It's Spring! Take Your Party Outside

Spring is here! The nice warm weather allows you to add a new dimension to your parties and events...Day Parties! Pick a nice Saturday afternoon to invite some girls over to your house for some afternoon fun. Make it casual and low-key, and you'll find that girls love that change of pace and setting. 

Things to have or do during your Day Party:

• BBQ (burgers, hot dogs, etc)
• Moonbounce (you can rent one for about $60)
• Drinking games (Beer pong, Flip Cup, Boat Races, etc)
• Sports (depends on how much space you have)

If you have the option and the weather is nice, then I suggest going to the beach. Who doesn't love the beach?

New Feature: Music Mixes

Hey everyone! I'm going to put a new feature into the blog that will allow you to sample some great songs for your parties. You can play the songs directly from the site. For starters, I'm going to share a playlist of current songs (some may not even be on the radio yet) that will be great for any type of dance party.

In future posts, I will cater the playlist to certain themes, such as having an 80's playlist of songs you can use for all of your 80's themed parties. Feel free to comment if you like the songs.

New Music Mix

Party Theme: Monopoly

The Monopoly theme is more of a time-consuming theme, but if done correct, girls will remember the great time they had at your Monopoly themed party. The main premise of the event is to create your house's rooms into a Monopoly board. I am assuming that if you are reading this post, you know how to play Monopoly. If you don't know how to play, then you probably had a terrible childhood...haha.

In the game of Monopoly, there are cheap properties (Baltic Ave and Oriental Ave), decent properties (St. Charles Place and New York Ave), pretty good properties (Kentucky Ave and Marvin Gardens), and the best properties (Pacific Ave and Boardwalk). The game's underlying theme is that money is king and gets you whatever you want. Coincidentally that is also the same theme of your party.

Since this event is probably best for a small-medium sized party (no more than 60 people), I will plan the party accordingly. It will be a bit tricky buying alcohol for this party because you will have to buy many different types of alcohol (this is for a reason, trust me). So budget wise, this will be on the more expensive side, which is why you should save this event for sororities or girls who you need to greatly impress.

If you look at a Monopoly board, you will realize that there are four divisions of "property class." I have identified the four classes above in the picture. Each class with be associated with a different type of alcohol. Since money gets you better properties (or access), then the nicer and more expensive alcohol will be in the more expensive property class zone. I will explain later how people get money and the other rules to the party. However, here is the breakdown and suggested types of alcohol:

Zone 1: Mediterranean Ave to Connecticut Ave--the cheapest/worst drinks (Ex: Popov Vodka, Sauza Tequila, and Natty Light Beer).

Zone 2: St. Charles Place to New York Ave--average drinks (Ex: Smirnoff Vodka, Jose Cuervo Tequila, and Coors/Bud Light).

Zone 3: Kentucky Ave to Marvin Gardens--pretty good drinks (Ex: Absolut Vodka, Cazadores Tequila, and Sierra Nevada Beer).

Zone 4: Pacific Ave to Boardwalk--amazing drinks (Ex: Grey Goose Vodka, Patron Tequila, and Heineken Beer).

Just to make it simple and easy, make each "zone" into one room, so you will have four themed rooms. For decorations you can print out a sign of one of the properties from each zone and tape it to the door of the room. Also, you can make the inside of the room match the quality of the alcohol and properties. So Zone 1 will look like a run-down neighborhood or a shanty town. Zone 2 will look very modest, like a simple house with no frills. Zone 3 will have a bit more glitz than Zone 2, like an upper middle class two story house. Zone 4 will be the shiny and gaudy room, like a mansion.

The added decorations and different types of alcohol will make each room a different experience. The goal is have the girls start in the lesser rooms and work their way up to Zone 4 room. Girls want to be in the best room, so they will do things in order to get there. Now the fun part of the theme is coming...

