Prom 2020 May Be Canceled, But This Reader is Making Memories by Taking Porch Portraits

By Mary | Senior Staff Writer

Apr 24, 2020 @ 5:15 AM MDT

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Promo 2020 porch pic with boy dressed up

This photo is priceless! 📷

Prom is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many high school seniors. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, dances have been cancelled, tickets refunded, and dresses waiting to be returned. 😢

However, memories can still be made. And that’s exactly what Hip2Save reader, Rachel, did for her son! ❤️

people on front porch dressed up with promo 2020 sign

“My son is a senior in high school. Traditional end of the year senior celebrations are on hold or will be canceled due to covid-19 and social distancing.

We decided to create a “Porch Portrait” where our neighbor/photographer took photos of families in our neighborhood from at least 6-feet apart to capture how different families are dealing with quarantine.

We created one that captured my son’s senior year experience and put a fun spin on it. We posted it to our Facebook page and have gotten so much positive feedback!”

girl blowing confetti

And to the Class of 2020, we see you! 👀

While it may be a crazy year with missed opportunities & delayed celebrations, we want to take a moment to say…

Congratulations! 🎉 Hooray! 🙌🏻 Yippee! ⭐️ You ROCK! 👏🏻 Way to Go! 🎓

And thank YOU, Rachel, for sharing this fun Porch Portrait Prom idea! ❤️

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Join The Discussion

onlinements 35

orangeblue April 24, 2020 at 5:55 am MST

Love this ❤️my daughter is also a senior and she is having a hard time dealing with prom AND graduation being cancelled. I think I will do this for her to brighten her spirits. It’s hard for these seniors (and parents) who have worked so hard and waited for these big milestones only for it to “celebrated” through social media. Kinda ironic though being that they tend to “live” on social media. I joked with her that they are taking senior skip day to a whole new level and I only got an eye roll 🤷‍♀️

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jen s. April 24, 2020 at 6:16 am MST

Ya the senior skipping is totally out of control 😉 my senior son is finding new ways to get snack food delivered (doorpuff?) And luckily I don’t think he had big prom plans so that’s a relief! We’re in ct and right now they’re scheduled to go back to school 5/20. I don’t think N.Y. has called off the school year yet either…. which is crazy!!!

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50ShadesofLipstick April 24, 2020 at 9:28 am MST

New York called it off a while ago actually.

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everest716 April 24, 2020 at 10:58 am MST

Maybe NYC but not all NY

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bargins April 24, 2020 at 1:44 pm MST

And even NYC wasn’t true. It was “an opinion” of the mayor according to the governor.

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50ShadesofLipstick April 24, 2020 at 2:42 pm MST

The mayor has already announced the decision to close for the school year…that doesn’t mean that the governor couldn’t override it though.

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50ShadesofLipstick April 24, 2020 at 2:41 pm MST

Yeah, I was talking about the city…not the state.

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bargins April 24, 2020 at 1:43 pm MST

Wrong.

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50ShadesofLipstick April 24, 2020 at 2:43 pm MST

You must not follow Di Blasio or the NYT. This is old news for NYC.

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MrsGarfield April 24, 2020 at 11:54 am MST

In NV the governor ordered the remainder of the school year to be onlinepleted online (distant learning) my daughter is 8th grade and she was supposed to have a graduation but not anymore. I understand the high school graduation is the bigger thing but people forget about middle school graduation.

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Sla1981 April 24, 2020 at 8:36 am MST

There is a group on facebook 50 cards from 50 states that we are doing.
You can send/recieve cards from Seniors all over the US!

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Fran April 24, 2020 at 12:27 pm MST

Sla1981
Can you send a link for the cards please. My friend is a high school teacher and many of her students are having a hard time. This sounds like fun.
TYSM

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Sla1981 April 24, 2020 at 5:51 pm MST

Fran i have tried to post it twice and hasn’t worked. Search 50 Cards from 50 states senior 2020 on facebook.

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Arelys318 April 24, 2020 at 6:02 am MST

Im not a parent but such a beautiful idea. God bless your family.

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Laurie April 24, 2020 at 6:19 am MST

Looking for out of the box ideas of celebrating my daughter’s college graduation. Our state extended stay at home order until June 1st. 🙁 I plan on taking pictures in her cap and gown that arrived yesterday, but a big party with her college friends and our family isn’t going to be possible. I feel so bad for her and all the other graduates who have worked so hard.

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April 24, 2020 at 6:37 am MST

How about a zoom call w family and friends where she can wear her cap and gown and wveryone can toast to her and give her their best advice for college or something like that Have everyone make a cupcake or a cake and cut it with her on zoom call Take pictures ahead of time and mail them out to family and friends with the zoom invite

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Sla1981 April 24, 2020 at 8:34 am MST

Drive by party.

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riss April 24, 2020 at 2:35 pm MST

My son is also a senior in college and we have not heard anything about graduation ceremony, so most probably not. And he didn’t mention anything even before covid 19 about the cap and gown.

