Pref Night Food & Special Stuff

[Denise_DPhiE]

What has been some of the more memorable Pref night foods or things served for you all? Do you all "personalize" some food item, cakes, chocolate cover strawberries in tuxedo's to impress your potential new sisters? Were there any "turnoffs" with regard to food or drink on Pref Night?

Can you tell it is lunchtime and I'm pregnant? All I think about is food!!!

Denise_DPhiE

[sororitygirl2]

I think the least special thing is cheesecake, because so many houses seve it! Also, it is SO heavy and rich and you are eating two or three desserts that night, so they should be lighter!

[nauadpi]

I know my chapter does petifores (ok I cant spell) but we make it special by writing their names onto their plates. It looks really nice and is eatable...

[maggieaxid]

we actually were encouraged not to have food at preference bc it was getting out of hand with expense. (a way of cutting back on the frills i guess.) but we did have sparkeling cider and sparkling grape juice in plastic wine glasses that we decorated their names in double blue and gold.
As for other rounds, we've had chocolate covered pretzels...bad idea! gets all over your fingers and on your clothes, brownies with their names in diff. shades of blue and yellow icing, Alpha Xi Punch blue coolaid with lemons floating in it...as good as it is, it turns your mouth blue...
when i went through other sororities did pink lemonade for phi mu (the girl taking me around ended up knocking it all over me--yeah i wasn't happy! esp. bc i was wearing a nice white shirt), zta always had strawberries, aott had cupcakes with red roses made out of icing on top, tri-sigma had diff. kinds of cookies in the shape sailboats with some kind of purple drink that also stained your mouth purpule, and ASA had cookies with raggedy ann dols and lady bugs painted on them with icing---totally freaked me out!

[Ginger]

I'm curious, because I never went through a Formal Rush...

what does a rushee (sorry, PNM) do if they don't like the foods being served? For example, I don't like sweets and absolutely HATE chocolate....but I wouldn't want to look bad by not eating it, you know? Just curious

[maggieaxid]

no, we had a girl that was allergic to chocolate when we gave her the brownie, she was just like "no thank you." and was very plesant about it. no big deal, more for the sisters to eat later!

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by nauadpi
I know my chapter does petifores (ok I cant spell) but we make it special by writing their names onto their plates. It looks really nice and is eatable...

That's "petit fours"! :D

Chocolate covered strawberries are messy, but unfortunately I have no good alternative suggestions to make! :)

[SigK_Bama]

One thing I know is that Pi Phi usually does angel food cake. It's a cute idea. We usually did punch of some kind, and when I was Pres we did a fruit pie. It was a tiny pie shell with a whipped cream mix and fruit on top. They were good but oh so hard to eat like a lady! :rolleyes:

[doubleblue&gold]

For our "movie night" party we had popcorn and cokes----was nice to eat something other than sweets.

[Fewdfreak]

At one house I preffed there was this HUGE piece of cheesecake with fondue toppings or something. Very rich, I could barely eat half of it. At another there was yummy chocolate mousse with some champagniny stuff that was tasty!

I loved pref!

[KappaKittyCat]

We've found that a good alternative to chocolate-dipped strawberries is a fruit tray with various types of dip available. We usually offer chocolate, caramel, and plain (cream cheese & sugar). It's a much lighter fare compared to what the other chapters offer, so women attending all three Prefs aren't bogged down by triple cheesecake.

We also offer hot tea & cider, which the women like 'cuz January in Wisconsin is COLD!

[aephi alum]

We did large cookies personalized with each PNM's name... then we had some little things like petits fours, chocolate-dipped strawberries, etc. We were restricted to snack/finger-food type food.

We did have a PNM come through one year who refused her cookie during pref - but she told us that she was diabetic, so that we wouldn't think she was being rude. Good thing she did, too; when she came to our bid day party, we had a Diet Coke and some sugar-free candy waiting for her :)

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by aephi alum
Good thing she did, too; when she came to our bid day party, we had a Diet Coke and some sugar-free candy waiting for her :)

That is awesome and so thoughtful of your chapter! :D

[OUlioness01]

honestly i don't know what my chapter serves because when I preffed i was too nervous to eat and i must have turned down the food 5 times!

