Arguably the most awkward photo of me from prom.
It’s that time of year again; prom season. And with prom season comes the seemingly endless stream of promposals that can be great if one of them is for you, and often disheartening if they’re not. If you’re one of those people, fear not. As someone who not only made it through prom but did it without having a date, here are some of the reasons I would highly encourage you to consider going to prom with yourself, not by yourself:
1. You don’t have to worry about matching with anyone’s outfit.
I know a lot of my friends stressed about coordinating with their dates’ outfit and panicking when one of them had to change. I had the luxury of getting to wear a dress in my favorite color of purple without having to worry about humiliating my date in forcing them to wear a flaming purple tuxedo.
Never mind, this is most definitely the most awkward photo of me at prom, pictured with my Stop & Shop corsage
2. The only person you have to get a corsage for is yourself (among other money saving benefits)
Prom is one of the most expensive parts of high school, between the dress, the limo, the tickets, the hair and makeup, and taking a date definitely adds to that; buying them a corsage, maybe flowers, possibly pitching in for their ticket. Going by yourself means you don’t have to worry about buying for anyone but yourself, and you have total autonomy on how cheap or expensive you want to go because the only one judging you is YOU. That being said, I was completely content with my corsage from Stop and Shop.
3. You have no obligation to take pictures with anyone in particular, dance with someone, or stay with your date throughout the night, YOU’RE FREE.
Even before prom when I told people I didn’t have a date, this was one of the things they brought up that I didn’t even realize, but it’s totally true and totally liberating. The night of prom I was free to float around the venue, talk to anyone I wanted to, take pictures with everyone and anyone, and dance with all different groups of people without having to worry about whether or not my date was having fun or if they felt uncomfortable or if they wanted it dance, it was all me.
4. While being your own date you can simultaneously be everyone’s else’s date.
It’s true I didn’t have a date to prom, but I also didn’t go completely alone, and instead went with my group of friends who had all paired off with each other, something I recommend if you don’t have a date. My best friend had several offers of people for me to go with, all of which I kindly denied because I knew that I was not only my own date, but I was everyone’s date.
So to everyone out there panicking that they don’t have a date- try and see it as the perfect opportunity to take yourself to prom.