For many sororities, spring means that it's time for the informal recruitment process to begin. Spring rush doesn't include formal events like fall rush. Instead, participating sororities host casual, themed events. While it's often easier to plan a casual event, it's common for sorority members to have trouble coming up with an event theme -- especially if the sorority has a limited budget. Hosting a food-related spring rush event is simple and cost effective. Plus, it gives you, and your sorority sisters, the chance to sit down and really talk to the potential new members without a lot of distractions.

Food-Related Theme Ideas

It doesn't take a lot of creativity to plan an event with a food-related theme. All you need to do is decide what type of food you want to serve and start cooking. There are several different food-related themes you can choose, including

• A build-your-own food bar. You can host a build-your-own event that revolves around various food types, including pizza, tacos, nachos, or ice cream sundaes.
• A single, food-focused buffet. Instead of hosting a buffet dinner with a variety of dishes, try hosting an all-chocolate party, a gourmet popcorn party, or a fondue party.
• An event with different types of food in your sorority colors. This type of event is easier to put together than you may think. If you can't find a good variety of food that's naturally the same color as your sorority colors, purchase some food dye and get creative.
• A PJ-pancake breakfast. Invite your potential new members to join you for a pancakes, but let them know that in order to attend, they have to arrive in their favorite pajamas.

Event Supplies and Decorations

One of the main reasons that events with food-related themes are cost effective is because it's easy to keep everything simple. You can host your event at your sorority house, and you don't need a lot of decorations because the entire event revolves around the food. Check out these tips to plan a budget-friendly event:

• If you don't have enough space inside your sorority house, host the event outside.
• When you choose your event theme, consider the cost of the food you need. It's cheaper to purchase several boxes of pancake mix than it is to purchase the multiple pounds of meat you'd need to host a taco bar.
• Don't go overboard when you choose your outfits. Instead of purchasing all new outfits, consider ordering customized printed sorority shirts for all of your sorority sisters to wear. The T-shirts can easily be paired with jeans, and it makes it easy for the potential new members to tell which party attendees are current sorority members.
• Instead of setting up your event with several individual tables, rent or borrow a few long, buffet-style tables. Then purchase cheap plastic table clothes to create a uniform look.

When you choose a food-related event theme, it makes planning your event easier. All you need to do, is choose the type of food you want to serve. Then, decorate the event space with cheap decorations in your sorority colors and have the sorority members wear a customized, printed sorority shirt to pull the entire theme together.