This year's ladies meeting theme was, "A Day in Paradise". It was one of our best decorated themes, by far! However, it was a lot of work! Our initial menu for the meeting was the Cafe Rio Pork Salad. However, due to last minute budget cuts, we had to change the menu. Coming up with something three days before the meeting, added a little extra stress--all my planning went down the drain. We decided on Chicken Kabobs, Baked Potatoes, Salad, and Hawaiian Rolls. For dessert, we had a choice of cheesecake or pound cake with fresh berries. On the Kabobs we put: chicken (that I marinated in teriyaki sauce), red onion, green bell pepper, mushrooms, pineapple, and cherry tomatoes. I won't call it a complete disaster, but it wasn't one of my shining moments of my cooking career. For one, it was my first time making kabobs. Secondly, I had to leave the cooking up to a few 20-something guys on the grill. Thirdly, it was a LOT of tedious work getting it ready. So, if you are looking to do a luau theme for over 100 people (we had about 130), don't choose kabobs unless you have a LOT of help. Lesson learned!
We borrowed a huge umbrella from the local home improvement store to be our centerpiece for the platform. It added a really nice touch.
This was the registration area as you entered the church. The pergola was a lot of work to put up and take apart, but it really was the 'wow factor' when you entered.
All over the gym walls, we had the nets and leis along with several driftwood signs painted with exotic location names on them. The ladies did a really good job putting it all together.
The sand on the table was a nice touch, along with shells and miniature beach lounge chairs.