WHS Students walked the orange carpet at Wayland High School, all formally dressed, to kick off the Class of 2022’s prom on April, 30. The attendees then travelled by bus to the Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor Hotel, and where prom lasted from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m..

In the past, WHS proms have been junior proms; however, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Class of 2022 has faced much uncertainty surrounding the event.

“Originally, we had planned for a prom our junior year, but that was quickly pushed back once the pandemic hit,” senior Class President Andrew Zhao said. “Other than that it hasn’t been affected too much, because most regulations have opened up now and there isn’t really much we have to worry about.”

This year, the prom tickets cost $110, while the last prom prior to COVID-19 were $115 per ticket. The postponement of prom allowed for more planning time and fundraising. Most of the class of 2022’s fundraisers went into their prom budget for transportation, venue, food, etc.

“Like other events, we had to postpone the junior prom,” Class of 2022 Advisor Jennifer Reed said. “We have had a very accommodating venue that gave us flexibility surrounding [COVID-19] regulations. Although students were disappointed last year, we took the extra time to fundraise to help offset the costs of senior events. We are excited to see this event finally happen.”

The class government decided on their venue, Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor, because they wanted a venue on the waterfront. Students went to the venue on buses from the high school after pre-prom, which was at the high school right before the prom. All families were invited.

“There’s a nice terrace outside of the hotel that can set up for some great pictures on the Boston skyline,” Zhao said. “Although it cost a bit more to get a waterfront venue, we thought it was worth it because we’ve had pretty successful fundraising efforts in the past.”

Seniors could take dates to prom from any grade at WHS or students who do not attend WHS. Many seniors created “promposals” as a fun way to ask their date to the prom.

“Promposals are a special way of asking someone to go to prom with you,” Zhao said. “The most typical one is a poster with some kind of pun, but they can get even more elaborate, and people go creative on them and it’s really cool.”

Prom is long awaited by many, so after much uncertainty, many seniors were excited to be together for an event with their full class.

“I am really excited about prom, because I feel like we haven’t had something in our grade that brings everyone together in a while,” senior Sarah Liszewski said. “I think this is going to be really good, not just for our grade, but for the other grades of kids invited.”