To many, the last Friday of every semester is known as the time when you better start studying for finals if you don’t want to fail. For Greeks, however, the last Friday of every semester is one of our favorite “holidays”: Frat Formal Friday. On this night every semester, every single Penn State fraternity is holding its last event before the semester break.
At Frat Formal Friday, you can expect to see everyone dressed to the nines, drinking some fancy alcohol, and partying hard before it’s time to focus on finals. With it being fall semester, many of Penn State’s newest Greeks (i.e. freshmen) will be attending their very first Frat Formal Friday. When I went to my first FFF oh so long ago, I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure of the protocol. Here is a comprehensive guide of the Dos and Don’ts of Frat Formal Friday, as told by an old washed-up pro:
DO: Dress Nicely
Frat Formal is a nice occasion. It is basically the one time in the semester where fraternities will be serving vodka that isn’t from our good friend Vladimir and at a lot of houses, professional bar tenders are hired and/or a fancy dinner is served. With all that being said, dress like you are at a formal occasion. This is not the time to be wearing your run of the mill social outfit. For Frat Formal Friday, it’s okay to treat yourself and get a nice new dress and shoes. Someone was nice enough to invite you to his fraternity’s main event of the semester. Be polite enough to look like you spent a little bit of time preparing to be there.
DON’T: Dress like you are going to Prom
I realize I just said that FFF is a fancy occasion and you should be dressed nicely, but for this event, there is definitely such a thing as dressing TOO nicely. For Frat Formal, wear a nice cocktail dress and some heels that aren’t scuffed up and covered in a layer of slug from dirty basement floors. There is absolutely no need to go out and buy a $300 dress for this occasion, and whatever you do, don’t spend money having someone style your hair. This is a fraternity formal, not prom. If you show up looking like it’s your wedding day, you will get strange looks. Just class it up a little bit from your normal, but don’t go overboard.
DO: Enjoy the good alcohol
As I mentioned earlier, fraternities splurge for formal and provide the guests with top shelf alcohol. Take advantage of this because it is the only time you will ever see a bottle of Cîroc or Jack Daniels sitting on a fraternity bar. At FFF, you will get drunk. That is okay. Try a little bit of everything. I know Cranberry Vodkas are very good, but with all this (free!) good alcohol available for your indulgence, try a new cocktail and appreciate the selection.
DON’T: Be the person who is ridiculously drunk and throwing up
Yes, you will be drunk at FFF. Everyone will be drunk at FFF. However, there is a fine line between being drunk and being that person who is embarrassing herself and everyone around her. If you stumble in your heels, that’s fine. I’m not saying you have to be on your very best behavior, because that’s no fun. What I am saying, however, is do not be the person who cannot stand up and is throwing up everywhere. Throughout the night, pace yourself, even if your date and guy friends keep trying to pour more and more shots down your throat. Your saying no and them chanting “a**hole” at you is much, much less embarrassing than being the person passed out in the middle of the floor an hour later. Your date asked you to this occasion (and probably paid a decent amount for you to be there). Try your best not to embarrass yourself or him.
DO: Enjoy your date’s company
The common misconception about FFF is that you absolutely MUST hook up with your date at the end of the night. Sure, a lot of people do this, but you by no means have to do anything you do not want to do or are uncomfortable with. However, no matter what your intentions are, enjoy the night with your date. Don’t be awkward and just stand in the corner, even if you don’t know a lot of people there. Dance with your date and talk with his friends. Make sure you're a date that he has fun with, not one that he can't wait to get rid of.
DON’T: Enjoy someone else’s date’s company too much
This is kind of self-explanatory: don’t steal someone else’s date. This can range from anything from talking to them all night and not hanging out with anyone else to hooking up with a person that you did not originally show up with. Doing this is annoying and rude. Hogging someone else’s date is awkward for the girl he brought and the guy that brought you, not to mention your date paid money to take you to this occasion. Not saying you can’t hang out with any of your other friends in the fraternity while you’re at formal, but be polite and spend time with the brother who asked you to attend.
Frat Formal Friday is an exciting, fun, and crazy night. This coming FFF, enjoy yourself and have fun one last time this semester before finals begin. If you are new to the Frat Formal scene, don’t be nervous and just have fun! However, make sure you stay within the guidelines to make sure you don’t wake up the next day regretting every decision you made.
