By Amorie Sheen
amorie@newsroom.byu.edu
A night as a lady of the court, a cowboy or characters from the future are some options for Preference this weekend.
'Falling Through Time' is the theme for Fall Preference.
There will be seven different time periods represented by the various dances.
The Colonial dance will feature carriage rides at the Chillon in Spanish Fork.
An Incan theme Latin dance will be at Aspen Grove in Provo, Friday, Nov. 3, only.
Medieval, Western, Futuristic, Colonial, Hellenistic and Modern are other themes.
Kevin Mumford, executive director for Preference, said it is unusual to have Homecoming and Preference so close to each other.
He said ladies tend to want to have more time to plan and organize for the date.
Historically, more tickets have been sold for Preference dances than Homecoming, Mumford said.
He said he thinks more tickets are sold because there seem to be more married male students than female students, so there are more girls asking boys to these dances.
There are two Preference dances per year and only one Homecoming dance because the ladies wanted more formal dances, Mumford said.
Amanda Cook, 21, a junior from Taylorsville, Utah, majoring in communications, said she likes Preference because it gives girls a chance to pick their date so they can ask the guy they like.
This Preference is special for Cook because she is expecting to get engaged at the dance.
'I thought he was going to ask at Homecoming, but he didn't so I am going to take him to Preference,' Cook said.
Cook said Preference is also a great bonding experience for girls. Planning and executing the date brings roommates and friends closer.
Thom Carter, executive director of campus activities, said he thinks more girls go to Preference because they like to be in charge of the date.
Mumford said there are over 100 volunteers helping the few directors and also Guest Services work taking tickets and regulating dress standards.
Mumford said he thinks Guest Services gets a bad rap for being the enforcers of the standards but it is an important part of the event.
'They are the ones that keep the BYU-ness of the dances,' Mumford said.
Fall Preference is Nov. 4-5 and tickets for the dances range from $16 to $28 between the seven different time period themes.