[violets]

The chapter that I advised steered clear of sweets and instead did plates of three different cheeses with grapes and some crackers. The pnms loved it and would ask for seconds (that's what I like to see)!

[maggieaxid]

one chapter had cheese and crackers at an open house and i guess the cheese was bad or something bc all these girls ended up getting really sick. after that panhell decided that no food, just drinks for the open house which is outside, in the hot northcarolina septermber sun.

[violets]

one chapter had cheese and crackers at an open house and i guess the cheese was bad or something bc all these girls ended up getting really sick

What a nightmare! Those poor girls! And talk about making a bad impression.

[maggieaxid]

yeah, the glo was then named something really awful by the PNM's after that. I think eventually they got over it though.
Moral of the story: if its hot out, do not use DAIRY!

[SnakeyKPledge]

maggieaxid....where did you go to school at in NC?

[maggieaxid]

Elon College, now university...yes, we have SigmaK, some of my good friends are SK's.

[Lady Blondie]

I find all your responses fascinating as our campus does not allow food or drinks served at any Recruitment party! In addition, we are also not allowed to write the recruits names on anything – notes, letters, food, etc. I do think there are benefits to the absence of any food/beverage items. I cannot imagine the dilemmas and “cook offs" that must occur.

[PiPhiERDoc]

Last year I found this great cookie cutter in the shape of a house, and I thought it would be a great idea to make sugar cookies in the shape of these darling houses and arrows (of course!) for preference.
So I started baking like a week and a half in advance, and after something like fourteen DOZEN cookies later I decided that I now HATED sugar cookies and if I never see pink icing again in my entire life it will be too soon.
They were awfully cute though...anything for my Pi Phi girls!;)

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I don't remember having food as fancy as many of you have described. One party I went to had a Candyland theme. My roommate and I didn't really talk to many sisters. We just stood at the table and ate candy all night. :p

[Denise_DPhiE]

Bumping b/c hey, everyone else is bumping today due to the vandals last night on GC....

And no, I'm not pregnant!

This was MY first thread on greekchat. And my child just turned 3!

Denise

[adpiucf]

At my campus, we were not allowed to have food. We did water, sodas and non-alcoholic punch.

Other chapters I have worked with do custom petit fours at prefs, etc.

[KSUViolet06]

In the past, we've had:

*mini deli rolls
*strawberry parfaits
*cheesecake

[Glitter650]

Chocolate Covered Strawberries and cream puffs.

[lilsunshine214]

I know in the past Phi Gam had dophin or bow shaped cookies. I heard they were really cute.

We try to stick to light things as well like fruit with dip, veggie trays, etc...

[AUDeltaGam]

We've had: chocolate coins with anchors on them (made them from a mold), chocolate covered strawberries, petite fours, nuts (I think) and various fruits.

[GeekyPenguin]

My chapter is the only NPC on campus so we do not have to follow no-frills guidelines, before I get reamed YET AGAIN for this...

For pref, we have it catered by the University, and generally have fruit and veggie trays, cheese and crackers, and cheesecake or some sort.

[honeychile]

When I rushed, one of the houses had a HUGE buffet for Pref: Swedish meatballs, fruit-kabobs, meatball-kabobs, cheese, crackers, assorted canapes - it was amazing!! We served larger petit fours, tea sandwiches, nuts, fruit kabobs, mints, coffee, tea, and punch.

For the round prior to Pref, we were allowed to serve food, and knowing that the other sororities all served desserts, we served a selection of salads. It went over VERY well!

Now, I think every sorority on campus serves cheesecake for Pref - the only difference is how it's presented. I'd like to see cheesecake banned, even for one year!

[alum]

It's almost a test to see if the PNMs can eat properly in a social setting while carrying on a conversation. Drippy meatballs, spinachy things, poppy seeds....

[PenguinTrax]

Originally posted by alum
It's almost a test to see if the PNMs can eat properly in a social setting while carrying on a conversation. Drippy meatballs, spinachy things, poppy seeds....

A test of what? Are you for real?

[Denise_DPhiE]

Originally posted by alum
It's almost a test to see if the PNMs can eat properly in a social setting while carrying on a conversation. Drippy meatballs, spinachy things, poppy seeds....

