all over Instagram. That’s the reason why many groups of friends opt for a “Plan B” at someone’s house.
“It was too cold out last year to take our pictures at the lake where we wanted to go. So we ended up just taking pictures at the Kensington,” junior Brittan Reichert said.
The final step in a prom preparation process is typically to order a corsage and boutonniere. Floral shops don’t tend to be exceptionally strict when it comes to these key components of a prom night, but they usually require orders to be placed at least a week in advance.
Many people consider the entire night to be ruined if one of the aforementioned tasks is incomplete. Additionally, striving for a literally picture perfect prom night can drive high school students over the edge. The best advice Chitty can give to others going through the process is to relax, because focusing on the details makes the situation chaotic.
