Homecoming?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m a high school student and it’s nearly homecoming. For those (un)fortunate few who didn’t have to go through this traditional highschool ritual here is a quick intro:

Homecoming is a tradition observed at many American and Canadian high schools and colleges, usually in late September or October. Each school’s activities vary widely, but usually consist of an football game played on the school’s home football field, activities for students and alumni, a parade featuring the school’s marching band, and the coronation of a Homecoming Queen (and at many schools, a Homecoming King).

The “coronation” the definition mentions occurs at the homecoming dance. The dance is the focal point of homecoming at my school, and an integral part of this homecoming dance is… a date.

Here’s my problem: I want a creative way to ask (chosen female) to Homecoming. Unfortunately my cousin, one of the GQ mods xash, wasn’t willing to help me out by posting- he made me create a trial account. So here I am, asking the great minds on SDMB what’s a creative way to ask a girl to homecoming. (Judging xash I know that a lot of you guys might now be the best with ladies :stuck_out_tongue: - but why not ask you guys (and girls- the female opinion is invaluable)?

I’m a junior, so this will be my 3rd homecoming, and I have had dates for the past two years. I’m totally comfortable talking to girls, I don’t need tips on “making eye contact” or “be straightforward.”

I need specs. I was thinking of maybe writing (chosen girl)'s name in something flammable (oil… something safer?) and burning it at night. I want to try something “out of the box” None of the ask her in a fortune cookie fortune or bake it into a cake type stuff. any ideas?
-G

2

Gotta say, admire you for trying to be interesting and unique. Also gotta say, however, that as cool as fire is, having some guy write my name/the invitation to a dance on someone’s lawn in flaming oil would be kinda creepy.

Now if you got a whole bunch of flowers and did the same thing, it’d be a little less creepy and a whole lot more romantic. Or perhaps create a small webpage - send her an email saying “Hey, I found this cool link and thought you’d like it” and link the page into the email.

I dunno. I never was too good at this dating thing.

3

bump.

no seductors, eh?

4

I don’t get it. Why not just ask her? You know, walk up to her, engage in some light conversation, complement her on what she’s wearing, and then ask her if she wants to go to the dance with you. Why get all “creative”? Do you think that that’ll make her more interested in you?

5

It’s a dance. Just ask her.

Anything out of the ordinary will more than likely just seem creepy, unless you know the person very (very) well. Life isn’t TV, and elaborate plans for relatively simple things rarely succeed and often backfire. If you did the “light her name on fire” thing, and she got immensely creeped out, do you really want to be known as the guy who lit some girl’s name on fire and freaked her out for the rest of high school (and at your reunions…)? People aren’t going to remember (or care) if you just ask her and she says no, but they would remember that (and most likely not in a good way).

It’s a dance. Just ask her.

6

Yeah, I would have thought the fire thing was pretty creepy and trying too hard. Ask her as casually as possible, smile, maybe give her a single flower (not a rose) if you want to be fancy. Good luck.

7

At the high school where I teach, big, elaborate homecoming date requests are part of the traditions of Homecoming, and that may be the case at that OP’s school, as well.–however, that is always between established couples, or the consent of the person is quietly assured in advance, to avoid unpleasantness and awkwardness.

So, Gunnsfastest, the first thing you want to do is be 100% sure she is going to say yes. If you are supercool, ask her if she’d like you to invite her to homecoming. If you aren’t, use the mutual friends route (see if so-and-so would like me to ask her to homecoming . . .).

Also, except that this is going to be cheesey. There is no non-cheesey was to do this. If you are not the sort of guy that does cheesey things, just straight up ask her.

That said, here is some stuff that people have done at my high school in recent years:

Singing telegram, if you have friends that can sing. Needs to be public.

Puzzle. Decorate a poster with some sort of graphic and “How 'bout Homecoming?” (the traditional question at our school. YMMV). Cut it up into irregular pieces and leave it and a flower in each room where she has a class. The piece with your name on it should be in the last class.

Paint your car if you have one, or your parking space if that’s allowed (it is at our school)

Cups in the chainlink fence spelling out words (go back and clean them up!)

Huge public banners on 50-ft of butcher paper.

Spell it out in spoons on her lawn (get ok from parents first)

Let me see if I can think of some others. Our homecoming isn’t until late this year, so we haven’t started the “how 'bout homecoming” rituals yet.

8

Pah!

Step out to the middle of the yard, rip off your shirt, and challenge all comers to fight for the right to take the girl to the dance.

