I remember leaving my high-school Senior Prom thinking that had been the last dance experience I’d ever have until my wedding – but nearly as soon as I stepped onto Auburn’s campus I learned, to my delight, that I had be completely wrong! It seems that a huge chunk of the organizations (including, but not limited to, sororities, fraternities, AU Singers, honor societies, service clubs, and ROTC) at Auburn hold formals (we’re in college now ladies, no more Homecoming and Prom) throughout the year, many involving the girl asking the guy, and many kicking off the season in September! The best part is, of course, going shopping for the perfect little dress with some new found friends – but once you’ve got the dress, you gotta get a date! Figuring out who to ask is hard enough, but how to ask him can be even more daunting. Here are a few fun ideas and tips on how to ask that special guy to be your formal escort – minus any stress and embarrassment!
Asking a Guy You’ve Just Met:
• DO make it casual: If you’re thinking about asking that hottie you danced with at the party last night, chances are you don’t really know his personality all that well. Therefore, I would suggest keeping things simple by asking him in a normal conversation or – dare I say it – over text. This puts him in a comfortable, no pressure situation that makes it easy on the both of you! Try saying something like, “Hey, are you free next weekend? My (insert organization here) is having a formal and I think it’d be fun if you came with me!”
• DO make it fun and guy-friendly: Let’s say you’ve been hitting it off with that nice, funny guy that sits next to you in English and you know he’d make for such a fun date – go ahead and ask him a fun way! Since y’all have been chatting it up in class, you most likely know some of his interests and his sense of humor, so try incorporating those things into how you ask him. He likes football? (what self-respecting Auburn male doesn’t?) Then the next time you see him on the concourse, toss him a football with a note attached saying something like, “Can I get a War Eagle for going to Formal with me?” Do you y’all bond over coy little arguments over the best pizza places in town? Then pull a Princess Diaries move and send him a pizza with M&Ms spelling out “Formal?” and text him later asking if he’d gotten the special delivery you sent!
• DON’T make it to couple-ish: You don’t wanna freak him out by making your formal invitation seem like a marriage proposal! Keep it light, fun, and casual – no roses, no cutesy “roses are red, violets are blue” sayings, nothing that makes it seem like his accepting your invitation means he is now your boyfriend. If that’s what you’d like to see happen between the two of you, let the fun night ahead of you do all the work!
Asking a Significant Other:
• DO make it personal: Whether your significant other is your boyfriend of a year and a half or just the guy you’ve been hooking up with on the reg, you obviously know him pretty darn well – so let that show when you ask him to be your date! One of my personal favorites is to set up a fun scavenger hunt around campus or his apartment complex, each of the clues relating to something fun or silly that has happened while you were together (like that time you went to the beach or a football game together, or when y’all accidently set off the fire alarm while baking a pizza), with the final clue leading him straight to you! Or you could do something simpler, like baking him a batch of his favorite cookies or bringing him some of his favorite take-out food, of course including a pun-y note! Just do what feels right for y’all’s relationship dynamic – maybe you’re a silly couple, or maybe you’re romantic – so whether you make it a joke or make it a love ballad, you’ll both have fun!
• DO know you can still be casual: Even though y’all have a more established relationship and you don’t necessarily have to worry about scaring him off, you don’t have to ask him in a cutesy way. The luxury of being in any sort of a relationship with someone is that you are obligated to impress them (at least that’s what I tell myself), so go ahead and just ask him in a casual conversation without a big show! I do recommend, however, that you ask him in person and not over text – once you know someone that well, there’s no reason to do it any other way.
• DON’T assume he’ll go: I mean, of course he’s gonna go with you, that’s like boyfriend rule #1, but never assume you don’t have to actually ask him! No one like to be told what to do, and by not asking him to be your date you’re telling him to be, and he will not appreciate that in the slightest.
Alright ladies, now you have no excuse not to pluck up the courage and ask that guy to be your date! Just keep in mind, I have never ever ever heard of a guy who didn’t want to go to a formal here at Auburn University, they love that they get to have fun and they don’t have to be the one asking out a date!