Finding a date for formal
 

Hey everyone! I'm in a sorority at a southern school and I have a formal coming up next Friday. Although I've attended swaps and other events with fraternities, I don't really know any guys to ask as my date. A couple of fraternities are having parties this weekend and I thought it would be a great time to strike up a conversation with a fairly nice guy and maybe ask him to be my date. Is this okay to do? From what I understand, most people don't know their dates that well. Any advice would be helpful :)

Yes, it's ok.

You can also ask for another sister to help you find a date.

That's a good idea! Or someone in your classes. Or someone who has a lot of mutual friends. :) Have fun!

Depending on the formal, it may not be a good idea. Do they have to wear a tux? Will there be dinner before? What costs will he incur? It would be sort of odd to meet a random guy and expect him to drop $100 or more on you. I'd ask someone to set you up.

Why not go with a friend/someone you know better? I've usually found that people who bring dates they bearly know just don't have a good time.. for a number of reasons - e.g. their date is spending more time talking to other people, their date doesn't want to put up that much money, their date is boring and won't even get up from the table, etc.

Do you not know ANY guys you could bring to this formal?

By all means, do what you want. But my suggestion is to not bring a random guy you just met a week earlier.

I don't really have any guy friends. The one good guy friend I do have, isn't really formal material. I don't think formal would be his cup of tea.

It's a suit and tie formal. My date doesn't have to wear a tuxedo or anything. My date doesn't have to pay for anything, unless he wants to buy drinks at the venue.

It's kinda last minute, so I could ask a friend, although I prefer to find my own date. I don't really like it when my friends try to set me up with someone. I'm usually disappointed in the end. The last guy I asked to be my date to a function through my sorority, canceled on me the day of the event. Finding and keeping a date isn't so easy.

Don't do a blind date for formal. I had a sister do this once for me. Really bad idea. The guy just wanted to sit at the table all night long. I felt rude hanging out with my sisters or dancing because he was just sitting alone at the table. He didn't know anyone there. The only time he got on the dance floor was to show me he could do the robot. Awesome.

That's why it is better to bring a friend. Less pressure. We all speak from experience. If you're not in a relationship or "talking" to someone, having a rando date at a "date party" can be really stressful.

Is there a particular fraternity your sorority hangs out with a lot? It might be better to ask someone from this group so he'll have brothers at the formal.

Or...try asking your guy friend. You never know, he (and you) may have a blast.

Hey,
I was dealing with the exact same thing as you until yesterday. I didn't have a date for our formal and was spazzing. When it comes to most things, I'm very assertive. Men/guys? I turn into a sniveling mess.

So, I didn't know who to ask....but had one guy friend that I found nice and even though he didn't seem like the formal 'type', I decided to go for it. I told myself that the next time I saw him, wherever that might be....I'd just say :"________ will you go to Beta Formal with me ?"
So, I saw him and....just went for it. He seemed very happy to be asked and said "Yes!"

You can do it! I know you can!

My Dad use to joke that I was a male escort during college since I attended quite a few sorority formals (or date functions) with friends or their sorority sisters. :cool:

For what it is worth, I met their sisters at some previous social function, so these weren't blind dates either.

This!

For one of my formals, I had no idea who to ask, but I tended to hang around a lot at a certain fraternity, and as it turned out, my date knew a ton of the other girls and guys at formal. Even though we weren't interested in dating, we still had a blast because I was comfortable with him, plus we were free to go off with our other friends throughout the night.

Try finding someone who is friends with many of the girls/dates and you'll both likely have a good time. Even if you don't do much together after taking pictures :p