10 Things I’ve Learned About Sweetheart Banquets

Ah, sweetheart banquets….

Over the years I had the opportunity to help plan a few Sweetheart Banquets at our church.

Our women’s minstry team would partner with the men’s ministry, but honestly the women did almost all of the planning. We’d divy out a few tasks to the guys.

We had some big hits and a few misses. I hope this list will help as you plan your sweetheart banquet.

Here are 10 Things I’ve Learned About Sweetheart Banquets

1. Romantic favors are a bad idea
2. You can run out of food
3. Tablecloths take forever to be ironed especially the day of
4. Italian food is always a great choice as long as a vegetarian option is included
5. It really is okay to have salads, dressing, and breadsticks on the table as folks enter
6. No one wants to be “lectured” as they celebrate Valentine’s Day – opt for fun and funny
7. Increase your budget for decorations and flowers as roses are going to be more expensive than any other time of year
8. You’re going to have to really sell a Valentine’s event – most folks would rather have a romantic dinner out by themselves than come to church
9. Men should not be sent to plate the food for their wives as they will scoop generously – see #2.
10. Candles and mirrors create great inexpensive ambiance (purchase mirror tiles at the home improvement store to save money)

And, yes, we really did run out of some of the food. The worst part was one of our Pastor’s got one of the plates that was lacking. We learned to serve the staff first!

Be sure to check out:

5 Keys to a Successful Sweetheart Banquet
Free Printable Valentine Verses
Not-so Newlywed Game Script
10 Sweetheart Banquet Ideas
The Great Valentine Candy Pass
Valentine Icebreaker Questions (Free Printable)