When Should I Ask Someone to Prom?

How soon is too soon or too late?

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How soon is too soon to ask someone to prom?. Dimitri Vervitsiotis/Digital Vision/Getty Images

When is the right time to ask someone to prom (or any formal dance)? You don't want to ask too soon, or at the last minute.  Here’s how to tell when the time is right. 

When it comes to asking a date to prom or homecoming, timing can be everything! You’ll, of course, want to give your date enough time to prepare for the big night. Getting a dress, working out your prom transportation, picking up tickets, making after-prom plans and all the other little extra fun things that come with the big night take time to plan. So, I’d say that no more than eight weeks and no less than six weeks before the big night is just the right amount of time. 

If you ask someone to prom with too much time in advance… say three months or more, you’ll run the risk of losing interest in each other (trust me, I’ve seen this happen). Couples who decide to go together as friends will suddenly find themselves having a crush on someone else who they’d rather go with. Couples who have mutual crushes will find one or the other falling out of interest (because let’s face it, teens can have short attention spans when it comes to the opposite sex). One person could even decide that proms just aren’t for them and they don’t want to go at all (I’ve seen this happen, too… sad but true). Usually, six to eight weeks is a sweet spot of time that will give you enough time to plan and enough time to remain interested.

Now at this point, your prom is about six months away. Since you already have an idea of who you want to take, here’s a thought: why don’t you flirt with them a little bit, then ask them out on a date right now? It will be a good way to test the waters to see if you two really get along and if there’s mutual interest for prom. If the first date goes well, ask her out on another.  Then another. That way you can build up a relationship with each other before you commit to going to prom together. If things go really well, she might even end up being your girlfriend, and then you know you’ll be going to prom together!

On the other hand, if things don’t go well on your few dates, you can move on and consider asking another girl to prom. You’ll have enough time to seek out other options, get to know other girls, and plan out who else you’d like to ask to prom.

Now that you’ve got the timing down, may I suggest some further reading about how to ask that special someone to prom? You’ll want to make it memorable and do it in a way that the other person just can’t refuse.