Relief Society Activity – 100 Dresses

I was very reluctant to  say yes to the new calling I received last year of becoming the Relief Society Activity Coordinator.  I had served in the primary for most of my married life and then all the sudden I was asked to plan the yearly activities for the Relief Society.  I did my first one and it was a flop.  We had a finance night that only the committee, the people talking and the Relief Society president and the bishop and his wife came to.  I was so sad because I had put a lot of work into it.  Then I did the Relief Society Birthday activity which turned out bit better but we only had about 20 people.  After this activity there were some changes in the ward and I was asked to be the 2nd counselor in the Relief Society….my first thought….”don’t you have to be old to do that?”   I know sorry 🙂  I was just really scared.  But I accepted, and have learned SO much from this calling. 

Our first activity with a new Relief Society Activity Coordinator and me as the councilor over her was a huge success.  We did and activity we called 100 Dresses.  We found a lot of the ideas on sugerdoodle.  For anyone planning a Relief Society Activity or even Young Women’s activity this was amazing.

Here is how it went down…

• We started by letting the sisters know a couple months ahead to save their dresses or daughters dresses that were in good condition that they might not wear anymore.
• We had a teacher in the ward donate 35 books of the story 100 Dresses, a really sweet story about a little girl that wishes she had beautiful dresses.  She is an great artist and draws a hundred dresses and then tells her friends she has 100 dresses in her closet.  It is a sweet story of showing love and kindness and forgiveness.
• The committee looked for someone to donate these dresses to.  We found a women’s shelter that was very excited about getting them just right in our community. 
• We passed the books around until everyone that wanted to read them got a chance
• We passed out really cute invites that had old fashion pictures of women in dresses.  We made them on Photoshop and printed them really cheap at Costco.
• The day of the activity we met at the church and decorated with all the dresses hanging around the gym.  We also decorated each table with left over tulle and white table cloths with vintage looking decor such as hat boxes, shoes or other vintage things as the center pieces.

 

• We also had a few people bring a special dress to talk about. 
• The night of the activity the women came and we had a pot luck where people brought their favorite recipe.
• Then we thanked them for coming and our committee leader talked about the book
• Then we had people share stories of special dresses.
• Had dessert and took some fun pictures!
         
• Then the next day we counted over 100 dresses and other pieces and then took them to the shelter where they were very grateful for our donation.

It was a success. Since this time we have had some pretty great activities.  Not all of them are well attended, but they are fun, we lift each other spirits and we try to plan our activity with a specific purpose!