Spring in Davidson means lots of things: inchworms, perfect weeks of 70+ weather, Carolina Cones reopening (hallelujah), and, of course: spring formals. Whether you’re getting ready for a quick bus ride to the Quarry or desperately trying to plan The Perfect Cooler, formal is almost always guaranteed to be a good time.
Still, finding a date is always slightly nerve-wracking. To clarify your options, Her Campus has compiled a list of different formal date possibilities. (Note: these generally refer to one-night formals. I think we can all agree that choosing your date for overnight or weekend formals require a little more thought.)
The significant other. If you’re seriously dating someone, of course, they’re the obvious choice. You’ll get to dance under the stars, eat some incredible food, and probably take a gorgeous couple pic in your fancy formal attire. Sounds like a win to me.
The casual date. This manifests in two forms: (1), you want to bring someone, but don’t want it to be a “thing,” so you bring one of your pals. Case closed. Or, (2), you might like like this person, and want to test the waters in a date setting. Also feasible. Formal is nice enough that it can be an actual date and casual enough that it doesn’t have to be, if you decide halfway through that you’d really rather just be friends with this person.
The hookup buddy. So, depending on the nature of this relationship, this could be a really terrible idea. But if you’ve been casually hooking up with someone every Friday night and you want a way to hang out with them elsewhere, this could be the perfect opportunity. I might advise against this if you’re not already sort of friendly, because formal does involve a good amount of sitting around and talking.
The unicorn. Okay, so this takes a hefty dose of confidence. But like I’ve been saying, everyone loves formal, so this could be the perfect time to get a date with your Davidson Crush. Chances are they’ll say yes unless they’ve already been asked. Since formal is such a big event, with so many different people, it can be a fairly low-key way to secure some bonding time. If there’s any time to go for it, it’s now.
The best friend. If you’re really not into the whole date thing, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with bringing your best friend. Even if you’re in the same eating house, chances are there’s a discounted “date” price you can capitalize on. And if you’re in different eating houses, or you’re bringing an independent, all the better: one of you gets to go to an extra formal they wouldn’t otherwise be attending. That’s a serious win.
The friend from home. If you’ve been waiting and waiting to have one of your non-Davidson friends visit, this could be the perfect opportunity (minus Frolics, maybe). You already know you’ll have a good time; they’ll get to hang out with all your Davidson friends; and you can build on your ever-growing collection of BFF pics, spanning all the way back to high school (or further). Full disclosure, I’m already working on my best friend from home to fly out here for my senior formal.
Moral of the story: you can literally bring anyone and I promise you’ll have a fun time. My only real advice: don’t skip your formal. It’s definitely worth going.