Help me with our pref!
 

Okay, here's the deal.

My chapter has been doing pref round the same way for a long time: the entire room draped in black with white Christmas lights, and all the girls in black cocktail dresses. We love our pref ceremony and don't want to change anything about the ceremony itself, but on this year's recruitment evaluations, a lot of the new members said they didn't like how dark it was in the suite.

So in short, we want to change the wall drapings to white with blue accents. The problem is, what the heck do we wear? White dresses are a no-go, because several sororities on my campus do that and it always looks terrible. Black dresses look better on people and it's not as hard to match.

Any ideas of what to wear that would match blue and white walls?

There is one sorority at my school that does wear white dresses. Their pref room looks stunning - draped in white, white Christmas lights, all the sisters in white, etc. So, white can work if done right.

You might think about blue, but it will be very difficult to match.

Or you could stick with black... nothing wrong with that.

I say stick w/ the black dresses. Black is elegant, classy, & simple enough to wear no matter how the room is decorated.

Blues might be hard to match unless you picked a specific shade such as navy and even then, not all manufacturers agree on what is navy blue.

White can work but I agree that not everyone looks good in it, but then, not everyone looks good in black either-- it's just easier to find black dresses that look classy and most members already have a black dress.

If your goal is to 'lighten' up the room, why not just change the draping but not the member attire? I've seen light blue used with white lights and members wearing black. It had a shimmery effect, espcially with the use of silver trays/ dishes surrounded by twinkle lights. (but since our colors include silver blue, it was part of the theme). A little contrast can still be very effective.

Have you thought of possibly draping only one wall (the focus wall) in black, and the rest in either white or blue? Or vice versa - drape the room black, but the focus wall in white or blue?

If you do decide to use either blue or white dresses (especially the blue!), you might want to select three or four dresses from a catalog or website, and ask each sister to select her favorite. I've heard of one chapter which allots each sister however much fabric she needs for a dress, and she has one made to her liking. Obviously for that, the chapter buys the fabric from the same dye lot, to keep the color right. That just seems too expensive to me, though.

I went through Rush this past fall and during the Pref Night Ceremony the entire room was black except for the focus wall which was a pale blue, I believe. All of the sisters wore black. This works well, because the sister who is speaking stands out very well and is easily seen by everyone because of the contrast between her dress and the background.

what about black dresses, light blue walls with white christmas lights.

Or have one wall blue, focus wall, with white lights. The other walls white with blue lights. And with black dresses.

You could always try a variety of different things, depending on your budget, and ask alum to come and be your focus group to see which is better. My sorority just left the room as is and wore black dresses. We closed the windows and used candles. I thought that it was really pretty.

Stay with the black dresses and use a pale, soft blue w/ white for the drapings (rather than a bright blue).

Once you start having too many shades of the same color it just looks a little too TOO.

We've been doing all white for a long time with just a few light/azure blue accents. The actives are in white dresses & shoes and the room is draped in white. While I agree not everyone looks good in white, we've decided to be different because practically every other house on campus dresses in black. Plus, it's not nearly important how the individuals look, rather it's the entire effect. We also add a touch more color through flower arrangements. And another thing, PNM's traditionally where black (although they are being "officially" discouraged from it this year, who knows if they'll listen), so it's a nice contrast.

But I understand if you don't want to go with white or black. I would then suggest navy and don't worry about the color variations between dresses. On Ice Water Tea/Open House/1st round (whatever you call it on your campus) our actives wear different shades of light/azure blue sundresses. Obviously it's impossible to match, but I believe it shows the unity of the sisterhood while at the same time displaying individuality. I suspect the same thing would happen with navy. Not to mention that navy would be much easier to blend together than light blue.

A word to the wise if your Recruitment is this fall, you need to make a decision ASAP especially if you want to change to white. It's not easy finding white dresses or shoes after Memorial Day. I also remember one year we changed what we wanted everyone to where for Skit Day/3rd round in mid-summer and everyone screamed bloody murder because they had already bought something. My experience has shown that any changes to Recruitment attire should be decided on in early Spring.

We have deferred rush.

I'd say go with the lighter wall drapings and stick with black dresses. We did pref with all white walls, and floor, and white christmas lights, with black dresses....and the effect was stunning. There was some contrast in the room with the use of plants and greenery.

The Recruitment Director for your district will have great solutions for the perfect pref. Make sure you give her a call!

decoration ideas
 

What does the furniture look like? Are you going to drape it in soft blue too? That could lighten the room too, if you make it look good.

I agree that if you get blue dresses, they don't all need to be the same shade, as long as they are all either dark blue or light blue.

Tea lights and flower petals would soften any room. A lot of weddings I've been to have done (for centerpieces) a bowl of water with petals and floating votives in it. It looks gorgeous. One I went to (a winter wedding) even had cranberries in it... so try some variations based on your colors / symbols / creativity.

White shoes? Bama's rush had better be before Labor Day. ;)

I would stick with the black dresses (could have a slight hint of another color like pink, white, or something) but maybe add a little bit of color to the decoration. In my chapter we add color with ballons and also with roses (not to mention that are walls are yellow so that add alot of color). Add some decortations that are in your colors.