It's all just Black and White

File this one under.... an original idea (mine!) that was a HUGE success!

As leader of the Relief Society activities committee, I've had my share of winners and losers for our activities. This one was definitely a winner, and it's one of the few times I'll pat myself on the back, because this one: I came up with on my own. (Many times I copy others' ideas, tweaking them to suit myself.)

Last Thursday, we had a Black and White Progressive Dinner. Instead of progressing from home to home, we chose to do the whole meal at the church, and progress from room to room. Here are a few shots of the decorations that evening -- most of which I did myself. I was trying to really keep the costs as low as possible, to save our budget for other activities. And, I have to thank the committee members and our food committee for the evening's success, though - because it couldn't have happened without them. On to the photos!

Our greeting table! The black piece on the right is the prize for our on-time drawing. These drawings are a regular feature with us, and we are sold on the idea. It sure is a great lure to people to arrive punctually! The hydrangea blossoms came from my front yard here at the Haven, and the white pitcher was where the ladies put their names in for the drawing. (The prize this time was some desk organizer items. We always coordinate the prize with the evening's theme.)

The tables had either checkerboard or polka-dot toppers, and the white tent-cards (with more hydrangeas!) were conversation-starter questions. This was the room for the salad.We normally have 25-30 people show up, on a good night. That evening, we had 47 ladies!!
It was amazing. We had to set up an extra table for the main course.

Here are my homemade black and white centerpieces! I was going for sleek, contemporary, and definitely NOT lace & raffia. Total cost for centerpieces: $9.00 worth of spray paint. The mirror tiles were in the church closet -- cost: $0. The black cloths were $4.00 of fabric (each), that I was STILL hemming that morning. Procrastination will kill me one of these days!

Can you tell what it's made of? Those are my landscape rocks at the base, painted black and white. And yes, those are PVC and ABS plastic pipes, of varying sizes. Todd got scraps from one of his suppliers for free. This is either really innovative, or really stupid. Your choice, but it looked good!

Our speaker during the main course talked about how things are black and white, while some would want you to believe there are shades of gray. She talked about how we should "Choose the White" (Choose the Right). She also addressed the overwhelming amount of electronics and media in our lives and ways to reduce their influence.

[...I say as I'm typing on the computer for this very blog entry! HA!!]

Then, I totally lucked out with these silhouette people. They're leftover from some dance over a year ago, and were tucked up on the stage. We pulled them out and leaned them on the walls between the main course and the dessert. I think they added a lot. Cost: $0.
Our dessert course speaker was from a local upscale youthful women's clothing store. She talked about ways to accessorize and change the look of a basic black dress (or outfit). So our decorations in there were all fashion related. We added hot pink to our color theme and had high-heeled shoes and other accessories (necklaces, sunglasses, purses) on small tables. We re-used the checkerboard and polka-dot fabrics from our first room. Cost: $0. And I have to say that almost all the shoes.............. came from Alyssa's closet!!!!

Here is a quick look at the dress and her items ready for it: We got a ton of positive feedback from those that attended, so I am checking this one off as another success!

I also have to thank my daughters for all their help, too. Alys and Darce both helped set up and decorate, and Alyssa was one of our servers, while Darcie stayed home with Emma for me.

If you're interested in any other of the details on this, please post a comment! In the meantime, my committee is moving on to plans for September's activity -- which is service-related.