In order for a girl to get into a Zoned room, she has to pay "rent." Each Zone room will have the amount needed to enter. To keep it simple just use a ratio to figure out the pricing to display for each Zone room. Here's a quick example of the costs to enter each Zone room:

Zone 1: Free

Zone 2: $200

Zone 3: $600

Zone 4: $900

Now that the prices are set, here is how your currency system will work. Have someone design a $50 currency bill that looks like a monetary bill, but put your fraternity's name on it. Make sure to print enough money so that there is a good money supply, but watch out for inflation! (Had to throw in an economics joke somewhere!) The easiest way to print money is to put six bills per sheet of paper and use a paper cutter to cut the stacks of bills into individual bills. 

Brothers will be the ones to have money at the beginning of the party. Each brother should carry about $700 in bills. When girls come to your house, have one person give each girl one $50 bill. Make sure to post the room rates and other rules so the girls can see. As the girls will soon discover, they can easily get into the Zone 1 room, but will need to get more money to move up in class. Now you might ask, how to girls get more money?

Well it is up to the brothers to give money to the girls for certain things (I know what you are thinking, and no, I'm not talking about girls whoring themselves out for Monopoly money). You can have different games in your big common room so girls can get money. Example, you can do boat races, flip cup, and/or beer pong for girls to get money. At first, you will see that Zone 1 room is pretty crowded, but girls will want to go to a less crowded room (with better alcohol), so they will find ways to get more money to do that. 

Besides the 4 Zone rooms, here are other Monopoly names to use for other rooms in the house:

*Common Room = Free Parking

*Bathroom = Water Works

*Front Door/Entrance = Go!

*Dance Floor = Jail

*Community Chest = Tub of Jungle Juice

So the girls get money, but then have to give it away in order to get into different themed rooms. So money will be changing hands all night and free-market economics will be in play (the ones with the money get what they want, and those without do not).

Now you might ask about what to wear for such a fun event? The best clothing for a Monopoly party is 1920's clothing. The reason for this is because the origins of Monopoly came out of the Roaring 20's Period of American History. Just look at the Monopoly character--he's got a tuxedo on with a top hat.

So guys should dress classy/cocktail attire and girls should dress cocktail with a 20's flair. However, some people might take this opportunity to dress funny for this event. They could dress up as the Monopoly board pieces or other aspects from the game, such as a jailer, top hat, battleship, etc. These are just ideas, so I wouldn't recommend dressing up as some of the pieces, like a battleship. haha

In conclusion, here's the breakdown:

What to Wear: 1920's theme classy attire

Comfort Social Level: A little bit of comfort, but need to change it up and "wow" the girls.

Total Cost: Expensive 

Party Theme: Twister

The Twister event/theme is great for events where you aren't very close with the sorority. It is a great ice-breaker. It's a very social event and very unique. It takes a lot of effort, so I suggest doing this event when you have pledges to help setting it up. 

The event is basically a big giant Twister board where jello shots are placed on each colored square. You play according to the rules of Twister (the easiest way is to buy a Twister game and keep the spinner). Use your common area/living room as the area for the Twister board. Buy colored sheets of paper to use as spots for the Twister board. I highly recommend duct tape as the adhesive to which you stick the colored sheets of paper to the hardwood floor or carpet. Make this Twister board very large as you will try to accomodate about 20 people per game. 

Place two jello shots on each colored square. When a person puts his/her hand or foot on a square, then he/she takes the jello shot (very simple concept!). Use the Twister Game spinner from the board game as the spinner for the game. Make sure to at least double the size of the regular Twister mat.

This event/theme allows your brothers to interact with girls in a competitive atmosphere. It is easy to create conversation topics, since guys and girls are doing an activity together. This makes it not too awkward for your brothers to talk to girls. Your brothers can strike up conversation about the Twister game, flexibility, jello shots, etc. 

Since not every brother will be able to go at the same time, it is highly advisable to let the seniors or older brothers go with the older girls for the first round. You should probably have two to three rounds of Twister--depends on how many people you have. 

