Dear Wolfie,

Prom is right around the corner, and I’m not sure how to ask my potential date to go with me. There are so many different ways to ask and it’s almost like the standards are rising every day! What should I do?

Sincerely,

Prom Panicked

Dear Prom Panicked,

Ah, prom. The season of dresses, corsages and an abundance of stress. For the “best night of your life,” prom certainly does require a fair amount of planning and a tad bit of frustration. However, the initial asking someone to the dance, now commonly referred to as “promposals,” has somehow become one of the most anticipated aspects of prom. Over the years, promposals have ranged from short and simple to highly elaborate and even expensive. What should be a piece of cake has morphed into an entire pastry shop.

The first thing to do when planning your promposal is to identify your date. Whether you go as friends or a genuine couple, knowing about your date is crucial. Are they someone who would appreciate a private invitation, away from anyone else? Or would they prefer the whole shebang, a public performance in front of the whole school? If you don’t know, find out by observing their reactions to other promposals. If you’re really stumped, turn to some of their friends for advice.

Once you’ve figured out the general type of promposal, you can begin to narrow down your options. This is when to pull out that notebook and pen and start listing everything you know your date enjoys. If you know she likes flowers and her favorite color is blue, write that down. If you know he loves cupcakes and his favorite music artist is Drake, write that down. This may seem repetitive and redundant, but soon you’ll have made a list that proves to be quite helpful. Look at the list for inspiration; you may even see overlapping themes that you can incorporate together into the promposal.

Some of the best promposals have something everybody loves: food. You can be “cheesy” and ask your date with a pizza, arranging the pepperoni to spell out “Prom?” (if your date doesn’t like pepperoni, you can always spell it out with their favorite ingredients, or simply write it on the inside of the pizza box). Or you can “wing” it with an order of their favorite wings. You can also take the sweet route with a box of donuts, telling your date you “donut want to go with anyone else” but them. These savory options are perfect if your date has made it clear they love food more than people sometimes.

If you’ve made your list and you are still lacking that creative spark, fear not. Here is a list of some promposals your date is sure to love: Blow up a bunch of balloons and put your secret message inside one (they must pop the balloons until they find it), send your date on a scavenger hunt (wait at the last spot to ask them the question), keep it classy and deliver them their favorite flowers (trust me, their heart will melt), recruit your friends to give them pieces of a puzzle throughout the day (by the end of the day, your date should have all the pieces spell out your question), team up with your best buds and surprise her with a flash mob (believe it or not, some people are into this).

When it comes down to it, asking someone to prom shouldn’t be as big of a pain as we make it. At the end of the day, the important thing is you have fun (and a date!). So what are you waiting for? Go get ‘em, tiger.

Yours truly,

Wolfie