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Valentine's Contest: Finalist #2
Valentine's Contest Finalist #2 - Gretchen:Our church has a tradition to do a Valentine's banquet for all the married couples. Last year, my younger brother and I expressed the desire to plan and organize the banquet and we were gladly given permission. My vision was to have the single young people, highschool aged and older, do everything from the preparation to the clean up and allow the married couples to have the evening off. It went so well that we were asked to do it again this year.
 We decided, this year, that my brother would be in charge of making all the food while I would be in charge of everything else. After much thought, we chose to do a Garden theme and the planning and bargain shopping began. Since it is winter, we had to buy/use artificial plants & flowers, but they actually looked great at the banquet.
Around the room, we had 6 different gardens:
A Child's Garden - complete with real dirt, seeds, real plants that were just beginning to pop out of the dirt and lots of cute gardening items appropriate for a child
 The Serenity Garden - complete with a lovely little bench, a mini pond with real goldfish in it and lots of beautiful flowers
 The Welcome Garden - which included a ladder my little brother and I had hand-made from an old tree in our backyard, sand and some living cactus looking plants
 The Garden of Love - this included a white table and chairs set up for tea under some trees with real cream, sugar and little cookies. We had rose petals on the ground all around and under the table as well, with many extra touches to make it look like a perfect retreat.
The Rock Garden - complete with lots and lots of rocks which we dug up from our gardens at home, a mini pond and larger pond with a fountain, blue lights and some adorable yellow butterflies I purchased at Hobby Lobby.
We also had another sort of "garden" with a bridge. Instead of water running under it, I used sand and made it look like water with a rock outline - an idea I had seen on a recent trip.
Around the room, we had a path that ran by the different gardens which was made of green lights. The musicians, which were young people from our church, played under a lattice cove that was decorated with greenery and flowers. We also had a photography room, set up like JCPenny's and a young man from our church took pictures of the couples.
 As the couples walked in, they were given a program and a rock with a number painted on it. The number on the rock stood for which table they were sitting at. A beverage cart, which was decorated with lots of flowers and tulle, was pushed around and they were offered tea or water. Many came early and enjoyed wandering around the gardens while enjoying the sounds of music and water falling (from the fountain).
 After the banquet started, each table had waiters/waitresses--young people from our church--who served them the delicious food my brother and some other young people from our church had made: Mixed Salad Greens with Poppy Seed Dressing, Assorted Fruit on trays, Honey Wheat Bread, New Potatoes with Chives, Sesame Broccoli, Baked Chicken with Herb Sauce and Raspberry Mousse Pie - all made from scratch. My Dad took care of the after dinner games and program.
  While it took months to plan and 1 1/2 days to set up, it was well worth the effort. Many couples that attended said it was the best banquet our church had ever had. I was very, very blessed in organizing it, especially as I worked with the young people from our church who endlessly gave up their time and energy to help me unload rocks/stones, dirt, sand and loads of other stuff as well as assist in setting up the gardens. I can hardly wait to begin planning next year's banquet! -Gretchen is 20 and works as a mother's helper, studies and teaches flute and piano, and runs Fashionably Modest Patterns. She also happens to be my sister. :)
Labels: For the unmarried
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12 Comments:
Gretchen, that sounds like a wonderful banquet. The garden theme would have been so beautiful and peaceful. It must have been a blessing to all involved!
Renee in Montana (I met you in November:-)
Gretchen! That is beautiful... Will Crystal and Jesse be able to go? Wow! I would love to see how your house looks when you get married one day--you are an amazing decorator!
Phebe
I really appreciate the emphasis on healthy food and a beautiful atmosphere.
What a wonderful effort you and your brother put forth to bless couples in your church. It looked like an absolutely lovely evening. There are not many young people who would think up such an event for others. You are a real blessing!
Christy W.
Gretchen,
That sounds like it was simply wonderful! The food, the gardens, ... it all looked grand!
Also, I must mention that we love the bathing suit patterns we have bought from you! All four of our girls wear bathing suits made from your patterns and they all love them more than any other suit we've had!
You are truly a blessing to your family and you have been a blessing to us through your patterns! Keep up the good work!
Well done! It sounds like you did an excellent and throughly creative job!
It sounds wonderful!
Gretchen, you are extremely talented! What a beautiful thing you & your brother have done to bless married couples by giving them a time of refreshment & encouragement.
So very thoughtful of you to do. I have a feeling you will be in popular demand for your gift of hospitality. :)
God bless!
I heard all about this and am so glad to get to see some pictures from the occasion! Gretchen, you are amazing! I am amazed at all the time and effort you put into creating such a memorable evening. Remind me to call you next time I need help decorating something... :-)
Wow--incredible! I can only imagine how much planning that took, and everything sounds and looks so beautiful for the couples of the church.
Wow, that must have been so much fun for the couples in your church!! I know I would love to go to an event like that. I'm sure it was a HUGE amount of work, but what a great labor of love!!
What a beautiful evening to give to others! Just looking at the pictures, I'm certain that many unforgettable memories were made.
And the flowers! What a dose of springtime!
Wow, this is amazing. Good job!
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