Hi all - I am organizing a mothers tea next month for my church and, since I am so not the creative type, I thought I would check here to get some ideas. What would you recommending doing for a small church that would probably only have 15-20 women attending? One thought we have is to let the kids serve the lunch to the moms (then have a volunteer keep them occupied the rest of the time in another room). What else could we do during our time together? Any fun ideas? What has worked/not worked for womens' teas you've been to? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
our former church had one of these every year.. They served sandwiches and fruit and iced tea.. Desserts were on each table and what they did was have the MEN of the church serve the women.. They had drawings for door prizes that were donated. just a few little things.. homemade stuff that ladies of the church made.. The entertainment was by the men of the church they did silly stuff on the stage like the YMCA song and dressed up as the characters.. FUN!!! Ladies volunteered to decorate the tables.. They brought their own dishes and it was as elaborate or as simple as they wanted it to be.. Clear plastic plates were used over their dishes so they didn't need washed.. Just throw away the plates. We had all sorts of different themed tables.. The ladies invited any lady friend/or family member they wanted.. We didn't have a lot of ladies from our church but once all the people came that were invited we had lots of people.. The ladies were invited to mill around all the tables and pick the dessert that they wanted..
At our ladies teas, we usually have a guest speaker to give a brief talk/testimony. The lady who organizes it lets her friends at other local churches know. It has grown into quite a nice ministry to get to know and encourage other Christian women in our area. We go to a local bed & breakfast so none of us have to clean up. Several of us made cookies or cakes to bring to cut expenses.
At my old church, we did a Christmas Tea that has become a pretty big hit. One of the things we did was have a lady (or two) sponsor a table for decoration. They had total control over theme, centerpiece, plate settings, etc. Some women got really creative: Topsy Turvy, Tennis, Redneck Christmas... oh gosh, my mind is blank, but you get the idea. Then some others just used their pretty china and a simple centerpiece. They were all very beautiful, though! Then, the guests would have some time to walk around and see each table up close. Everyone voted for 3 different categories -- Most Beautiful, Most Creative, and Most Humorous. We had a lot of luck getting donations from the community -- Red Robin donated a HUGE basket of gift certificates, t-shirts, glasses, frisbee, etc; gift certificates from PF Changs, Cheesecake Factory, the bowling alley; massage / spa gift certificates. These were door prizes. Other than that, we did: a short testimony/talk; some singing; the men served (dressed in black pants, white button down shirts)... We encouraged the women to invite friends and we usually had a big turnout. Another thing we did was invite a prominent member or two from the community -- One year, we honored the wives of the police chief, fire chief, etc. One year, it was the wives/women in the school district -- Superintendent's wife, area principals / wives.
Our mother's tea is actually a mother, daughter tea. The fellowship hall is decorated in old victorian decor. Actually, it is more like a victorian garden. We sometimes have an arbor with a bench under it where photos are taken. Last year we had an old frame hanging from the ceiling and the mom and daughter stood behind the frame when the picture was taken. We usually have 12 tables that seat 8 women each. Each table is decorated by a different person. The theme for each table is whatever the hostess of each table decides. Then all the ladies vote for their favorite table. We have a guest speaker and special music. Two years ago we had a group of moms and daughters put on a show where they dressed in clothes from different eras and modeled them. The food usually consists of sandwhiches, scones, and unique cookies from days past. We obviously have hot tea but we also have cold drinks for those who do not care for hot tea. It is a really special and exciting event at our church. It is very special to see the generation of women who sometimes show up.
At our last ladies tea we were asked to bring our favorite cup (with or without the saucer) and to bring a friend. We played games like you do at baby showers- unscramble the mother names (presidents wives, actresses, historical figures, Biblical names); play "Who Am I?", etc. One tea we were asked to supply a baby photo (marked on the back only) and one of the gals made a whole display board of baby photos with little numbers on each and we had to try to guess who was who. Fun! Of course, some of the black and whites were a help to decide which generation we were guessing from! Prizes were given to the mother with the most kids; grandmother with the most grandkids; mother with the most daughters (and daughter-in-laws) present; youngest mother (either the youngest one there or the youngest one when the first baby was born); and oldest mother. A special prize was given for a mother of twins or multiples. (It was a gift certificate to a local salon for a pampering afternoon!) MT3
In addition to those categories, MT3, I was at one mother/daughter tea that gave a prize for the longest labor (me at 48 hours with Ds). Incidentally, since there were two moms with twins for the most multiples category, the prize went to the mom with the largest twins--my mom at a combined weight of 15 lbs 9 ounces. :lol:
