Whether you go to Lisle Highschool, Naperville Central, or Naperville North, September 24th is a big day. HOMECOMING! You likely haven’t been able to escape the announcements, social media posts, and the stress that comes with preparing yourself for the night of the dance. If you are someone who loves a good excuse to dress up but becomes easily overwhelmed by the course of actions required for concocting the perfect homecoming night, like myself, I am here to break down the play-by-play of how to build a successful homecoming experience.
1. Attire
Personally, I think the outfit is the most important part of the night. Because I have only ever shopped for homecoming dresses, that is what I will speak to. I always prefer buying a dress in person because actually getting to try a dress on and see exactly what it looks like on your body is ideal. However, this is not always possible and buying a dress online is the next best option. Some of my favorite online stores are Oh Polly, Lucy in the Sky, Princess Polly, Hello Molly, and Lulu’s. These sites allow for free or cheap returns so I usually buy multiple dresses so that I have options for dance night. There are many things to consider when online hoco dress shopping. For one, a size 4 dress from one website may not fit you the same way a size 4 dress from another website might. This is why it is important to reference the sizing guides provided on the majority of websites to ensure that your measurements align with the size dress you are buying. Next, it is crucial to consider the practicality of your outfit. Yes, that strapless dress is stunning but how many times do you want to have to pull it up over the course of the night? Will you overheat in that long sleeve or velvet dress? Is the length sufficient enough to stay low while you are jumping around the moshpit? Is the material see-through and/or are your undergarments visible? These are questions you must ask yourself whilst shopping. Depending on the site, each dress will take a different amount of time to deliver. Dresses should be ordered a minimum of two weeks prior to homecoming night to allow for improvisation if shipment problems arise. Lastly, do not panic if you see someone wearing the same dress as you. With all of the people who attend homecoming, it is almost guaranteed to see someone wearing the same or a very similarly styled dress. This is not as big of a deal as some make it out to be. Laugh it off and keep enjoying the night.
2. Groups
Finding people to go to homecoming with can be the most difficult part of the entire process. Something to keep in mind is to limit the amount of drama when at all possible. Big groups can be fun and it’s always great to include as many people as you can and want but, the bigger the group, the harder it is to get everyone in agreement and make arrangements. Getting a date to homecoming makes things exponentially harder. There is absolutely nothing wrong with not having a date to homecoming and I think the notion that not having one makes you less cool couldn’t be farther from the truth. That said, if you do decide to go with a date, there are additional steps that need to be taken. First, not always but most of the time the guy is the one asking the girl to homecoming and they do this by making a poster. This poster should include a pun or a joke that references something your partner partakes in or enjoys so the poster feels special to them. Next, homecoming dates usually have color-coordinated outfits, whether that be a tie matching a dress, matching suits, or whatever that looks like for you. Lastly, corsages and boutonnieres should be ordered a minimum of 4 or 5 days before the dance, and pick-up should be scheduled for the morning of so the flowers look fresh.
3. Check List
There are many other steps for planning your homecoming night. Food is a big one; will you be dining in or catering out? From what restaurant and is that cost feasible for everyone? If you are dining in, reservations fill up very quickly so a minimum of 3 weeks in advance is ideal. Secondly, where do you want to have the photos taken? Common spots include a group member’s backyard, public parks, and even country clubs. After the photos are taken, how are you going to get to the dance? Set a designated driver, and ensure everyone in your group knows who their ride is. Parking will be difficult and time-consuming so save a good amount of time finding a spot and walking to the dance. Finally, you are ready to get into the dance! Don’t forget that everyone else at your school is also trying to get into the dance. The line will be long and it might be cold outside so dress accordingly.
You are now ready to have THE BEST homecoming night ever!
Lulu, I think that this is a very good list to make sure that you have the best homecoming night possible. I personally have never had to shop for a homecoming dress so I don’t think that I fully understand how stressful the process is and how much goes into it. I did however go shopping for a suit at the last minute my junior year, and it was hard to find a good one because the store I went to was almost sold out and needed to restock. Like with dresses, the sizing is also a pain with suit jackets and pants, and a lot of times you need to get them altered. And there’s also the piece of color coordination with your date as you mentioned. When it comes to making a poster, I think that the more creative it is the better. It’s helpful for me to look on the internet for some inspiration, but I think that just copying one online is boring and it needs to be unique to you and your date. Planning where you will take pictures and making dinner reservations for your group is tough to coordinate, but definitely worth it.
