Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Super Fun Weekend or The Thing That Took Over My Life

How could I have skipped over the biggest event in February and gone straight to March? The event that took over my life for a couple months?! I suppose I've blocked it all out by now.

A few months ago I was asked to head up a regional singles group at church with a trusty sidekick, Shaun. A  couple years ago a group put together a "Super Fun Weekend" that turned out really well.  Shaun and I were tasked with bringing it back this year.  We had a lot of people involved and we've got a great committee, but it was still a lot of work.

We started planning in November or December with the goal of making the weekend fun and affordable, with basically no budget. Whatever we charged people to attend is the money we had. I wish we'd had a financial modeling expert, but we ended up nearly perfect in the money realm. After a few arguments in December on venues and prices, we moved forward and got things going.

The week before, registration numbers were looking a little low, and given how many people love to wait until the last minute to commit to anything, I was nervous. Would we even make enough money to cover food and the band and this big Saturday night bash? How much food do you get?

We kicked off set up on Thursday night, shaky ladders and all, hoping to create a little ambiance in a church gym.


On Friday, the Phoenix crew showed up. Yay for friends coming into town! Slumber party at my house!

On Friday night, people showed up, we put them into small groups, handed them a restaurant list for the neighborhood, and sent them on their way for a couple hours.  Upon their return, we had a lovely hot chocolate bar, dessert and games.  




I think we counted about 250 people Friday night, and I'll consider that a success.

Saturday morning we headed over to Lincoln Heights in East LA for a service project. Jesicah is a vice principle at a charter school that's expanding, and they needed some help on a new building. She and the school were SO amazing in organizing workers, providing supplies, and the parents provided breakfast and a huge lunch for all of us. It could not have been a better project!  We just had to show up!



Some of the kids came and helped out.  They were adorable.


Time to prime!







I wanted to take this one home with me - could he be any cuter?!

Lunch was bounteous.



Okay, Saturday morning out of the way.  Two events down, two to go. I ran home to shower, then popped over to the stake center to see how the 1920s gala was shaping up and what I could do to help.  Julianne offered to put the event together for her portfolio, and she did such an amazing job. So much work, and it came out amazing.

This mocktail bar? She built it.


Props for photos.


Phoenix friends.  See how excited I am?


Utah and DC and Phoenix friends.

I don't think I took any photos of the band, but we had a classy band. And some dance lessons. And dance cards. And amazing food for dinner! Super great event.  How we could top this going forward, I don't know.

Sunday was still a little hectic. I woke up sick to my stomach, but managed to conduct a meeting during church, help prepare dinner for 325 people, and socialize a little.  All in all, it turned out to be a great event.  Did I have fun? Eh, a little. Did everyone else? I think so. And all that work was worth it.

Thanks for the parting gift, AZ friends. It was much needed, just like that massage I got the following Monday.

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