Ward Christmas Party!

When we moved into our new ward in March, we were given callings and an assignment to be in charge of the Ward Christmas Party. Our Bishop always asks a new family in the ward to be in charge of the party, so we were it! We accepted of course, even though it would be a challenge not having a clue about past ward parties, traditions, or even who to ask to help us.  We did a lot of planning in the months leading up to it, and lucky for us it turned out great! We were happy to be involved and Jeff can't resist throwing a party! :) 

Here was our invitation that we had printed for people to give away to their friends and neighbors: 

We decided on "I'll be home for Christmas" theme...keep it cozy and family - oriented. People were really excited about it, and we were too! 

There are so many details that go into a Ward Party of this scale. From table-top decorations to assigning ward members to cook hams. Lucky for us, we discovered a week ahead that all of the long tables in our church building were gone because of a stake activity.  We were able to get some guys to go get tables from another building the day of.  Little details like that...so many things to keep track of! 

The day of we met in the afternoon and got everything set up: 

I worked on the decorations and food while Jeff worked on the program and sound equipment. It was nice to split jobs like this...especially because Jeff is so good at putting on a show.  He has a talent for music and entertainment...and it came through! He was really excited to pull out his sound gear and fancy microphones & speakers. Fun to see him use all of his stuff again! 

We had a fun photo booth set up in the back for people to take family pictures to go along with our family theme.  This was a hit for sure with lots of fun props. 

I even got a chance to get a quick pic with Brielle! 

During dinner we had a slideshow going on the stage of family Christmas pictures that ward members had submitted of years past.  They were fun to see, and added to the theme. 

We had a bunch of family members assigned to provide our musical entertainment throughout the night.  They performed as background music during dinner time. 

We had a great turnout...just enough tables and chairs for everyone and enough food, thank goodness! We squeezed 200 people in our little gym, there was lots of holiday merriment to be had! 

We had some more musical numbers after dinner was over - including some with really unique instruments and a display of musical talents from so many ward members! Then the Bishop and his wife gave a spiritual thought. Always nice to hear from the "Mother and Father of the Ward!" 

And then it was time for Santa!

Here we are introducing our special visitor.  The kids in the room went CRAZY. 

We had a little "home" scene set up on the stage.  The kids came up to sit on Santa's lap and get a photo op.  It was really cute.  

Santa seemed a little unsure about the pictures...ha ha...he seemed to feel he was photobombing.  It made me laugh so hard when I saw this picture after getting home.  It's ok, Santa...we want to see YOU! 

We had milk & cookies for dessert and ended the night.  It was fun, yummy and festive. Cleanup was easy because we used only disposable plates and tableware. Special thanks to my parents who watched the girls so we could set up and do everything at the party.  We were lucky to have our hands free, and couldn't have done it otherwise! 

We had so much fun, but we were glad to have this big event done early in the month so we could move on to our other Christmas festivities.  What a good experience for us to provide an evening of entertainment and opportunities to introduce our neighbors to the church.