Prom is supposed to be one of the most perfect and special nights for high school seniors. It’s the night that the class of 2026 has been anticipating for four years. Being all dressed up with your closest friends and sharing the last few moments together before graduation is supposed to be the quintessential rite of passage. But no one really talks about how the weeks leading up to it, all the preparation, and the constant stress of planning turn prom from something exciting into something overwhelming.
Finding the dress is just the first stressor. It is a mission to find a dress that is just right for prom. You question everything: Is it good enough? Is it too much or not enough? Does someone have the same dress? After countless days looking at so many different stores, doom-scrolling online, and trying on 200 dresses, you finally found one, but some people will always second guess their choice because there is so much pressure to make sure this is the best night of your high school career.
But that’s just getting started.
Next is all the accessories and appointments for hair, makeup, and nails.
Once your look is set, the real planning begins.
In hindsight it should be simple to get to prom, but trying to get everyone to agree isn’t.
You have to figure out how you’re getting there, if you’re getting a bus, if you’re getting a limo, or if everyone is driving. You have to plan where you’re meeting and when. Coordinating schedules between multiple people feels like organizing a big event except no one fully agrees to the plans and some don’t even answer. Most of the time the groups are split in half with who wants to get there early and who wants to take their time. Either way someone has to step up and plan because no one wants to be the person dealing with all the stress.
Pictures are on a whole different level. It’s supposed to be fun being around all of your friends and smiling, but it comes with a new kind of pressure. You think about all the possible outcomes, such as the weather. Rain and clouds would cause so much more chaos. What then? Do you move the picture spot or the time? Will your dress get ruined? All these questions are difficult to prepare for; you just have to go with the flow. Then there’s parents hovering all over everyone trying to get that same picture that one person could just send them. All the phones and cameras in your face just make one more aspect overwhelming.
The hardest part is the group dynamic. Who are you sitting with? How many people are bringing dates? Is there enough room? Having a big group of people going to prom is difficult. No one wants to feel left out, but making sure everyone is included is impossible. People join groups and people drop out, making everything harder to plan for.
The day of prom everything speeds up. You want to try and enjoy your time getting ready, but you are constantly thinking about the next thing. By the time the night begins, you’ll feel exhausted.
However, in between all the chaos, there are moments that feel exactly how prom is supposed to be. All the stress fades away with each fun memory you are experiencing. The truth about prom is that it isn’t perfect and that it is complicated, but that has been high school in general.
