The 1st Year & Beyond

Grieving Through the Holidays

An event for those who have
recently lost a love one
and those walking beside them.

Watch the DEMO Video: See How It Works

Women's Ministry Event Theme
Grieving Through the Holidays

The development ideas make planning easy and the
Template Set makes publicity a breeze.

Holiday Tables
Take Home Gift Idea
Posters
Bulletin Inserts
Postcards
Tickets
Thank You Notes
Additional Theme Table Ideas
HOLIDAY TABLES

Versatile enough to be used with almost any speaker at any event, enlisting the help of several different women to each take responsibility for one table makes your event come alive with variety, excitement and beauty. Our theme this month is "Grieving Through the Holidays." [Additional Theme Table ideas follow.]

Plan one table per holiday. Whether this is a church-wide or community-wide event the goal is to provide comfort and encouragement for the grieving as they journey through their first year after losing a loved-one and to provide education for those who are walking along-side them.

Line the entryway hall with tables which have been decorated for each major holiday during the year: New Years, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Memorial & Labor Days, Father's Day, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. You may also wish to include tables for Wedding/Anniversary and Birthdays.

Have each table serve a beverage, snack or dessert which would remind the guests of that celebration. In the main area, decorate each table with silk flowers – one type of flower per table. (Roses, orchids, daffodils, pansies, daisies, etc.)

Take Home Gift. On each table in the main area, in front of each chair, place a pen for the guests to take home. Use floral-tape to secure one stem of the table’s theme flower to each pen, creating a useful, memorable keepsake. (Ideas available here: www.flowerpensinc.com.)

Guests may bring their refreshments to these tables and may listen to the speaker from their seats in this room.

GRIEF THEME SET - $12.95
Note: Online product. Nothing to ship.

or Join the Event Planners Club & $ave

THE PROMO TEMPLATE SET

POSTER MAKER
This interactive Word.doc opens directly onto your computer screen, where you will be able to enter your unique event information. If you have a photo of your speaker, fine -- if not, fine. If your text is long, reduce the font, otherwise, go with the preprogrammed font. The poster template produces a top quality, camera-ready poster. If you save the original to your computer, and then save revisions as you go, it's easy!

BULLETIN INSERTS/HALF SIZE POSTERS
This also opens into Microsoft Word as a two-up. The "sample" text is printed into the sections. Simply replace any areas that you'd like to change with your own text, copy it into the right hand side, and print.

POSTCARDS
This is a 4-up page which opens into a .pdf file online. It cannot be saved, and does not offer the flexibility of a Word.doc, but it automatically repopulates all four sections when you type your text into the upper left segment. Once laid out, you simply print onto card stock, cut and mail. [All other templates print onto regular white 8-1/2x11" paper.] The back side of the card is blank for your address information.

TICKETS
15-per page, this template again opens into a .pdf file which is ready-to-edit and print. Click on the photo below to test-drive the ticket template.

When the file opens, type your event title into the blank, top section. In the area below the title, type in your event location. The date and time should go in the middle-right section. Each time you click "enter", the program will automatically repopulate the remaining 14 tickets. So easy!

THANK YOU NOTES
This prints onto white 8-1/2x11" paper, which you fold into traditional card size. The front features the theme photo and "Thank You". There is room inside for a handwritten note.

OTHER TABLE THEME IDEAS

The Holiday Theme Table idea used above with the Grief Theme would work well for many topics, as do the following table theme ideas:

Everybody’s Birthday Party. Plan one table per month of the year. Have different volunteers decorate their month’s table, plus bring the “themed” dessert that goes along with the month. When we did this one, January’s table was decorated with snowmen and had a coconut-frosted cake; February’s was all hearts, including a heart-shaped cake, and so on. Each table hostess should use her creativity and dishes/decorations from her home, to make her table special. Our event included birthday party games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, hitting at a piñata while blindfolded, and even dropping clothes-pins into quart jars. The event concluded with a guest speaker whose message was spiritually encouraging for the Christians while presenting a clear plan of salvation for the unsaved. An excellent outreach event!

Decades to Remember. Plan one table per decade beginning with the 1920’s through the 2000’s. This event lends itself to a humorous fashion show featuring garb from each era. One church invited each of the guests to “wear your favorite decade” and gave prizes for the prettiest, funniest, and most outrageous outfits. The food for this event may be served from a main serving table, as decades don’t lend themselves so easily to specific food themes. Again, a speaker would be able to pull the event from pure fun into priceless fruit – providing the guests with truths that transform.

~ ~ ~

Marnie Swedberg is the Event Planners Friend.
Click above to check out her many resources now!

Everything we offer is 100% money back guaranteed.

Copyright 2006 @ Marnie Swedberg ~ www.Marnie.com