Must be what they did at "top tier" houses back in ancient times. My original post was to see if there were special things like a DG posted about lovely chocoloate anchors not "test" food. Yeesh.

Denise: rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[AlphaFrog]

george - see that post by alum? If she's for real (which we're not sure of) she's not joking...and all the posts after are making fun of her. Search for some of her other posts and you'll get it.

[PhoenixAzul]

We always do chinese food/oriental theme (based on some of the history of my sorority) and everyone makes a special little candle holder for the event. Everyone gets a white rose and a wee bracelet in our colours too. It's good craic and great food.

[aopirose]

Originally posted by Denise_DPhiE
Must be what they did at "top tier" houses back in ancient times.

Actually, it still goes on and not just "top tier."

[angelove]

Back during "full frills" rush, we always served chocolate fondue with strawberries, cake, etc. for the round before prefs. We would always serve something different for prefs, but I remember another house serving their "own" dessert - sort of a layered thing with chocolate mousse, crust, whipped cream - and they told us that sisters received the recipe only when they got married. That dessert was pretty yummy - I almost pledged there so I could have a shot at getting the recipe!

[OTW]

Originally posted by honeychile

Now, I think every sorority on campus serves cheesecake for Pref - the only difference is how it's presented. I'd like to see cheesecake banned, even for one year!

I love Preference and the beauty of the ceremony.

But I too support a cheesecake ban...I think I'm scarred for life because of it!

[kddani]

Originally posted by OTW
I love Preference and the beauty of the ceremony.

But I too support a cheesecake ban...I think I'm scarred for life because of it!

Ditto. Honeychile isn't kidding about our campus.... the only time I thought the cheesecake was a good thing was when the grandmother of our rush chair (the grandmother had raised her) came to stay during recruitment and made all these individual cheesecakes that were darling (and delicious- and I don't even like cheesecake!). We also personalized them with the KD letters in some sort of berry sauce and also wrote the PNM's name on them.

[irishpipes]

I would recommend getting one of those cake stands with levels. Then you could have top-tier cheesecake, middle-tier cheesecake, and bottom-tier cheesecake.

[AlphaFrog]

We had ladybug shaped cookies that were painted nicely with frosting. They were cute. One of the PNM's tried to leave with one. Almost got a rush infratcion.

[Denise_DPhiE]

Originally posted by irishpipes
I would recommend getting one of those cake stands with levels. Then you could have top-tier cheesecake, middle-tier cheesecake, and bottom-tier cheesecake.

LOLROTF

[AlphaFrog]

Originally posted by irishpipes
I would recommend getting one of those cake stands with levels. Then you could have top-tier cheesecake, middle-tier cheesecake, and bottom-tier cheesecake.

Awesome.;)

[AUDeltaGam]

This may sound silly, but make sure the food tastes good! We had starfruit one year, and while it looked pretty on the plate, I'm not sure it tasted very good!

[kdonline]

I think our house was the reason for implementing no-frills rules back in the 80s.

In 1986 (or was it 87?), at prefs, we served shrimp cocktails (in the appropriate crystal, of course) and mini-cheesecakes to the rushees.

It was THE TALK of rush...or more like, the SCANDAL! lol!

The next year, Panhellenic started implementing rules on what can/can't be served.

Ahh...if only rush was how it was back in the 80s.... you younguns have NO idea on what you missed out on!

And of course, being at an SEC school - the elite of the elite! ;) (just thought I'd throw THAT in!)

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

Dani - you and Honey went to the same school?

[kddani]

Originally posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu
Dani - you and Honey went to the same school?

Yep. Let's go Pitt!

(no, there's no cheesecake left for your 450 pound ass)

[OTW]

Originally posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu
Dani - you and Honey went to the same school?

I think KillarneyRose did as well.

[kddani]

Originally posted by OTW
I think KillarneyRose did as well.

Yep, that's right :)

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

Huh. Wouldn't have guessed Honey was a Pitt girl. Although I suppose I remember her saying something about that in another thread, now that I think about it.

SHUT UP ABOUT MY 450 LB ASS. You wish yours could be as round and bulbus as mine.

[OTW]

Originally posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu


SHUT UP ABOUT MY 450 LB ASS. You wish yours could be as round and bulbus as mine.

Whatever.

