[FSUZeta]

in my experience, name cards are handed to a sorority member upon entering their door-it confirms to the sorority that you did attend their party. the chapter uses the card to check your name off of a list that panhellenic submits to them and the card is returned to the recruitment counselor before the party's end, to be used at the next party.

there was a thread a year or two ago in which a girl mentioned the pnms decorated nametags to showcase their personality. she said that all the pnms were quite nervous that they would be judged on their creativity and artistic qualities, but that wasn't so. the sororities did not care how cute the nametags were.

my advice to you is to make your nametag easy to read. write your name clearly and in large, printed letters(not script). write your entire name and do not use a nickname, unless you registered for recruitment under that nickname.(if everyone in your hometown calls you "shorty" and you plan on continuing to go by that name at college, but you registered for recruitment under your real name, "mary jones", then use "mary jones" on your nametag).
it is very important that you use the name you registered under because when i was helping with a formal recruitment this past fall, the girls kept bringing up this girl who they all loved, but whose name we could not find on the list from panhellenic. turns out she had written a nickname on her nametag, but used her legal name to enroll in recruitment. it was so confusing and she almost did not get invited back due to the confusion. i ended up having to call the greek life office to find out who the girls had met.

if you are supposed to decorate the nametag, stay away from any sorority symbols or colors if you can help it. if you are artistically challenged, you could buy some cute stickers at a craft store. for instance, if you love shoe shopping you could find shoe stickers to decorate your nametag.

good luck to you and let us know how it goes.