Bid Day is, for many schools, less than a few months away. If you haven't picked your theme yet - now is the time! Peruse our top 10 favorite themes of 2019, our decor ideas and the accompanying apparel and products we think will work best to fit your theme!
1. Theme: Summer Party - Popsicles / Ice Cream
The vibe: For an August or early September Bid Day, throw an end-of-summer bash on the lawn for your new members. Have a little ice cream stand or popsicle stand! You can serve up your favorite flavors in your sorority's colors. If you can't rent an ice cream truck or pop-up popsicle stand near your campus, you can do a makeshift one and have some of your current members take turns working it! It'll be a great way to to know the new girls in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Have beach towels spread out and maybe some lawn volleyball. A DJ would take it over the top!
The merch: For a proper summer party, consider getting customized beach balls and beach towels, or custom water bottles to help everyone keep cool! Bid Day tanks in white and a fun pastel shade like salmon or chambray would be a perfect fit. Don't forget the totes!
Photo Credit: Alpha Chi Omega at Washington State University
2. Palm Beach
The vibe: Think South Florida, but more Palm Beach than Miami. We're talking tropical patterns, flamingos, palm trees and bright pastel Lilly-inspired looks. This celebration would be perfect on the lawn, as well. You can serving up iced sweet tea, lemonade or both (hello, Arnold Palmers) - keep it Southern, y'all! You can even play off this theme and take it in a golf direction, too!
The merch: Fitted tees or high neck tanks with a vibrant color scheme and tropical design would be perfect for the Bid Day tees, while customized tumblers / mason jars would be oh-so-fitting. If you're going to add a little golf to the Palm Beach vibe, customized golf towels are also a must.
3. Afternoon Tea
The vibe: Think tea at the Four Seasons at 4, just inside your sorority house. This works especially well in a sorority house with a traditional dining and living room, but you can get creative in any space. See if advisors or fraternity friends would be willing to serve as butlers, passing around little cucumber sandwiches or scones with jam and serving up some hot Earl Grey tea.
The merch: We're seeing light pink and white for the color scheme - possibly with a little gold foil - opulent yet understated. You can work a crown into your design, too - hello, Zeta!
4. Yoga Retreat
The vibe: Yoga mats, a little crash course yoga class on the lawn and a stand with fresh green juice, smoothies and fruit popsicles? Yes, please! Go for a healthy, conscious, relaxing - and completely on-trend theme - with a makeshift yoga retreat. After a long, exhausting week of recruitment, everyone could use a little relaxation and it's the perfect way to let loose and start the next chapter feeling refreshed.
The merch: Customized leggings or yoga pants would be the ultimate Bid Day gift! Matching tanks with a very subtle crop just to the waistband would be the perfect fit - you can go any color for these, but we're thinking black leggings and white tanks with a minimalist and totally zen design.
5. Christmas in July (or August/September)
The vibe: Christmas comes early - all your new members are gifts! You've likely heard of Christmas in July celebrations - all the Christmas decor, but with summer vibes. See if someone will dress up as a summer Santa and hand out the Bid Day bags to all the new members! It's such a cute idea for giving out their gifts - alternately, you can pile up bags with everyone's name under a palm tree covered in Christmas lights. You can get super creative with this theme and it would be really fun indoors or out. Christmas music is a must!
The merch: We think white tanks with red designs for the new members and green designs for the current members would be cute and subtle - or you can go for a totally over-the-top Christmas design! Our minds are already racing with all of the possibilities!
6. 1970s
The vibe: This is a theme that has been done in so many ways, but you can get really original by going in a more traditional, classic 70s direction rather than a "That 70s Show" theme or a late 60s flower power theme, which we adore, but these have been done so many times. Think earth tones all the way. Try to work a shag carpet and some 70s lamps and decor into your space, or rent an old 70s bus/van to serve up Bid Day gifts, food and drinks out the back! Serve up grasshoppers (virgin, of course) - such a classic, fun mint green 70s drink!
The merch: Think burnt orange, mustard yellow, olive green, even dark red - and a combo of those colors in a design or on their own on a cream ringer tee would be the cutest! You can also do some retro-inspired customized gadgets! We can help you get extra creative. Check out some 70s inspiration here!
7. Sleepover
The vibe: The best part about a sleepover theme is that you can have an actual sleepover for Bid Night. While some chapters give out bids early in the day and only celebrate during the day, many will invite the new members to an activity that evening - and many chapters give out bids at night. Have your house's living room and the current live-in members' rooms set up with extra sleeping bags, air mattresses, blankets. Get a bunch of popcorn, queue up Netflix with classic rom coms or hilarious sorority movies like Legally Blonde and have trivia card games and other get-to-know-you activities planned.
The merch: You can go in so many directions here, but we love the idea of customized flannel PJ bottoms with a super cozy custom tee or crewneck.
8. Football Tailgate
The vibe: Depending on the timing of your school's bid day, football season likely isn't far behind. Get everybody jazzed up with football inspired decor and gear. We were inspired by the recent episode of The Bachelorette, where they have a little 'Bama tailgate - they play corn hole, throw around a football and everyone is casual and relaxed. You can serve up iced tea and even grill out - hot dogs, hamburgers, corn - or get BBQ catered!
The merch: We loved the bachelorette's white tank during her football tailgate and think it would be adorable to get white tanks with football-inspired designs for your bid day! You can even do custom foam fingers!
9. Galentine's (Bid) Day
The vibe: Pink, purple, red, hearts and lots of chocolate. Deck your house out like it's Valentine's Day! Have punch, candy and tons of chick flicks lined up for a super girly movie night. You can even have a manicure station set up! We're also talking heart balloons and those giant metallic red balloons shaped like lips.
The merch: We'd love to see a light pink tank with a subtle, distressed, almost retro-looking typeface print. Get them a tote to match and fill it up with the girliest of things - we can help with lots of custom options!
10. Fruit
The vibe: Fruit? Seems strange. Seems simple. It's actually really cool and it has a tremendous amount of potential to stand out. We're thinking those huge fruit-shaped pinatas, fresh fruit trays (or a juice, smoothie or popsicle stand works here, too), big fruit-shaped pool floats - you name it.
The merch: There are so many puns you can make about all the new girls being like seeds in a watermelon, but we're envisioning some super vibrant colors of Comort Colors tanks or some ultra-soft white Bella + Canvas tanks with bright, hand-drawn, highly illustrative fruit designs - and custom water bottles and towels to match.
If we can help your sorority get ready for Bid Day, let us know! Our in-house creative team can whip up original designs that fit your theme in 24 hours or we can customize anything you see in our gallery to fit your chapter! We'd love to get started on an order for you. Submit an order inquiry here and a consultant will be in touch right away.