The 450 lbs is what you carry on your chest, woman.

Bulbus indeedy.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by kddani
Yep. Let's go Pitt!

(no, there's no cheesecake left for your 450 pound ass)

If by go, you mean get beat by Marquette, then yes. :)

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

Originally posted by OTW
Whatever.

The 450 lbs is what you carry on your chest, woman.

Bulbus indeedy.


Badonga-donga.

How many more hot friends do you have? Enough that live here where I can scavenge off you for years at a time?

[OTW]

Originally posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu
Badonga-donga.

How many more hot friends do you have? Enough that live here where I can scavenge off you for years at a time?

Mark does get back to DC in about 4 days.

[bluefish81]

I love cheesecake. The chapter that I used to advise now serves it for pref night. One year, when I was still active, we had what we were told were petit fours however, they tasted like disgusting pillows of frosting. Way too much sugar.

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

Originally posted by OTW
Mark does get back to DC in about 4 days.

More like in my clutches.

[honeychile]

Originally posted by irishpipes
I would recommend getting one of those cake stands with levels. Then you could have top-tier cheesecake, middle-tier cheesecake, and bottom-tier cheesecake.
We could only serve the top-tier cheesecake. :p
Originally posted by HotDamnI'mAPhiMu
Huh. Wouldn't have guessed Honey was a Pitt girl. Although I suppose I remember her saying something about that in another thread, now that I think about it.
Yes, ma'am (or is that ma'ams, if we're speaking of your 450 pound, er, top-tier?)! I had a couple other scholarships, but since I was 16 when I graduated from high school, my parents didn't think I was mature enough to go away to school (I wasn't!). I was to go to Pitt for a year, then transfer to William & Mary, but as they say about best laid plans...

Btw, petit fours can be wonderful, or nasty. Ours were made by a special bakery and were fantastic!

[PiPhiGirl2005]

We actually don't have food on pref party day... Is that strange?

We serve milkshakes for skit day (a holdover from when "Grease" was our skit, but they're too tasty to do away with) and change up the desserts every year for dessert parties. In the past, we've done chocolate mousse, lemon sorbet in lemon cups, and, most recently, tiramisu.

[lagirl33]

We don't have food for pref party either - limitations due to no frills rush. We do however, serve sparkling cider in champagne flutes, with 2 strawberries on the glass.

[AUDeltaGam]

Originally posted by lagirl33
We don't have food for pref party either - limitations due to no frills rush. We do however, serve sparkling cider in champagne flutes, with 2 strawberries on the glass.

We did that for Skit Day, except we used ginger ale and a rasberry. It turned out very cute!

[carnation]

One thing we had was an arrow cake and when each PNM pulled on a wine-colored ribbon, her name came out on a tiny card. I wish I could remember how we got each girl to pull on the right ribbon, maybe they were alphabetical. Anyway, it always caused a lot of gasps.

[Denise_DPhiE]

Originally posted by carnation
One thing we had was an arrow cake and when each PNM pulled on a wine-colored ribbon, her name came out on a tiny card. I wish I could remember how we got each girl to pull on the right ribbon, maybe they were alphabetical. Anyway, it always caused a lot of gasps.

You probably always made quota!!! I love it!

Denise

[honeychile]

This wasn't for Pref, but we did a Cinderella themed party, and actually made a punch bowl out of the biggest pumpkin we could find and made it look like a pumpkin coach. Then we found a place that would sell dry ice, so we'd put a piece in the punch so it would mist up and look pretty wild!

[lilsunshine214]

Originally posted by honeychile
This wasn't for Pref, but we did a Cinderella themed party, and actually made a punch bowl out of the biggest pumpkin we could find and made it look like a pumpkin coach. Then we found a place that would sell dry ice, so we'd put a piece in the punch so it would mist up and look pretty wild!

That sounds so neat!

[shadowstar]

The ZTA house at our school always had a cheeseball, and it was excellent. The ZTA advisor was also the Panhel advisor for awhile during the end of my time there and she brought it in one time. So good. Our chapter did what a lot of other posters have said - chocolate dipped strawberries, cookies, brownies, punch.

[KSUViolet06]

The DG's here have had an anchor shaped ice scuplture in the past. I'm not sure if they had it this year.

