As the 2024 Winter Formal approaches, CdM students are arranging their plans for the night. The date, Saturday, February 3rd, 2024, from seven pm to ten pm, has been set in students’ calendars for weeks. The new venue has many excited for the upcoming night. Tickets have been selling for weeks as people prepare for CdM’s Winter Formal “A Night in the Garden”. As the anticipated night creeps up, students are finalizing the last details, or scrambling for last-minute plans.

There are many parts that go into preparing for a dance, Winter Formal being no different. Groups have to be formed, meeting places have to be agreed upon, dresses and suits have to be bought, transportation has to be arranged, and the pre-and post-dance plans have to be set. Many also have to plan a way to ask their date to the dance, normally by making a sign. Usually, one or two people head the group, inviting everyone, preparing the transportation, and deciding where to go and what to do before and after the dance.

A basic plan usually looks like meeting up at or near someone’s house for pictures, groups, and individuals. After that, the transportation of choice, depending on the budget and size of the group, such as a car, party bus, and more, would take the group to dinner, or straight to the dance. After spending some time at the dance, most groups will then plan to meet afterwards for another gathering. Junior Maryann Withrow’s plan includes “going to dinner before having fun with my friends at the dance”.

As the clock ticks closer to the highly anticipated 2024 winter formal at CdM, the preparations of students are nearly complete. The eagerly awaited date has long been marked in students’ calendars, and the growing buzz surrounding the night has been stirring excitement throughout the student body. Feeling the anticipation, junior Audrey Long is “very excited for this year’s winter formal”, as it will be the first dance she attends since freshman year homecoming. As the final days before the event unfold, students ensure every detail aligns perfectly for what promises to be an unforgettable night.