Hey Lulu! I really enjoyed reading your breakdown on how to prepare for homecoming. It was very helpful, and I will definitely be using it as a guide to reduce stress for future dances. First, I like how your tips on finding the right dress are very thorough. They really help condense every aspect of the dress finding process. I also agree with your statements about groups, how larger ones are great, but are definitely more difficult to get everyone on the same page. Lastly, your checklist of everyone having their designated driver is very helpful. I definitely rember being in situations where no one knew how they were going to get from place to place, and this causes much unnecessary stress, which is the opposite of what we want for a dance. If all of this information was made into a physical checklist that the of the people could use, I think it would make the whole planning process more efficient. In the future, if you decide to post more tips about preparing for events or any other topic, I will be very excited to give it a read!
Hey Lulu, I agree with every single point you made in your blog post. Personally, I do not really understand the taboo of not having a date to school dance, everyone is just there to have fun. Also thank you for the site recommendations to get dresses from! Although I did not go to homecoming I am planning on going to the other school dances so I will definitely be checking out some of those websites. When I was planning on going to homecoming I almost bought my dress from Lulus.
I especially agree with your points you made about homecoming groups. Transportation is a huge part of the dance that we do not consider till the last minute. I remember last year there was difficulty with parking and who is driving who in my group.
In terms of the check list, I will definitely be coming back to this blog. Figuring out the flowers and reservations is such a hassle when doing it at the last minute. Especially the restaurant reservations since so many schools have their homecoming on the same day, so the reservations fill up. Once again, I really enjoyed your blogpost and learned a lot of good tips and tricks for future school dances!
Lulu, I love how you broke down the “steps” of homecoming, and I felt myself nodding to everything I read, having experienced many of the things you listed. Starting with the dress, I ordered two from Lulu’s and ended up wearing neither. One I loved, but the practicality of the dress is what turned me away from it, especially because I was concerned about what the jumping would do, just like you had said. Regarding the group part, I agree that it is almost always the most complicated part. I went in an almost 20-person group, and the photos themselves were chaotic, and I felt myself scrambling around the whole time. Also, homecoming dates have always confused me, they are cute and fun, but realistically who is going in the mosh pit with their date? It feels like it’s just for photos, and I just want to have fun. And in the last step, that is advice I definitely could’ve taken before. Our restaurant was crowded with hoco groups, and we had no idea they only wanted to take cash that night. Super stressful. Anyway, I really enjoyed the way your voice shone through this piece, lighthearted, relatable, and humorous. I love the walkthrough format you chose, and even though I’ve lived through many of the things you’ve said, I still found myself engaged and I’d love to hear more from you.
Hi Lulu! It’s crazy that you know so much about planning for Homecoming. With your expertise, I’m gonna assume that you’re the one who gets your group together for HoCo. To be honest though, I literally had to Google search what corsages and boutonnaries were just because I’ve just always referred to them as “flowers”. Funny enough, I just recently made the mistake of not reserving a table for our group 3 weeks in advance. No joke, I looked to reserve a table somewhere in Naperville Downtown like 2 days before Homecoming and literally everything was booked. We ended up getting a reservation at Paizan’s Pizzeria so not at all the fine dining experience I was looking for but it was decent enough. That’s what I get for not planning in advance I guess. I was actually surprised by how many other HoCo groups showed up there including a group of my other friends. The entire place was packed with just highschoolers in suits and dresses. … Also, to be fair though, I could never see myself making a poster and publicly asking a date to the dance. That’s like waaay too much for me. I’d just be too afraid of getting humiliated and would just chicken out if I’m gonna be honest. But staight up, I wish I got another chance for Homecoming. This last one was kind of disappointing in several aspects and I really wanted to end off on a bang. Spring or Prom will have to be the redemption I guess.