VALENTINE'S
DAY
BALL
What could be better than a
romantic dinner, dancing and candlelight? Imagine actually having a fun,
formal event to attend on Valentine's Day and having free babysitting for all
your kids at the same time! Too good to be true? This event holds
massive appeal to parents, fun for kids, and a great way to interlock you faith community
while refreshing your children's ministry fund.
Ingredients for a Valentine Ball:
Venue
This event is fun and
formal. What does that mean - what ever you want! It is an excuse to
bust out of the ordinary, dress up and indulge yourself in a romantic
evening. So, where do you start? Well, normally I would say think about your
facility. But this time, I would suggest looking for a hall to make it an
extra special annual event. The hall can cater, clean up, set up, and do
all the busy work for you. All you need to do is decorate. A
good place to check is a local VA Hall. Most communities have one and they
offer discounted rates to veterans. Check with someone in your congregation
or you local VA for prices. Expect the cost to vary on size.
Theme
After you have selected a
location plan the theme of the room. Themes are an important part of
making the evening truly fun and memorable. DON'T SKIP THIS PART! Have the children take an
active part in planning the decorations and this time you and a little crew will
need to set up. The planning is an important aspect of the fund
raiser since it will build excitement and foster a sense of community between congregants.
For the theme we suggest that
you go totally nuts! You read that right...I mean how many times a year do
parents get a night - a really nice great night - all to themselves? So go
nuts (cheaply of course). Make it monochromatic and drench everything in
pink. You know you want to and what better day to do it than Valentines
Day? The hall probably has some pink table clothes, if not rent them from
a local party store. If you dare to be bolder than pink think RED!
Make everything red...red roses, red table clothes, red napkins, red
glasses. You name it. By the way - monochromatic means one
color. It is the most striking theme you can do. And since red or
pink are easy to find go nuts and fill the room.
Decorations
 
We suggest that you buy tea
candles and a hurricane glass to put over it. Remember there will be
children at your dinner and flames and kids just seem to attract each other.
So we suggest that there are NOT any open flames. So you have a little
candle and its in a red glass votive...goes with your theme, too. Check
local craft stores for these items. When they are on sale you can get a
dozen for $4.95. Also, don't be afraid to ask for a discount. Some
stores will automatically give it if they know it is for a fund raiser or for a
church. Since it is for both open your mouth and
ask.
And if budget permits feel
free to dress up the table even more. You can purchase flowers at a
wholesaler (aka Sam's Club). This is where many local florists get their
flowers from daily. They always have a fresh supply and great
prices. It is one of the only places I have seen that you can get two
dozen long stem roses for $12.00! So if flowers appeal to you - and why
shouldn't they - check out your wholesaler. They sell vases too.
Some even have in house florists that will arrange them for you at an additional
cost. And if bright and cheap is your aim what's better than tissue
paper! Just don't buy them at a card shop or you'll pay too much.
Get them from the dollar store or OTC.
Finally sprinkle the
table with glitter confetti. They help reflect the light and add an extra
fun touch to each table! They come in all shapes colors and sizes.
Look at these cute hearts and stars. Spread them around the centerpiece
for extra oomph!
 
