Pref Night

[phibetapsi08]

Hi everyone!!!! My sorority holds something similar to a Pref Night but it is not the same. This semester we want to have an actural Pref Night. I know this is all basically Riturals that you can not give out. But can I have some ideas? PLEASE!!!!!

I know there are songs sung and cande stuff and some sisters talk. I have tried to look on this site and online in general for ideas but I have only found out a little.



THANK YOU SOOO MUCH IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP!!!

In Greek Unity,
Courtney

[LucyKKG]

Rituals aren't actually included because we share pref night with women who (most likely) will not all become members of our orgs.

General ideas: read a poem or make a speech about why your org is special to you. You could have all of your sisters contribute in some way (with a sentence). You could have the PNMs do something as well. I've read about sisters asking PNMs to make a wish or something like that. Look through recruitment stories. Those have some info about pref night.

Hope this help!

Oh, and make it classy! Cocktail dresses, sparkling cider, and mood lighting!

[alum]

My daughter went through recruitment this year for the first time as an active. She won't admit to crying but she did say tears welled up during Pref Night.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by alum

My daughter went through recruitment this year for the first time as an active. She won't admit to crying but she did say tears welled up during Pref Night.

If nobody comes close to tears, it's not an effective Pref!

Pref is meant to show every bit of the good times of your sorority. There are a lot of ways of showing it, by reading passages or poems about sisterhood, by having a sister or two tell a (short) reason why she loves her sisters - things like that. Most I've heard of take place in a dark room, with candles, sometimes being lit one by one. You want to show the PNM that you'd like to include her in your sisterhood without scaring her away. It's a very thin line! Good luck!

[Fleur de Lis]

My favorite part of prefs was when they gave you a cheesecake slice with your name written on it!! I have heard of prefs where they give you a flower or some token and you "make a wish" into a fountain, usually followed by something cheesy like, "I hope your wish comes true."

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by honeychile

If nobody comes close to tears, it's not an effective Pref!

Pref is meant to show every bit of the good times of your sorority. There are a lot of ways of showing it, by reading passages or poems about sisterhood, by having a sister or two tell a (short) reason why she loves her sisters - things like that. Most I've heard of take place in a dark room, with candles, sometimes being lit one by one. You want to show the PNM that you'd like to include her in your sisterhood without scaring her away. It's a very thin line! Good luck!

About candles: probably a good idea to play it safe and keep your insurance company, fire department and emergency ward happy -- if you use candles, use those fake battery-powered ones. The fancier ones even have various flickering effects, right? Over the years GreekChat has seen more than one story about somebody's hair catching fire. Or the decorations. Or whatever. Some sororities now have national policies or guidelines forbidding real candles. (I'm not kidding.)

[LucyKKG]

Yeah, I guess our chapters with houses aren't allowed to light their fireplace. A little lame, but could be a pretty good idea!

[FSUZeta]

you could use the values that your sorority is based on as part of the pref. ceremony. for instance, if you stand for sisterhood, love, loyalty and scholarship, you could have 1 speaker for each of those. whatever you do, make sure that it is well rehearsed and that the speakers are comfortable with their parts-it has to come across as believable to your guests. another speaker could be the narrator, of sorts, one that welcomes the pnms to the party and ties the speakers together.

some sororities give something to the pnms-a note, a flower, a gem(pearl, diamond, etc.) and then collect the item as part of the ceremony.

some ceremonies incorporate a tearjerky song, either sung as a solo by a sister with an excellent voice or as a group.

a special dessert and drink, a solemn setting and everyone using their best manners.definately make it a classy night-one that the sisters and the pnms will remember.

[Kitemom]

Theta and Zeta gave out flower you put in a kite and a crown
Tri Delt gave out pearls you put in a bowl
AD Phi gave out some diamonds (which they said look like rattles you put into a wall.

[AOII Angel]

The party should look impressive and formal. All of the sisters dressed up standing in rows or a circle as each PNM is brought in individually is an awesome sight. Have someone introduce each PNM..."Sisters of Phi Beta Psi, I introduce to you Miss Potential New Member!" A sister should then walk forward to take the PNMs arm and lead her back to the group.
As for the special food, make sure you are allowed to do this...the chapter I advise is not!

[speedsters]

i still remember from pref. night being introduced - sisters, for the first time i would like to introduce speedsters... and tears forming at our senior ceremony in april when my little introduced me for the last time, in the same atmosphere as in the preference ceremony.

at pref. we also read a sisterhood poem where each of the seniors are mentioned, my lines this year were great, and also a slideshow and we also sing. and the food is chocolate covered strawberries and cake with the pnm's initials on it.
preference night is my favourite thing about ZTA

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by exlurker

About candles: probably a good idea to play it safe and keep your insurance company, fire department and emergency ward happy -- if you use candles, use those fake battery-powered ones. The fancier ones even have various flickering effects, right? Over the years GreekChat has seen more than one story about somebody's hair catching fire. Or the decorations. Or whatever. Some sororities now have national policies or guidelines forbidding real candles. (I'm not kidding.)

http://media.www.dailyorange.com/med...-3200492.shtml

Candles – what did I say?

The student paper at Syracuse has an item in its February 11, 2008 news roundup -- see link above -- :

Excerpts:
. . . . During one of the sorority's rush events, a burning candle tipped over lighting a cardboard box on fire, said . . . the Phi Sigma Sigma public relations chair.

. . . "It was actually a pretty good experience, minus the fire," she said. {In praising the fire department’s response.}

I’m glad there were no injuries or serious damages reported.

[guardedbystars]

Originally Posted by alum

My daughter went through recruitment this year for the first time as an active. She won't admit to crying but she did say tears welled up during Pref Night.

I was literally bawling when we practiced pref. Good thing we all got it out before the PNMs saw that. Some tears ok for PNMs to see. Sobbing/choking back tears not ok.

[AOE2AlphaPhi]

Our chapter actually had an issue one year (quite a while back, but they still warn us against it just in case) because the girls got too emotional and the crying scared the PNMs away. Another cute idea is to have the girls who are preferencing go around the room seemingly in random order and say "Alpha Phi (or your chapter name) is..." whatever it means to them.

[GammaPhi88]

The student paper at Syracuse has an item in its February 11, 2008 news roundup -- see link above -- :

Excerpts:
. . . . During one of the sorority's rush events, a burning candle tipped over lighting a cardboard box on fire, said . . . the Phi Sigma Sigma public relations chair.

. . . "It was actually a pretty good experience, minus the fire," she said. {In praising the fire department’s response.}

I’m glad there were no injuries or serious damages reported.[/quote]


I was there! My pref at Phi Sig was later that day, but I saw all the girls running out and the firetrucks lined up...it was chaotic, but everything is okay!