What to Wear: Bright colored clothes (like a Twister board)

Comfort/Social Level: New social environmenta

Total Cost: Very low

Learn how to make Jello shots

How to Solve Party Problems

There will always be some sort of problem at your party. No party goes completely flawless. The question you have to ask yourself is, “Are you prepared to solve potential problems?” You should always have a backup plan or option. For example, if the alcohol runs out quicker than expected, then you should always have a reserve handle to bring out. Here are some common problems and their solutions:

Problem: What if there is a below average number of girls that show up to the social event?

Solution: It is not directly your fault for a below average showing of girls. The girls might have too much homework to do. In another case, that particular sorority may not have the best relations with your chapter, so it will be a few more events with that house until there is a better showing. Sometimes the theme of the party may not be that good. If that’s the case, then it’s your fault. However, you should always learn from your mistakes.

Problem: What if there is a below average number of brothers that show up to the social event?

Solution: This might often happen in your first weeks as social chair. There are a couple of reasons why brothers don’t go to socials. The first reason is that the brothers in the house may not like partying with the sorority that you scheduled the event with. The second reason is that brothers might have midterms or other schoolwork that takes precedence over partying. You should consult your brothers after the poor turnout to see how you, as a social chair, can improve.

Problem: The cops come. What do I do?

Solution: Make sure you turn off the music at it will most likely be a noise complaint. Make sure that no one has any drinks outside where the cops can see. Do not give them a reason to make them enter your house. Your sober brothers and president should talk to the cops. Be courteous and do not argue. The cops will appreciate it that you have sober brothers and are taking steps to make sure that you are partying safely. That doesn’t mean that they won’t give you a ticket, but it can lower your risk of being arrested or fined.

Music/DJ Chair's Reponsibilities at the Party

Music is crucial for the success of your party. No music playing equals no dancing, which equals no excitement. This chain of events can lead to people leaving your party. So make sure that you have a DJ or a long playlist to keep the party going. I recommend having a brother or a professional being the DJ--as you tend to get better music selection, and it’s easier to manage the volume. Invest in some quality speakers so the music can sound like it’s at a club and not in your living room.

In terms of genre and types of song, party music should progress to dancing music, not start with dancing music. A good DJ will know what songs to play that will make people dance and have fun. In later posts, I will let you know certain songs to play depending on the theme or party.

Security Chair Responsibilities at the Party

For any event that you have it is important to have at least two sober brothers. This is important for your risk management. Basically, if the cops come, you have someone who is sober and coherent to talk to them. Also, if someone cuts themselves, get hurts, etc, then you have someone who can drive them to the hospital.

You should rotate a couple of your brothers for each event and party that you have. You should also set the example by being sober for some of your events. A reward system is quite useful in motivating those to be sober brothers. You can reward them with a 12 pack of beer or other alcohol for them to use later in the week. For your larger events and parties, you should have brothers be sober and do security. Depending on how big your house is, the number of brothers you will need to do security. 

You should have three sober brothers at your main entrance or gate. If you have a guest list for the party, then one of your sober security brothers should be in charge of it. Three sober brothers at the gate should be enough to deter any possible unwanted party crashers. There should be at least two other sober brothers roaming your frat house during the party to make sure that no one is doing an suspicious activity (stealing stuff, assaulting girls, putting GHB in drinks, etc). These two brothers should also make sure that no girls are puking in the bathroom or having alcohol poisoning. It is also a good idea to make sure that the music volume is not too loud because you might get a complaint from your neighbors. 

Having proper security is very important as it can save your house a lot of trouble and money. It lowers your risk of being ticketed or cited by the police, and it lowers the risk of damages to your house. For your extremely large annual parties, you might even want to budget in some money for some professionals. Make sure that the professional security guards are bonded so you don’t get sued if they hurt an unwanted guest.