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Barbara April 24, 2020 at 3:05 pm MST

I feel for your daughter. I just graduated college at age 51 with my bachelor’s degree and my graduation was anceled about three weeks before. I will find a way to celebrate it when things settle down. It will not be how I planned but it doesn’t change the fact that I worked really hard, sacrificed and did it. Tell her I said congratulations.

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StaceyW August 14, 2020 at 3:31 pm MST

Wow! Congratulations on going back to school and finishing! Key word there is FINISHING! Yay!!

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Sheila April 24, 2020 at 6:57 am MST

What a great idea! We are a shelter-in-place state until April 30th. My daughter graduated from college. I took her, the dog, and a quilt I made from 24 college t-shirts to a park to get some senior pics. No cap & gown pics, no onlinemencement, no grad parties. We had a great photo shoot, and made some popular posts on Facebook with them, for family & friends to see. We do what we can to make these moments special for our kids!

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Laurie April 24, 2020 at 7:01 am MST

It’s not what we planned, but yes, we do all we can for our kids! Congrats to your daughter!

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Lokazo3 April 26, 2020 at 8:10 pm MST

I’m in the same situation with my 21 yr daughter a senior in college. I love your idea of a college tee quilt! What a great way to remember the good times. I will look for some patterns online, my girl definitely has enough band and school tees for that project!

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frugal-fit-sexy April 24, 2020 at 7:26 am MST

I’m a HS teacher, and the majority of my seniors got dressed and ready for prom, and took their pics. They all said at least they would have the memories of getting ready. It was so cool to see, but sad at the same time .

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Jenn April 24, 2020 at 7:28 am MST

I am a photographer in Florida and I am offering prom photos or high school and college senior sessions at no cost❤️My heart just breaks for all of these kids and families

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frugal-fit-sexy April 24, 2020 at 7:44 am MST

A good friend of mine is doing the same, God bless people like you guys

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TJ April 24, 2020 at 9:20 am MST

I’m in PA, so nowhere near you, but thank you for doing that for them. What a gift.

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Jaci1717 April 24, 2020 at 8:29 am MST

U guys have good sports i have junior (girl) & senior (boy) and they wouldn’t do it. There school year has been cancelled and our shelter in place has been extended to May 30th.

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PrincessMom April 24, 2020 at 8:47 am MST

My college graduation is being rescheduled to fall. I don’t see why high schools can’t do the same. Maybe do it over thanksgiving break for the kids who have left for college.

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TJ April 24, 2020 at 9:31 am MST

This is cute!!

Last Friday John Krasinski and Some Good News did a “prom”. My 7yo got dressed up and asked his sister to prom. She didn’t really want to put on her dress; she’s a senior and has been a little mopey about prom being cancelled. Understandably.

But when her little brother came in dressed up, she melted and said yes instantly and put her dress on. Our other boys helped me string lights in the living room. Our mock prom was pretty fun and lots of special memories were made.

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Adorkable April 24, 2020 at 12:47 pm MST

This is too cute! I love the picture. I don’t have kids, but I think it would be cool for high school seniors to put their own graduation together. What I mean is for a kid and their group of friends to each take video of them in their cap and gown(if you have it) getting their “diploma.” It could just be a rolled up piece of paper tied with a curling ribbon as it would be more of a prop. Seniors could have a sibling taking video and have a parent give them their diploma so the video would show them walking “across the stage” as they would have in a normal graduation. The announcing of their name could be done by a friend of theirs and to make it fun they could do a descriptive intro leading into the calling of the name. Like “Our next graduate is a guy that was known for always cracking jokes and getting yelled at by Mrs. Smith for being his onlineedic self. Let’s (insert dance of the moment here) it out for Johnny.” Each graduate can be assigned another graduate to make an intro for. They could take video of themselves giving speeches(serious or onlineedic) and then edit it all together to actually show a video of them all recieving their diplomas. If they have a favorite teacher they can ask that teacher to participate as well. This is their year and they should get creative with ways on how to celebrate.

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Lo April 24, 2020 at 1:10 pm MST

That’d be pretty cool to see!

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Chris April 24, 2020 at 3:46 pm MST

One of the local high schools near me is having their graduation at a local drive in movie theatre.

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Becca April 24, 2020 at 4:37 pm MST

My senior daughter has been putting on her prom dress and we have been taking really funny pictures around the house. One she was vacuuming (which she never does) and had the funniest facial expression, another she took with her handmade face mask, etc. Her friends and her are going to do something special when ban is lifted including special photo shoot in their dresses and then out for a fancy dinner. Then she said another day she wants to wear her dress and get funny pictures at all her favorite places (LuLuLemon, Chick Fil A, McD’s and on a tennis court with her racket because she was a varsity tennis player in h.s. She is trying to make the best of the situation and we will have lots of funny pictures.

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Jill April 24, 2020 at 5:55 pm MST

I work for a school system. Lots of discussions idea sharing on graduation, recognizing seniors & virtual proms. In PA they are going to do graduation at a drive-in theatre with social distancing. A national group is hosting 4 virtual proms in 4 time zones with up to 10k participants in each. Some counties have focus groups with students to let the students decide.

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