Small Chapter - Hosting a Formal?
 

Hey y'all!
I'm the new president of our newest chapter the (unfortunately named) BO Chapter at Rutgers University!
Now, we're a pretty small chapter (16 actives starting this fall) but we're really interested in hosting a formal or a semi-formal. We have no idea how to start the process however. I would love to hear your advice!

xoxo
Eva

My chapter of Alpha Phi Omega was Omega Mu (right when Revenge of the Nerds came out) so I feel your pain. :)

One year a lot of our sisters couldn't attend a Christmas semiformal for one reason or another, we only had about 16 who could go, so the people who were going got dressed up and went to dinner at the nicest restaurant in town and then we had a small party at our house. You might want to do something similar rather than fussing with a DJ and such. It was actually a really nice classy evening. :)

Many nice restaurants have a private room that can be reserved for a small fee or the guarantee of a certain food and drink total. You can usually decorate the room and even have a DJ or have someone make a good iTunes playlist to play. You could pull this off pretty reasonably.

Also, if there is a rental hall in the area, ask if certain days of the week are cheaper. You might be able to get a good deal on Thursday or Sunday nights which are not traditionally busy. A local high school in my area has a big dance in a very nice reception venue on a Sunday night because they are able to really stretch their budget.

That sounds like a really nice option! :)

We had a Founder's Day Formal my first year as a Beta and because our chapter was so small, we had a dinner at a nice restaurant close to campus. It worked out beautifully!