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.

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.

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.

Now, that is stunning!

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 )

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.

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

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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.

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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.

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!

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!