For light you are going to
want to dig out your RED Christmas lights. What! Yeah, you got it.
String up those white lights everywhere. Especially in the eating
room. You don't want to have the harsh overhead lights on, so these will
be all the light for the evening. You can put them on those fake fichus
trees littering the hall ways. Drag them into the dinning room and make a
tree lined terrace feel. Or buy some lattice (~ $9.99 a sheet) at a home
improvement store and string it with lights. After it is light hang it
over the tables or make a room screen by joining two screens together.
Attach them with your floral wire and stand them up into the corners of the
rooms. Use your imagination and remember, its like Christmas time, the
more lights the better! If you don't have them ask congregants to lend
them to you. Put a little tag on one end of the string of lights so they
get their set back.
Okay, you have a good idea
about the room. Red everything with red candles and red lights. Looks good...but how do you make that smashing entrance? Go
to Oriental Trading Co. again. See those red balloons and red metallic
fringe curtains, streamers, ribbons and more? All that stuff will cost you
about $30 and it is well worth it. You can reuse those curtains and they
take up so much space and can nicely drape your entrance. Bunch red
balloons together and hang them with curling ribbon. Use lots and curl the
ends loosely. Put streamers everywhere. For an extra effect double
the streamers...put a white streamer back to back with a red streamer and
twist. You get a bunch of alternating red and white streamers! Put
them everywhere! Use your imagination and go nuts.
Why are we spending so much
time with decorating? Decorating is a big deal. If you want
something to turn out smashing it better look smashing. We think OTC
(Oriental Trading Co.) lets you do so much for so little. Skip the party
store and just order the stuff. Also, note that the colors between events
can be used over and over again. Red is a good idea and can be used at
Valentine, Italian Night, and Christmas.
Menu
So what's next? We
suggest you plan the menu with the catering hall. Will there be 30 people or
3,000 people? Pick a number to expect to be in attendance by poking around
to see who likes the idea of a Valentine dinner. Others will come along
for the ride, and that's okay too.
Catering costs vary by state
and city, so you will want to call around. Don't forget to check your
country clubs, KoC halls and the VA hall. You can ask these places who
good caterers are and get recommendations.
Before you decide on a hall
decide on a price. Remember it will be per couple and you need to have a
feel for what your congregation can afford. This idea will be a lot of
fun, but it is such a downer to think young parents with little money will be
left out. Pay attention to this. You may want to set up a sponsor program
between older and younger couples at your church. Make a secret list with
names that are not in attendance because of finances. Ask older more financially
able congregants to help sponsor their costs. This is a fundraiser, so you
don't want to go in the hole, but at the same time be discrete and show
compassion to those around you. The ones that can't afford it will be the
ones that are ignoring or become angry about the dinner. You can also pull
them in to pay their way for their ticket by helping you. It's worth
considering.
Then the menu is to be
considered: a $10 chicken plate, a $9 buffet with multiple items? Sit down
5 course dinner or buffet style with limited wait staff. You decide with
this one. While I lean toward super formal, not everyone does and it even
makes some people uncomfortable. So landing in the middle is a good
thing. Serve a fancy buffet with tables in full dress - no plasticware.
Ticket Sales
Okay, you got your place
settings, a hall, a centerpiece, and the menu down. Now what? Well
start selling tickets. Seriously encourage ticket sales prior to the night
of the event. You may even need to close ticket sales one week prior so
you can order the right amount of dinners. You can buy paper tickets at WalMart
or all most any store. It comes with a template and you fill it in on your
computer.
If you want the easy version, go and buy raffle tickets at WalMart. Sell
those as your tickets. Use the other half to keep a tally of how many you
sold.
Incorporating the Generations - Parents
& Kids
The primary point of this
fund raiser is to raise money, but it is also to try to give parents a
break. Babysitters are hard to find, and even harder to book on a
holiday. The point of this fund raiser is to give them back something that
was taken away - time. Children are a blessing and eat up almost all of a
parent's time. If they aren't at work they are with the kids, if they
aren't with the kids they are at work. Most parents are just plain tired
and burned out. And just because no one did this when you were a young
mother or father doesn't mean they don't need it. It's funny,
hindsight. Sometimes the vision becomes crystal clear, then other times it
becomes so clouded it shies away from the truth. And the truth is, whether
you had it or not, everyone could use help. Everyone could use extra time
with their spouse, especially when there are young children in the
picture. Encourage your older couples to help the younger one as if they
were grandparents. This is one way to make sure parents get some time they
need and have fun and make a profit while we are at it.
During the Dinner
At the dinner we suggest that
you play instrumental classical music in the background.
Extra Fun and Extra Funds
To add extra funds to this
event and to double as entertainment set up a silent auction. Call around
town and see who will donate. Many places will give free movie passes,
food, and coupons. During the advertising before hand congregants may
inquire as to the auction items. They may also offer to contribute
some. We suggest you accept with a few ground rules. All items are
new is the main point you want to state. This shouldn't look like someone
cleaned out their basement. It should be stuff people want.
Auctions
Make a list of the items on a
sheet of paper and number them. Include the description and donor.
Put a bowl in front of the item and people can bid. During dessert review
all bids and seek out the highest. Another fun take could be alive auction
with an auctioneer. And one must have auction item is the MYSTERY
AUCTION. Take an item and put it in a box. OTC sells really pretty sparkling
star boxes. Put the box on the table with all the other items. Just
write MYSTERY ITEM on the table tag and on the item sheet. Put a PLEASE DO
NOT TOUCH note next to it so no one can tell what it is. Basically, they
will be bidding on a surprise! You can do a couple of these, but don't do
more than one gag item.
Freebies
We also suggest that the
children and anyone that is volunteering as a server or as a baker be exempt
from purchasing a ticket. If they choose to buy one anyway, good for
you. If not, this gives those in your congregation that cannot afford the
dinner a way to be involved without announcing their lack of funds to
everyone. Basically they get to work for their dinner.
Babysitters
Make sure you book babysitters
for your younger kids, toddlers and infants for the dessert and coffee part of
the dinner. Lingering adults and running children don't mix well.
Allowing them to go play toward the end will help them unwind while the adults
unwind over their coffee.
Sifting the Kinks Out
You will need all the items listed above including a hall
reservation and catering.
Set up varies by church and number attending. A benefit to selling tickets
prior to the event is that you have most of the funds to purchase the supplies you need so you
do not need additional funds up
front. Then the costs of catering and hall rental varies. Make sure
you mention that it is a church event, used as a fundraiser to help your
children's ministry. They may give you a discount. General rule of
thumb - figure out how much a typical family would spend on a night at a nice
sit down restaurant, tax, tip, and babysitting - then shoot for that price
range. (e.g. Dinner for 2 at the Outback Restaurant: Appetizer: $6.95,
Entire: $14.95, Entire $16.95, Soda: $1.25 x 2, Dessert: $4.95 x 2 = $51.25 +
tax & tip= $63.25 + babysitter for 3 hours = $78.25. Shoot for
$50.00/ couple and you're doing good).
Make several calls. Check hall prices, caterers, VA Halls, Knights of Columbus,
or other membership Halls. Sometimes Country Clubs will rent out their facilitates
to non-members.
Common problem...too much to do and not enough help. Well, you can cheat
and order the dessert from a bakery, but you would really like everyone to chip
in and pull together. Well, this worked well for me, although it seems
like it wouldn't. I attempted to keep everything very simple and do it all
myself with one helper. When people asked about who was helping I told
them just us. They immediately jumped on the band wagon and insisted on
helping, whether I needed it or not. Reverse psychology?
Maybe. I call it low pressure volunteering. More people creep out to
help when there is no pressure.
Have all the children make some of the decorations, name cards, or put a short
presentation together on film. You can put all the things out that they
made and remind everyone why they are there. It also lets the kids say
thanks, before everyone forgets.
YES! YES! YES! Getting the word out will raise excitement about this event.
Make posters with pictures of the kids and photos of the food and sample tickets
on it. Send out post cards and announce it in your newsletter. Make
it sound like too much fun to miss (it will be). You can also state that
tickets will be limited. You don't have to say why, but if you are short
on volunteers it is a good reason too. Don't overbook yourself or sell
more food than you have. Advertising will allow you to keep ticket sales
and your volunteer base proportionate as well as ensure you buy enough
food.
 
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