[Denise_DPhiE]

Originally posted by honeychile
This wasn't for Pref, but we did a Cinderella themed party, and actually made a punch bowl out of the biggest pumpkin we could find and made it look like a pumpkin coach. Then we found a place that would sell dry ice, so we'd put a piece in the punch so it would mist up and look pretty wild!

I am loving this. That is awesome!

[honeychile]

Originally posted by Denise_DPhiE
I am loving this. That is awesome!
Thank you all for the compliments on our "carriage punch bowl"! That whole skit was a send-up on Cinderella, with the Fairy Godmother waving a plunger & talking in a Brooklyn accent, the Prince wearing a Burger King crown, and the "mice" wearing Mickey Mouse ears!

It was my favorite non-Pref skit!

[honeychile]

Originally posted by Denise_DPhiE
I am loving this. That is awesome!
Thank you all for the compliments on our "carriage punch bowl"! That whole skit was a send-up on Cinderella, with the Fairy Godmother waving a plunger & talking in a Brooklyn accent, the Prince wearing a Burger King crown, and the "mice" wearing Mickey Mouse ears!

It was my favorite non-Pref skit!


PS - We had a 100% return rate on this party! Every other sorority was decorating to the nines, and we went low key, and served salads.

[AUDeltaGam]

Originally posted by JocelynC
The DG's here have had an anchor shaped ice scuplture in the past. I'm not sure if they had it this year.

We've done that. It looks gorgeous and everyone seems to like them :)

[FSUZeta]

we served anthill pie. you crushed oreos, sprinkled one layer in a 13 x 9 pan, spread softened peppermint ice cream over that, then sprinkled the remaining crushed oreos over the top. refreeze, then cut into squares-serve on a chilled dessert plate with a fork. you can drizzle chocolate sauce on the plate and on the ice cream square, if you want to get fancy.(it was also our favorite dessert for formal dinners) i imagine we served chilled water with it, but i cannot remember.

[lagirl33]

Originally posted by JocelynC
The DG's here have had an anchor shaped ice scuplture in the past. I'm not sure if they had it this year.

We've done this as well. It really is beautiful.

[AUDeltaGam]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/dglaura3/Picture466.jpg

This was from my senior year.

[FSUZeta]

that is absolutely stunning!!

[Denise_DPhiE]

Originally posted by AUDeltaGam
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/dglaura3/Picture466.jpg

This was from my senior year.

I guess your campus missed no frills huh? I plan corporate meetings and these cost $500!

:eek: :eek: :eek:

[AlphaFrog]

Originally posted by Denise_DPhiE
I guess your campus missed no frills huh? I plan corporate meetings and these cost $500!

:eek: :eek: :eek:

I was wondering about that. I think that would have eaten up our enitre recruitment budget (plus some).

[kddani]

Originally posted by Denise_DPhiE
I guess your campus missed no frills huh? I plan corporate meetings and these cost $500!

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Ice sculptures can look gorgeous, but what an insane expense for something that you can't reuse and that is just going to melt.

[AUDeltaGam]

Originally posted by kddani
Ice sculptures can look gorgeous, but what an insane expense for something that you can't reuse and that is just going to melt.

That was the sad part. It was so gorgeous, but by the end of the day, it was all gone.

[AUDeltaGam]

Originally posted by AlphaFrog
I was wondering about that. I think that would have eaten up our enitre recruitment budget (plus some).

I can't speak for all SEC schools, but I know at Auburn, our budget for pref was always pretty large. Hence, ice sculptures, exotic flowers (you can sorta see some in the mirror) and Hawaiian leis.

[Phigirl04]

I'm so jealous of that ice sculpture, I guess I'll just have to a few at my wedding to make up for it.

[AOIIalum]

Now, that is stunning!

[KSUViolet06]

Originally posted by AUDeltaGam
and Hawaiian leis.

The KSU chapter gives out REAL leis on Bid Night. We have had them before for date party so I know how expensive they are.

[AUDeltaGam]

Originally posted by JocelynC
The KSU chapter gives out REAL leis on Bid Night. We have had them before for date party so I know how expensive they are.

We use (real) leis during pref, and then the girls that come back to us on Bid Day get one to keep (plus you know the sisters keep them also...I've kept 2!:p )

[alum]

Originally posted by AUDeltaGam
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/dglaura3/Picture466.jpg

This was from my senior year.