9

I know her really well and I’m all but guaranteed a yes. Why do I want something ridiculous or just plain different? Cause I want to surprise her. High school gossip spreads like fire (what a poor pun), and since she already knows, why not do something to catch her totally unexpectedly?

How do I know that I’m getting a yes? Well Manda JO it seems you’ve decoded High School Behavior… I certainly used the “Mutual Friends” system.

I admit the Fire idea is pretty ridiculous- it’s just that I want to be the guy that everyone remembers. Perhaps I should tone it down to candles. Manda JO you’re Puzzle and Cup-in-the-chain-link-fence ideas were pretty cool.

To be honest I’m getting pretty scared about two things: potential law suits & arson :eek: . Maybe if I could find something safe to burn…

As for Alessan- I tried that last year :smack: … forgot that half the football team’s offensive line thought about it too. I’m still recovering.

10

How’bout ice instead? Write the invitation–something like “you’ve melted my heart” or something equally cheesy–and freeze it in a block of ice, maybe in a heart-shaped cake tin. Leave it on her doorstep, she’ll have to wait for it to melt before she can read the invitation. You could freeze rose petals or similar in the block of ice, too.

11

If you’re already nearly guaranteed a yes, get your choir geek friends (What? You didn’t forget to make friends with the choir kids, did you?) and have them singing something romantic in the background while you ask her. If you decide to go with flowers, pick them yourself. Much better that way, since it shows some dedication to getting the right thing for her, rather than merely a deep wallet. If you’re using the “Mutual Friends” method, ask said friend if she (I’m assuming the friend is a she) can get into your prospective date’s locker. Leave flowers and a note. I can personally vouch for the “flowers and a note” system; I’ve had lots of luck with it in the past.

12

See, I find the idea of someone leaving flowers and a note in my locker a lot more creepy than them setting fire to my name on a lawn somewhere.

We really need more information about said girl! Is she quirky, or “normal?” Does she have your sense of humor? Does she like certain types of music, or a certain video game/TV show/anime/band/Web site a lot that you could work into it?

It basically means figuring out what she’d tolerate and what she wouldn’t. I think the sign would be kinda cute (the cup sign or the butcher paper sign; if she’s got MY sense of humor decorating it to look like used butcher paper would amuse her, too) but that’s ME, not HER.

~Tasha

~Tasha

13

You obviously are from a pre-modern era of high school.

It’s effin’ rediculous now. If you don’t spend three hours and $20 coming up with some ultra “cute” manner of asking her out you’re an unromantic loser.

I’m far from some cheesy Don Juan and my final prom-asking forray involved a live animal. :rolleyes:

14

More random ideas (adjust to fit her personallity):

A pet beta fish with a laminated note dropped into the tank. Be sure to spring for one of the nicer beta tanks, not just the stupid wine glass bowl thing. Something the fish can live in later.

You on her lawn in a trech coat with an oversized boom box playing a tape of you singing “Will you go to homecoming with me?” really loud held above your head.

A sushi lunch with request in wasabi. least it’s not a cake

15

I just hope she’s not the girl you’ll eventually want to marry, because then your proposal would have to top the homecoming date request, and you’d have to do something *really * crazy.

16

She’s normal. Her sense of humor is quite generous. Her taste in music is where I get lost, she’s a big fan of jazz (which I don’t know anything about), doesn’t really like any of the main stream R&B or Hip Hop stuff, but every now and then I hear some Kelly Clarkson type pop on her ipod. She’s definitely not way into anything, but she does enjoy watching “Project Runway.”

17

Does she drive to school or take a bus each morning? Do the Burma Shave thing and have a series of signs on poster board along her route, asking her to the dance. Researching Burma Shave is part of your education, if you don’t get the reference. It’s cheap, it’s memorable, and also very, very public without setting fire to anything.

18

I love this idea, but I’d save it for a bigger occasion. Engagement or the first dance between the sheets. But a great idea nonetheless!

19

Engrave your invite backwards on a dodge ball. Then when you smack her in the thigh during gym class, she’ll see your lovely invite through the red welt left behind.

20

Record yourself asking her to the dance, make it into an MP3, and surreptitiously either a) put the MP3 on her iPod (might help to queue it up to play next or something or you might be in for a long wait if it’s on random) or b) swap her iPod with a ‘plant’ that has your MP3 plus a few others or something on it. If you really want to geek it up, make your dance invitation into a jazz song.