Choreograph Your Party

Every social that you plan will be your social. You planned it, and people will associate everything that happens to your planning skills. With that being said, you must make the effort to make people, at your social event, socialize. So if you see a group of brothers taking to each other, then go over to them, break up their conversation, and take a few to meet some girls. Not every guy in your house is outgoing. Most are quite shy, but it is your job to help them break out of their shells. Also, if you see a group of girls standing by themselves then take one of your shyer brothers and start a conversation with them. The girls will appreciate that you took the time to cross the room to initiate conversation with them.

During the party, it is your responsibility to make sure that there are no problems. For instance, you should make sure that there are enough beverages and cups provided. Make sure you have enough ice for the event. Do things during the party to attain your goal: the happiness of your brothers and the female guests. Be a good courteous host.

Act Like You Are Having Fun

No matter how bad you might think the party is, the worst thing to do is show your feelings about the terrible party. If you and a bunch of your friends are having fun, then people will observe your excitement and attempt to mimic it. Humans, especially females, love doing things that are popular. If a group of girls are having a bad time at a party, but they observe a group of guys having lots of fun, then they will wonder why those guys are having fun. The goal for girls at a party is to have fun. If they see people having fun, then they will do whatever they are doing in order to have fun like everyone else.

Party Tip: Separate the Girls

The best chance you have of your guys meeting girls is to separate them. By nature, girls go in packs of at least two to five girls. You see this when girls go to the bathroom. You would think that a 20-year-old girl is fully capable of peeing by herself. Yet, girls need their friends to make them feel confident and comfortable. Another reason to separate a pack of girls is that they love to cockblock guys. If a guy approaches a group of girls, but only flirts with one of the girls, then the other girls in the group will try to get rid of the guy. A girl doesn’t want to see her friend being hit on by a guy when she’s not getting hit on. It makes the girl who is not being paid attention to feel ugly. 

If a guy manages to take the girl away from her friends and talk to her, then he has a much better chance of getting hooking up with her. In order to break up the pack of girls, a guy will need other guys to talk and distract the girl’s friends, so their buddy can hook up. If all girls are being noticed and talked to, then they will not think about their friend hooking up, but they will be forced to concentrate on the conversation at hand.

A good way to separate girls is to make your party into different rooms. What I mean by this is to have stuff going on in guys' rooms. Instead of having the party in the living room, where girls can remain in packs, have it in a smaller room and girls will be forced to separate due to space considerations. Without her friends around for support, a girl will have to meet guys and talk to them. Also, when a girl is alone, it makes it a lot easier for a guy to talk to them because there aren’t any distractions.

Disecting Girls at a Party

Girls are very complex, and they can change their actions from the classroom to the party. Since the primary reason to throw a frat party is to get girls, then you must understand the motives of girls. Girls spend a lot of time getting ready for a party so they can feel good about themselves and be liked by guys. If a girl is not noticed at a party, but her friends are, then she will understand this, as something is wrong or different about her. She might conclude that she is unattractive (this might be true or false). A girl’s self-esteem plays a big role in the way she acts. Follow these three steps to make sure every girl is noticed:

1. Make sure you acknowledge every girl at a party (A “hello” is mediocre, but a proper introduction with name, etc is preferred)

2. Compliment her accessories, such as necklace, bracelet, or earrings (Why do you think she is wearing it in the first place? She took the time to pick out the accessory so someone can notice it)

3. Offer her a drink (Now she feels that you took the time to do something personal for her)

Act Like a Social Chair

As social chair, you have one of the most important and demanding jobs in the house. If you want to be a good social chair, then you need to be selfless. You must do things for the good of your brothers, not yourself. Even though there can be perks being social chair, such as popularity with girls, you have to be an active presence at all of your events. As social chair, your job is to get your brothers to hook up, and if there is time, then you can hook up with girls. Your first priority is your brothers. Don’t forget that!

As one of the "faces" of your fraternity, people will judge your fraternity based on your actions. In other words, you will have to please everyone at the same time. I highly suggest taking easy classes during your time as Social Chair, as you will probably be missing a lot of classes to spend more time planning parties. You should possess excellent people skills. If you don't, then find someone who does and use them to get your message across.