I think it's absolutely lovely. How did it look by last round of the evening? Did it stay fairly intact?

[AUDeltaGam]

Originally posted by alum
i think it's absolutely lovely. How did it look by last round of the evening? Did it stay fairly intact?

It actually did look good. We have three pref parties, each an hour long, so it lasted past the 3 hours.

[AngieWashU]

Originally posted by AlphaFrog
We had ladybug shaped cookies that were painted nicely with frosting. They were cute. One of the PNM's tried to leave with one. Almost got a rush infratcion.

We had that problem with cookies that had our greek letters on them. And the girl didn't even pledge us!

[AngieWashU]

http://static.flickr.com/52/112154478_292f1cb1c6_m.jpg

This is a picture of the cake we served during two years of pref. Generous area alumnae cut (3" diameter) and frosted the 2-layer cakes for us the day before pref. After the second year, they begged us to find something less time-intensive so we switched to chocolate mousse.

http://static.flickr.com/40/112148564_0bbeb35dc8_m.jpg

[Janerz222]

Over the years, I've made Pref Night desserts for 2 of our chapters. I've done a lot of different things, usually a choice of 2 or 3 for each PNM and "host" sister. It's getting to be a little much for me to handle, but it is fun:

- cookies shaped like our badge (I have custom cookie cutters)
- mini cheesecakes (with lime, lemon, raspberry, or orange curd)
- individual fresh fruit tarts (expensive, depending on the season!)
- individual black-bottom caramel puddings (topped with whipped cream and a raspberry)
- dressed up brownies (round with piped ganache and a gold dragee on top)
- individual kite-shaped cakes

I'm sure there have been others, but my old brain can't remember.

[thindy86]

At my pref night, AOII had this delicious cheesecake with strawberries on it. While cheesecake is over done, I love it so I defintely wasn't complaining.

The 2nd house I went to on pref night...I don't really remember what they served us. I wasn't really paying attention that much because all I could think about was signing my card for AOII!

[spotie]

One year my chapter had chocolate seashell "cups" filled with chocolate creme mousse and a "pearl" candy since our jewel is the pearl. Very well received and yummy!

Fruit trifle was another one Canada Alpha did which went over really well - a nice alternative for those who didn't like chocolate. Still satisfied a sweet tooth and was light - easy on the pants post dinner!

[tunatartare]

One year my chapter had chocolate seashell "cups" filled with chocolate creme mousse and a "pearl" candy since our jewel is the pearl. Very well received and yummy!

Fruit trifle was another one Canada Alpha did which went over really well - a nice alternative for those who didn't like chocolate. Still satisfied a sweet tooth and was light - easy on the pants post dinner!
Spotie that sounds so beautiful and incredible!

[angelove]

One year my chapter had chocolate seashell "cups" filled with chocolate creme mousse and a "pearl" candy since our jewel is the pearl. Very well received and yummy!

Fruit trifle was another one Canada Alpha did which went over really well - a nice alternative for those who didn't like chocolate. Still satisfied a sweet tooth and was light - easy on the pants post dinner!

Why would you want a new member who didn't like chocolate?:D
j/k - and I love the pearl candy idea!

[WhiteDaisy128]

Not for pref...but for our skit night, we served pink lemonaid, sherley temples, and water with limes. For the pink lemonaid, we rimmed the glasses with pink sugar crystals and the sherley temples had red sugar crystals. It looked super cute.

[BellaBerlee]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/dglaura3/Picture466.jpg

This was from my senior year.

So two years ago (as UCFADPi said, no food only beverages) we got in trouble for having lemons on our water cups!! Talking about no frills, that would definitely cause a stir up!!

But it is very pretty!!

[IvySpice]

Ahh...if only rush was how it was back in the 80s.... you younguns have NO idea on what you missed out on!


Tell us! Tell us!

[notyouraverage]

ditto what IvySpice said!!

[Zillini]

Oh yeah, back in the 80's right before campuses started going No Frills, the Rush budgets were outrageous. Food, drink, decorations, you name it we had it. I was at the University of Illinois, I can't even imagine how things were at University of Alabama and other SEC schools. It had to be mind boggling -- and ridiculously expensive! The Advisor in me is now looking back thinking "What a waste! Oh, the wonderful things we could have done with that money!"

