Retreat-in-a-Bag - Decorations

Archive for Decorations

Decorating for the Glory of God

Posted by Debby on March 27, 2019

In the list of spiritual gifts in the Bible, the “gift” of decorating is not mentioned. It is, however, a gift the God can use!

Decorating is not my gift–I’ll freely admit that. While I appreciate decorations and look in awe at those to whom decorating comes naturally, I could be content with a “bare bones” event or retreat. While there is a value to simplicity, who who am I to prevent those who want to serve the Lord with their decorating talents? Decorations truly can reinforce and enhance your event theme.

Use those women who have that gift! Share your vision with them. You may have to pull on the reins a bit, due to budget concerns or time restraints, but if they are willing to work within the parameters you set, let them go for it! God gave them that creativity to use for His glory.

Posted in: Retreat and Event Planning, Decorations, Developing Leadership, Ingredients for a Great Retreat, Lessons Learned, Little Things Make a Big Difference!, News & Information

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The “WOW” Factor

Posted by Debby on June 6, 2017

Something I love: I love walking into a women’s event and, at my first glimpse of the room and its decorations, my first reaction is “WOW.” I love being surprised and excited about what is to come based on the look of the room. The world calls that “The WOW Factor.” I’m here to tell you that “The WOW Factor” does not require a huge decorating budget, which most smaller churches do not have.

What the “WOW Factor” does require is someone with vision who is willing to develop it within your working budget. We are a small church. Sometimes we may have a little left in our account from previous retreats or events which is available to use. We are trying to keep the price of the retreat down as much as possible, so we try to add as little as possible to the individual retreat price.

Here are a few ideas for creating a budgetary margin for decorations:

Offer table decoration for sale after the event
Add a small amount to the individual’s cost for the event designated to decorations
Use multi-purpose decorations that can double as give-aways
Use the crafting talents of your ladies to create what would be too expensive to purchase
Do focal point decorating

Posted in: Little Things Make a Big Difference!, Decorations, Money-Saving Tips, News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning

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Multi-Purpose

Posted by Debby on March 8, 2016

Take a look at one of our table centerpieces from our last retreat. Our retreat theme “Deeper Still” used ocean decor. This could be used for any retreat theme where you are decorating with an ocean or beach theme.

You may have to look closely, but the plastic table cloth actually looked like water. Then small blue translucent trays were filled with
sand and shells and two corked bottles which contained more sand and tiny shells as well as a rolled up “message” — thus a “message in a bottle.”

There are several similar bottles that can be found on the internet, but we especially liked these because they came with sand, tiny shells, the message paper and cork, plus a way to pull the message from the bottle. With an assembly line, they were easy to assemble.

I loved these because we were able to use them for multiple purposes at our retreat. As seen above, they were a significant part of our decor. Later in the retreat, we had an activity (which I will share in the coming weeks) where each woman chose a bottle and checked out the “message” for her inside the bottle. Finally, the bottle then became our retreat remembrance – something each woman took home at the end of the retreat. Isn’t it great to find a multi-purpose item like this?

Posted in: Retreat and Event Planning, Decorations, Money-Saving Tips, News & Information, Retreat Remembrances

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Using Pinterest

Posted by Debby on September 17, 2013

All the new social media options can be overwhelming and confusing–as well as time-consuming! However, I want to mention that Pinterest can be a creative resource for events and retreats. For those of you familiar with Pinterest, you know it to be a source of millions of recipes, as well as creative ideas culled from the web about every topic imaginable–crafts, children’s activities, fashion, landscaping, and home decorating, to name a few. But one way I have found it helpful (once you have jointed Pinterest) is to do a search of either your theme or just “retreats” or “women’s ministry” in general. Many women have created boards of ministry ideas, and some can contain very helpful ideas, easily adapted to your needs.

For example, we recently had a women’s event themed “From Lemons to Lemonade.” The theme scripture was Romans 8:28. I searched “lemons” on Pinterest, and found a wealth of decorating ideas, centerpiece ideas, graphics and recipes that were helpful.

Posted in: Decorations, Money-Saving Tips, News & Information, Resources, Retreat and Event Planning, Retreat Remembrances

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The Budget

Posted by Debby on November 28, 2012

As discussed in our previous blog, the budget is determined from the numbers used to determine your retreat price per person. Having no budget money for the retreat may seem very limiting; however, God can do amazing things when we come to Him with our need.

The leader in charge of remembrance gifts has her budgeted amount per person that she can spend. While $1 seems small,you can easily make a magnet for each lady to take home, as well as a bookmark. We have budgeted anywhere for $1 to $10 for the remembrance gift over the years.

The decorating allowance may seem low, but don’t underestimate the creativity and ingenuity of your women! Decorations can be minimalized by concentrating on focal point decorating. We also rely on borrowed items to complete our theme-related decorating–items that someone has in their home and allows us to use for the retreat. Another option is to purchase decor which is then made available to your women to be purchased at the end of the retreat.

One of the main purposes of our website at www.retreatinabag.net is to encourage women’s ministries to find creative ways to work within their budgetary limitations. Remember, God does not need to work within a budget!

Posted in: Decorations, Money-Saving Tips, Retreat and Event Planning, Retreat Remembrances, Starting Points in Retreat Planning

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