Get Organized: Make a To-do List

When planning for any party, you should always make a simple list or diagram, so your helpers know what to do. While you should be there for the set-up of every party, realistically that won't happen. You might have tests, appointments, classes, etc that may not allow you to have time to set up. Therefore, make a list. It will take 10 minutes to type up. Here is a sample:

Things to do for Party:

1. Put bar in corner of room

2. Set up decorations (you can draw a picture of the room and label the locations of the decorations)

3. Clean up living room

4. Place trash cans in (put locations here)

5. Put away tables and chairs from the common room

6. Put DJ equipment out

7. Set up lights

Setting Up for a Party

When you are setting up for your party, you need to arrange the room maximize certain things. There are a few things to remember when it comes to setting up the party. These things can change depending on the scope of your party. I will go into detail for those specific situations later when I talk about specific types of parties. For general purposes, I will assume that you are setting up a cocktail party of some sort. For this cocktail party, the first thing you need to recognize is the flow of people and the party.

When you host a party, you need to make sure that people know where to enter, drink, and dance. In order to make it easy for people to do the aforementioned things, you need to move a few objects. The entrance should lead the guests to the main drinking room. When a guest enters this main drinking room from the entrance of your frat, the first thing they should see is the bar (if you don’t have a bar, then build one or use a large table). The bar should never be in the middle of the room, but it should be put in one of the corners or sides of the room. When the bar is located in the corner of a room, it allows people to easily see it and get their drinks in an orderly fashion. Remember that people tend to line up in front of the bar and stay there for long periods of time. To accommodate this, you should never put the bar by the entrance to the main drinking room, as this make the room too crowded by the entryway. 

The dancing room should be in a separate room from the main drinking room. The bar should also be as far away from the dancing room as possible, since you don’t want the music to be extremely loud by the bar. If music is too loud by the bar, then it’s difficult for guests to order a drink and converse with each other. You should have a couple of couches in the room so people can rest. These couches should be between the bar and the dancing room. If the couches were near the bar, then it would make the way to the bar too crowded, and this would make it difficult for guest to get their drinks. The couches are also there to show where socializing area is. The area between the dancing room and the bar will be the place where people congregate to converse and enjoy themselves. It shouldn’t be too crowded in that area, since people will have other areas to go, such as the dance floor or the bar. 

Also, a big thing is have plenty of trash cans. Your Clean-Up Chair will thank you for putting trash cans out. If your guests see trash cans, and they are conveniently located, they will throw away their drinks by themselves. Place large trash cans, next to the bar, main entrance, and entrance to dancing room. Ideally you should use the 32 gallon green trash cans with a liner in them. Trash cans will make your party much better!

How to Save Money on Alcohol

You should always have a budget when it comes to a party. It is important to stick to that budget. Sometimes that strict budget can affect the types of alcohol that you can buy. The best place to buy hard alcohol and chasers for a party (not beer) is Costco. If you don’t have a Costco near your campus, then I feel really sorry for you, but there should be an equivalent discount warehouse center (Sam's Club, etc). Someone in your frat should have a Costco membership card, and if they don’t then it’s always a good investment to buy one. 

Costco has the lowest prices when it comes to buying handles of alcohol. They don’t have sales, but there prices are always low. Some supermarkets might be able to match the Costco price during a supermarket sale, but those prices will increase later. Costco’s prices very rarely change. The two types of vodka that I suggest purchasing for all of your parties would be Smirnoff Vodka and Skyy Vodka. The first can be purchased for $14.99 or $17.99, depending on your geographical area. The latter can be bought for $19.99 or $20.99, depending on your area. In the supermarket or liquor store, there is at least a $5 increase per bottle for both brands. When you are buying multiple bottles, the savings will really pay off.

Now if you don't have a Costco near you, you are probably stuck with just the liquor stores in your neighborhood. Unfortunately you will probably have to deal with a smaller selection and stock--in addition to higher prices. One good way to get lower prices is to speak with the owner of the liquor store about getting a discount if you buy in bulk. If you tell him that you will be buying about X amound of handles and 30 packs of beer per week, he will probably be inclined to give you a discount in order to guarantee your business. You can probably push for at least 10%, but you might be able to get 20% off, especially in these difficult economic times.

