Prom is a right of passage for all students at DePaul Prep. With the new regulations this year against juniors attending prom, this event has become even more exclusive and in turn, a lot more special. For seniors, prom night is one of the last and most memorable nights they will share with their classmates.

The actual dance will be a night filled with lasting memories, but the lead up can become stressful for some. While dress fittings and after party plans may add to this stress, finding a date really takes the cake.

One aspect of this is the idea of a “promposal,” a gesture that has taken over DePaul Prep these last few weeks. They consist of a sign and flowers (hopefully), all held by the date you’ve always dreamed of for this special night. Some students love the idea of these public displays of affection, while others could definitely go without.

After talking with a few seniors, the overall opinion of the recent proposals is that they’re a bit underwhelming, but that the dance is sweet. Senior Estie Katz says that the idea behind these signs, although it seems as if most of these people “are going to the internet to find things, it’s very clearly unoriginal. But still it’s the thought that counts.”

Katz discussed that she would “rather it be something that is personal to the people rather than something that’s just going to be posted online.”

Senior Griffin Horne has similar ideas, using one word to describe the concept: “cringe.” He describes the idea of proposals to be like a tradition, and “gets why girls want them, but that the end result looks very forced and “unnatural.”

One promposal that caught the attention of many students and faculty was organized by Hugh Costello and Ava Bucholz, two seniors this year. At the end of the school day friends and “family” gathered together to celebrate the “wedding” of the two students. Mr. Petersen was the stand in “father,” while friends of theirs acted as the best man/woman and the officiant.

Mateo Miranda, one of their close friends, acted as the officiant in their wedding ceremony. He thought that the idea behind the whole event was “nice but I feel like the good old sign works just fine.”

He added, “ I can see how if everyone wanted that wedding thing it would be a lot.”

Petersen’s opinion of “promposals” this year differs from most of the seniors. He loves that this year there have been so many. “The more the merrier,” he says.

When asked if they were over the top he says, “I think it runs the gambit. Some go over the top, some don’t have the energy for a poster and they barely do it. Over time, with all the “over the top” proposals, Petersen fears he’s opened up some kind of “Pandora’s box” in terms of what he is and isn’t able to help students out with.

Prior to the ceremony, friends of the “bride and groom” worked with Mr. Petersen to set up the promposal. With help from the facilities department, Petersen was able to get the chairs, stage, and piano in order.

The whole event only lasted for about 10 minutes. While there were some students present who didn’t particularly enjoy the giant ceremony blocking the exit, most enjoyed the production and put their busy schedules on the back burner.

Throughout the past few months, some seniors have been showing off their creativity with respect to their “promposals.” Others may have put the idea on hold until the last minute and whipped up a sign with a week left until prom.

Either way, the season of promposals is full of nerves, excitement, and anticipation. It’ll be up to next year’s seniors to try and top the display the class of 2024 has shown this year.