I remember being absolutely stuffed after the leaving the last Chapter on Pref Night. I could have easily skipped eating as I'd already filled up at the other 2 beforehand, but I didn't want to appear rude.

[adpiucf]

I'm pretty sure that at UCF the GLOs aren't allowed to serve anything other than ice water.

Yep. You'll get ice water and some sodas, and that's it. On pref night, they may make some kind of fruit punch. Don't worry. You'll get fed on Bid Day! ;)

Make sure to eat breakfast and carry a power bar or something with you to recruitment (your recruitment counselor will watch it-- longingly-- when you're in a party). Bring a water bottle and some breath mints, too!

[KSUViolet06]

I know I shouldn't bring my purse, I don't even think I'm allowed to have one.

I believe you can *bring* your purse but you can't take it into recruitment parties with you. You have to leave it outside with your recruitment counselor. So you'd put anything you might need in your purse and leave it outside.

[Zillini]

Every campus is different, but most should allow you to carry some sort of bag or purse. You just probably won't be allowed to take it into the parties. The Recruitment Councelor will watch over it, but even still I would leave anything of value at home. Also even if you have pockets don't bring anything in.

Things to leave at home:

- Cash/Credit cards
- Cell phones or other electronics
- Perfume (too many people are allergic)

Things to bring:

- Snack/power bar
- Makeup & those face oil blotter things (tissuepaper like things)
- Hairbrush, hairspray & mirror
- Breath mints (no gum as it's too easy to forget to spit out)
- Deoderant (the clear kind)
- Any medication you might need (like an inhaler, one PNM last year missed a few parties because she had to go home to get hers)
- Recruitment book, notepad, & pen
- Drinks should be provided at each party, but you may want to bring your own like maybe a sports drink
- Depending on the location of the sororities on your campus, some comfortable shoes to change into to walk between parties
- Femine products if necessary (Every year we have at least one PNM that is in need of something, so check your cycle ahead of time. How embarrassing to have an accident.)

[adpiucf]

Bring a purse or backpack or just a large plastic ziplock baggie with your name on it. Either way, lock your cell phone and money into the car and bring with you:

* Keys (so you can get back into the car!)
* Water bottle (helps to bring a frozen bottle with you that will melt as the day goes on)
* umbrella (it rains in the afternoon!)
* face powder or blotting papers
* lip gloss
* breath mints or strips
* a power bar or some crackers
* a notepad and pen
* tampon (just in case!)/emergency medicines (inhaler, epi-pen) that you would normally have
* Your PNM nametag

Any more makeup than that will melt, even under the tent. (Trust me, I learned the hard way when I was in your shoes! Wear waterproof mascara and break in your shoes beforehand because you will be doing a lot of standing!)

Your recruitment counselor will hold your stuff for you when you are in the houses. You can trust her!

You can't bring anything into the house with you except for yourself and an index card with your name and PNM ID# on it. You'll get this index card from your recruitment counselor and you'll hand it off to the sorority sister who greets you at the door when you enter a party. She'll pocket it and then you don't take anything out of the house with you.

Hope this helps!

[honeychile]

^^ Great advice!

If you can't find actual blotting papers, try cutting coffee filters to "face size". The cone-shaped ones work better (because they're flat), and they'll take away the perspiration without messing up your makeup.

[Zillini]

You can't bring anything into the house with you except for yourself and an index card with your name and PNM ID# on it. You'll get this index card from your recruitment counselor and you'll hand it off to the sorority sister who greets you at the door when you enter a party. She'll pocket it and then you don't take anything out of the house with you.


Our Panhellenic doesn't do this. But it is such a simple yet brilliant idea I immediately fired off an email to our Greek Advisor suggesting it.

Every year, every party, we have the same problems over and over, trying to remember "Was that the Jane Smith from Hoover or Huntsville?" or having a PNM go by a nickname but she registered under her full name. We do our best trying to keep everyone straight, but with so many PNMs going through it's tough. I'm sure every other Chapter on campus has the same problems too.

Thanks!

[FSUZeta]

crabtree and evelyn sells an inexpensive little booklet of face blotting papers-smaller than a pack of cards and very convenient.

[adpiucf]

Our Panhellenic doesn't do this. But it is such a simple yet brilliant idea I immediately fired off an email to our Greek Advisor suggesting it.

Every year, every party, we have the same problems over and over, trying to remember "Was that the Jane Smith from Hoover or Huntsville?" or having a PNM go by a nickname but she registered under her full name. We do our best trying to keep everyone straight, but with so many PNMs going through it's tough. I'm sure every other Chapter on campus has the same problems too.

Thanks!

It's extremely low-tech, too! In most cases, they're just simple index cards. At the beginning of the day, the PNM is given one card for each party she will be attending and she writes her name and ID number on it. The recruitment counselor holds the cards and hands you one before each party. You go into your party, shake hands with the girl who greets you and she takes your card. It's a great way to make sure that the girl WAS there and in most cases, you as a sister are only rushing 1-2 girls, so surely you'll remember the person who you greeted at the door if you have her card in your hand!

[texgal]

Bring a purse or backpack or just a large plastic ziplock baggie with your name on it.

Go with the ziplock. In fact, when I was going through Recruitment, my counselor had ziplocks for us, so we wouldn't bring purses/backpacks. They said they didn't want to carry around our purses/backpacks, and I agree - I'm going to be a recruitment counselor this next recruitment and I respect not wanting to be responsible for 10-20 purses/backpacks other than my own tote. Ziplocks I can handle.

[bluefish81]

It's extremely low-tech, too! In most cases, they're just simple index cards. At the beginning of the day, the PNM is given one card for each party she will be attending and she writes her name and ID number on it. The recruitment counselor holds the cards and hands you one before each party. You go into your party, shake hands with the girl who greets you and she takes your card. It's a great way to make sure that the girl WAS there and in most cases, you as a sister are only rushing 1-2 girls, so surely you'll remember the person who you greeted at the door if you have her card in your hand!

At Iowa State the cards used are the size of business cards, different colors for each day. Each chapter generally has a woman standing at the front door with a tray that takes the cards. PNMs just write their names and ID numbers on the cards and then drops them on the tray as she walks in the door. Shaking hands with PNMs was not something that was done at my school.

[honeychile]

It's extremely low-tech, too! In most cases, they're just simple index cards. At the beginning of the day, the PNM is given one card for each party she will be attending and she writes her name and ID number on it. The recruitment counselor holds the cards and hands you one before each party. You go into your party, shake hands with the girl who greets you and she takes your card. It's a great way to make sure that the girl WAS there and in most cases, you as a sister are only rushing 1-2 girls, so surely you'll remember the person who you greeted at the door if you have her card in your hand!
Such a simple yet intelligent way of handling the "which Jane Smith do we want?" problem! I'm sure that there's been more than one mix up over the years - AND a great way to remember who showed and who didn't!

I hope more Panhellenics are looking into this idea!

[Zillini]

As I said I emailed our Greek Advisor about this suggestion. He responded back with a simple "Thanks". Not sure what that means. Guess I'll have to wait until Recruitment to see if we adopt this or not. I sure hope we do because it would eliminate so many problems we always have. Nobody wants to invite/drop the wrong woman and there is no way we are the only Chapter that has this problem.

I remember one year a PNM "joined" the wrong party group. It screwed everything up and we had a terrible time trying to straighten it out with Panhellenic. They had her listed as a no show/withdrawn from Recruitment, yet we knew she was in our house. Panhellenic kept saying our actives must have written the name down wrong. I don't know why we were the only Chapter complaining to Panhellenic because she was a great girl, maybe we were just the first to catch it since she was a Legacy. Still, it was a mess.

[adpiucf]

As I said I emailed our Greek Advisor about this suggestion. He responded back with a simple "Thanks". Not sure what that means.

In my experience, that means, "Great. Thanks for telling me how to do my job. I'll take that under advisement."

Maybe you can bring it to the table this spring when they plan for Fall 07.

[Zillini]

Yes she eventually pledged our Chapter.

Panhellenic finally straightened everything out, but it was like pulling teeth. Finally we called our Greek Advisor who in turn called the PNM and asked her to explain what happened. She didn't even realize she had gone with the wrong group until he talked to her.