How Much Alcohol Should You Buy?

Once you know what types of alcohol you wish to purchase, you will need to know how much to purchase. One handle (1.75 Liters) of vodka will serve about 10 people. I’m not saying that it will get 10 people drunk, but 10 people will get to all have at least one mixed drink and one shot. So for your smaller events at your frat house, you will usually purchase seven handles. Now you might be thinking that seven handles isn’t enough, but you are forgetting about the beer…

When buying beer, you are presented with two choices: keg or cans. If you own your own tap (that means you don’t have to pay to rent one), then buying a keg is less expensive than purchasing cheap 30 packs of beer. While there is no exact science when measuring the difference between the amount of beer in a keg and in the corresponding amount of cans, you have to assume a few things. There is a lot of foam in a keg, and this makes it very difficult to measure how many cups of beer you can pour out of a keg. A solution, though expensive, is to invest in a kegerator, which uses CO2 to get rid of the foam. Also when comparing the two vessels of beer, you have to buy 12 oz beer cups in order to have the same amount as a 12 oz beer can/bottle. The common red Dixie plastic cups are actually 16 oz in size.

So if you want to maximize your keg, I suggest purchasing the 12 oz cups, rather than the large 16 oz red ones. Now the bad part of getting a keg is that if the tap is broken, there is no other way to get the beer out. That means you are out of a lot of alcohol for the party. No one likes a party when the alcohol runs out unexpectedly. Also, having a keg is technically an easy piece of evidence for Police to use if they accuse you of supplying alcohol to minors. So the lower cost of the keg also comes with more risks and potential problems.

On the other hand, cans of beer provide a nice convenience. For one thing, there is no waiting around for the beer to come out of the keg. Also, there is very little or no foam that comes out of an unshaken beer can. You will 99.9% of the time be able to drink the beer from the can, instead of having the possibility of your keg tap breaking. Beer cans also provide the convenience of making it very difficult for Police to accuse you of supplying them. “After all, officer, we had a BYOB party. I guess the girls just put the beer cans in their purses.” A great excuse, indeed! Remember that the equivalent quantity of beer in cans will take up more surface area than the same beer from a keg. Therefore, make sure you have plenty of room to store the 30-packs of beer.

If you are buying the beer in conjunction with the seven handles of vodka, you should buy approximately four to five 30 packs. Since beer is the secondary alcohol choice, you don’t have to buy as much. However, if you are doing an event that revolves around beer, such as a beer pong or flip cup tournament, then you should buy 1 ½ to 2 times the amount beer.

Now that you have some vodka and beer, you will need some chasers to go along with that. The good thing about chasers is that they are cheaper than the alcohol. The bad news is that for each handle of alcohol, you will need at least one to two gallons of juice or two to four liters of soda. Chasers can add up in the long run. Also, chasers are wasted a lot as people tend to fill up their cups with a lot of chaser in correlation to the amount of alcohol in the cup. 

The basic chasers that you should always have are: orange juice, cranberry juice, coke/diet coke, and soda water/tonic. You make a variety of drinks with these chasers and vodka. Also, you can always find these chasers bottles in large quantities, which will save you money. If you are worried about overspending when it comes to buying chasers, I will explain some easy ways to save money.

How to Select Alcohol for Your Party

Finally, we get to talk about alcohol. It is one of the primary factors that can make or break a party. The majority of your cost for the party should be alcohol. The type of alcohol should reflect the theme of the party. For instance, at a Sake Bomb event, you should have plenty of sake and beer. You should have no rum or tequila. Before we get into specifics, let’s look at judging how much alcohol to purchase. 

