I flew to Kansas Thursday to help my parents hold their annual Valentine’s Day party to help them host their church and community. This is an annual tradition they started a few years ago, and it is a highly anticipated event every year. I thought you would love to see a review of events, and if you want to do something similar in the community it might help you with the idea of hosting events or give you ideas!
Last year, I had to help and loved it so much that I asked if I could come back to help again this year! Its preparations are started weeks in advance to plan themes, decorations and menus. It takes a lot of hands and volunteer time to complete, and the end result is incredible!
On Friday morning, we went to church to help with cooking preparations and decorative settings. I helped make dessert (cheesecakes in chocolate bowls) – I made 6 batches of cheesecake mixture (I want?), washed 100 cups of glasses, helped plan strategies for all foods, and helped chop food, Clean food and clean it. It’s so fun to watch everything come to life and how many people really make the light work!
My sister Olivia makes dairy-free, gluten-free desserts for those with sensitivity/allergies. The dinner menu is completely gluten-free, and in addition to the rolls, she also made gluten-free rolls for GF.
We have 56 couples attending the event + all servers and extra helpers, so in total there are about 140 people eating dinner, which means there is a lot of food to make!
While some of us are working on food, there are other entire teams working to transform the worship center into a banquet hall!
During dinner, each table has discussion issues to discuss together (see below). Then, after dinner, my dad led some fun couple games (with prizes!), and then gave an inspiring speech about marriage, and then the couple discussed some issues separately, specifically to help strengthen them marriage and spend time praying together.
I gained the incredible privilege of overseeing 18 servers and all the food was on everyone’s table. I have to say that I was inspired to look at the next generation of young people. So many servers are young people, I am willing to work so hard on my own, have such a good attitude, take such initiative, and I am not shocked until all the dishes are finished and everything is cleaned up. .
At the beginning, each couple arrived, their photos were taken by Andrew Cook. Then, during the banquet, he prints them all out and puts them in the frame so that everyone has to go home in the special souvenirs of the night.
Here is a picture of my parents. It’s special and can help them get out and work with them on this event!
Some of the photos in this article were taken by Andrew Cook Photography and used with permission.
