Aerial signs, enormous banners, vibrant arrangements of donuts…all of these and more were seen around the Cathedral Catholic campus as students took creative efforts to win a date for what is (debatably) the ultimate high school rite of passage: Prom.

As the extravagance of these proposals increase, so too does the gap in one’s bank account. A current nationwide survey conducted by Visa, Inc. highlights the extent of the costs of these elaborate invitations, claiming that the pseudo-marriage proposals will cost the average American household with high school students $324 in 2015. Even so, this number equates to only one third of the overall $919 average that prom-going teens will spend on the event – a number that has decreased 6% from the 2014 average of $978.

In an effort to make these exorbitant costs worthwhile for students and their families for this weekend’s prom, Cathedral ASB has been tasked with the difficult job of developing a prom theme that students will be receptive to. After brainstorming roughly between 10-20 themes to choose from, an anonymous vote conducted amongst the ASB officers eliminated each of these ideas sans the top three. ASB officers then needed to take into account the capacity of application for each of these themes: “We need to consider if decorations can be created from the theme, etcetera,” said ASB President and senior Marika Vigo.

Administration approval of these three concepts was then needed prior to moving forward in the theme decision-making process. Post authorization, a final vote was conducted to produce this year’s winning idea of “A Stroll Down the Red Carpet,” a concept originally proposed for this past year’s winter formal.

ASB officers find that the most difficult aspect of preparing for prom is not necessarily developing a theme, but rather finding the balance needed to carry one out effectively, starting with the weeks leading up to the event. “We have to make sure we’re spending enough time not only preparing for the dance, but also the rally and the spirit week events leading up to the dance,” said Vigo. “It’s about making sure we don’t spread ourselves too thinly so that we can have a successful event.”

The success of tomorrow’s 7 P.M. to 11 P.M. event, located at the San Diego Zoo, has yet to be determined, however. While the initial unveiling of the theme has been received fairly well, hesitations over the success of the event still remain amongst students. “I like this theme because I’m a fan of old school Hollywood and vintage clothing and music,” said senior prom-goer Danielle Jaksha, “But I’m expecting it to not really stick to the theme in details.”