I’ll admit, I was totally thrown for a loop when a close friend asked me to be their date for their Fraternity Formal. My introvert side was screaming in panic at the idea that I would essentially be spending a getaway weekend with a group of people who would most definitely have a social battery that could outlast my own. But I knew this would be a fun experience, despite not knowing quite what wildness that would be in store. Anyways, let us get into the topic at hand: Fraternity Formal coolers.
If you’re like me, I had no idea this was a thing until my overthinking tendencies forced my busy mind to do some research at 2 a.m. on everything I needed to know about formal. Through my research, I found out that it was very common for the date to paint a cooler for the fraternity brother who asked them. In a frantic, I texted my date at 2 a.m. to ensure if I was actually supposed to fulfill the duties which were described in several articles. (I know, 2 a.m. typically means a booty call text, but in this case it was a I-am-freaking-out text). To be honest, I am not sure when this guy actually gets sleep due to responding quite quickly. He went ahead and informed me that I was to paint a cooler and supply the alcohol for the weekend. That statement in itself began to worry me. All the articles stated that it took these girls at least a week to finish these coolers. But with the power of hyperfixation and shortcuts, I am going to share a method that lasted probably about 15 hours overall in total. With that in mind, let’s get into it.
Step one: Buy the cooler.
For this, I went to Target and bought a 32-count cooler for roughly 30 bucks. Besides painting coolers, I saw many girls at the formal who painted Guzzler bottles instead. I went with one that had a handle and not one with wheels due to reading other girl’s articles who stated that the wheels were very difficult to paint around. I would highly recommend buying a color that fits with your desired theme. My date’s favorite color was blue, so I went ahead and got one that was already blue.
Step two: Come up with your design ideas.
For this step, I simply looked up examples from the internet. I didn’t know a lot about my date’s interests… In my defense, I have only known him for a month. With this in mind, I tried to make something that would be more personable for him. Keep in mind that there are five sides you must paint! My ideas included one side that was inspired by super smash bros(which he has been trying to teach me), the location of formal, his favorite adult drink, a side that was designated for his pledge class and Fraternity’s letters, and the last side was related to one of his favorite brands along with his name and the year of this fall formal.
Step 3: Choose placement of ideas and get them on.
I personally freehanded everything onto the cooler itself. I didn’t quite have the time or patience to go out and get some tracing paper for the sharpie to bleed onto the cooler. Many articles said that the cooler would need to be sanded down so the paint would stick onto it. I would argue that this should only be done if this is a serious relationship and if you actually have the time to do it. I won’t lie, it’s getting quite busy due to it being the end of the semester. I wasn’t about to get behind in my studies to slave over flatting a cooler. It was also recommended that one is supposed to fill the logo to make it flat… yeah, I didn’t do that either. I definitely cut a lot of corners, but it still turned out great. I drew them in sharpies so I would have dark lines for my boundaries as I painted. I would heavily recommend using a sharpie to also fill in certain parts if you are not comfortable with paint. I also used many thin layers of acrylic paint to go over the bumps of the cooler to make it appear smoother.
Step 4: Seal it up.
After I let the paint dry until it was dry to touch, I went ahead and sealed the paint in with semi gloss clear sealant I also got at target, for under five bucks. I would also recommend spraying it outside. I would say, don’t be dumb like I was and lazily spray it inside, especially where a crosswind could pick up the spray stream and cause it to go directly in your face. It definitely did not taste great or smell great in the slightest. I did roughly about two and a half coats for the whole thing. Keep in mind that the spray can be decently far from what you are trying to spray. Otherwise, there will be decently uneven layering of sealant.
Step 5: Pack it up.
This part is really all up to you and your date. Hypothetically I would recommend bringing snacks along with shooters and other bottled drinks for the weekend. It’s better to over prepare than not! Most definitely pack some Advil and pedialyte for those rough mornings or nights!
Overall, I would say that this project roughly took me about 12 hours overall not including the drying process of paint and sealing. With the time calculated, I would say this took me about three days from start to finish. I would recommend getting homework and other responsibilities done while the cooler is in any type of cooling period! I hope this helps with inspiration or can be informative for those on what can be expected of dates, each chapter of Greek life has different requirements.