For non themed parties you should always have the basic types of alcohol. These basics are vodka, rum, beer, and maybe one bottle of tequila. Vodka is the most popular hard liquor bought and consumed in America. You can mix vodka with almost any chaser. For those who absolutely hate vodka, you can offer them rum to drink. Rum is probably the second most popular hard liquor and for the calorie conscious guests, it is a great substitute for vodka. You will need to have beer for those who do not drink any type of hard liquor and/or those who want to keep their “buzz” throughout the night. Beer is also great for drinking games, such as beer pong and flip cup.

In terms of price, you have the greatest discrepancy for vodka. You can find extremely cheap vodka, as well as very expensive vodka. Rum is relatively cheap, but there isn’t that much variety. Tequila tends to be more expensive than vodka or rum. You can always find cheap beer. If you are on a strict budget, then you will need to purchase more vodka than rum or tequila.

How to Buy Fabric for Decorating Your Parties

The most cost efficient and effective way to decorate for your parties is fabric. Yes, I said fabric. You can use large pieces of fabric for different elements. You can change the set up of the room by hanging long pieces of fabric for dividers. Fabric is cheap. You can purchase it buy the yard for $1 to $2/yard. Fabric comes in different weights, designs, and colors so the possibilities are endless. One good trick is to buy a few yards of red velvet fabric and cut it into a long narrow carpet. Tape it down to the ground and now you have a “Red Carpet” for your cocktail party. You can reuse this carpet for all of your cocktail parties. 

You should know a little bit of lingo and tricks before you buy fabric. Most of the inexpensive and stretchy fabric that is easy to use is called “poplin.” So be sure to ask for that. You can usually find poplin for $1 per yard. Velvet, spandex, and other heavier fabrics will be a bit more expensive. Always buy in large quantities and in a variety of colors. For example, do not buy one yard of this and one yard of that. Buy 8 or 15 yards, and you will usually get a better deal. 

The fabric stores are usually in the downtown area of an urban city. If your campus is not located near a big city, then I suggest making an occasional trip to purchase your decorations. There are many fabric stores located next to each other in the same area. This allows you to haggle a bit. You will not find fabric for less than $1 per yard. For most fabric you will be paying about $2 per yard, unless it’s really cheap and ugly fabric. In the downtown area there might be a wholesale decorations place. These places serve professional party and event planners. You can usually find inexpensive trinkets and other things to decorate your party. This would be the place to find your paper lanterns for your Sake Bomb themed party.

You can also go to Michael’s, which is a chain of arts and crafts stores. You can also go to a similar store to Michael’s in your area. They also have little trinkets and such. There is also the online option of www.fabric.com. Click here to look at their Clearance Section
for cheap fabric. This site services party planners, and they have a wide selection. The only problem with going online is that you can’t get any last minute decorations.

Why You Should Decorate Your Parties

Some say that decorations are a waste of money. I agree, but that’s only if decorations are done poorly. Decorations for your parties should be used to set the mood of the party. The theme of your party should manifest itself as decorations. You want to transform your house into the theme. Your guests will have more fun if the party looks and feels unique. After all, it’s not just a regular party—it’s a themed party!

Decorations for your parties can be found at various stores. They should reflect the theme of your party. For example, if you are doing a Sake Bomb event, then you might want to buy some inexpensive paper lanterns. You can invest in specific items that reflect the theme. However, these can run up costs very quickly. You should allot 10-15% of your event’s budget for decorations. For a $400 event, that doesn’t leave you with a whole lot of money.

Advertise to Your Brotherhood/Fraternity Members

If you do not properly motivate and rally your brothers for the social events, then the parties will be failures. After all, you are doing all of this planning and preparation for your brothers. You should email the brotherhood at the beginning of each week with a list of the upcoming social events. Also, you should email the brotherhood the day before and day of the social to remind them. In these emails, you should let your brothers know what time the social starts, what to wear for the social, and how amazing the social will be.

If your fraternity's executive board doesn't have email addresses for all officers, then you should create one for yourself. Here is a list of free email services (I recommend Gmail):

• Gmail
• Yahoo!
• AOL Mail