Ladies Day Ideas: If the Shoe Fits

I really love our Ladies Day at my home congregation. =) Everyone pulls together and creates something beautiful to feed our eyes, our bodies, our souls…and I always leave feeling uplifted and encouraged. And I’ve usually met some new sisters and visited with some I don’t get to see very much. It’s always a Good Day. And if you want to help create a similar Good Day with the ladies in your area, I figured you might want some hints about how we plan and execute ours. 😉 Especially if you’re looking for a theme and everything! We’ve got you covered. 😉

This Year’s Theme: If the Shoe Fits
Theme Scripture: Ephesians 6:15

The Time: Our program runs from 9:00am-noon; registration starts at 8:30am. Ladies receive name tags and a folder or program as they sign in. This year they also received a handmade bookmark made by several of us on the committee.

The setting: For many years now, our Ladies Day has been held in the Activity Center. We set up large round tables that seat 6-8 people and the ladies are seated at these tables during the program and during the meal. This year we have a new auditorium and large lobby space, so the decision was made to use those areas. I loved it! The program took place in the auditorium; the meal took place in the lobby. I believe we’ll probably keep doing this.

Recognize those folks? 😉 That’s our own Ashley and her oldest daughter Ellery and Ashley’s mom, Judy, who just moved here. The same mom who excels in throwing pottery and making Spanish Bean Soup. =)

The Food: For several years now, we’ve served a large brunch at about 10:30am. It has been super popular and we don’t see much reason to change a thing that’s working so well. =) Breakfast casseroles, bacon, sausage, biscuits (plus, this year we had chocolate gravy!), yogurt parfaits, cheese & crackers, muffins/pastries, fruit, coffee, and juices. Sometimes we’ve had a waffle bar, too, but we simplified a little this year. 

The Speaker(s): Usually, we have one main speaker and then a couple of devotionals, led by our ladies of all ages, sprinkled throughout the morning. This year the committee decided on a featured speaker (Debbie Kea  – one of our guest bloggers: Do You Even Know Me?) who spoke after brunch – and also added three extra speakers, who spoke 15 minutes each – before brunch. Those ladies all had connections to Debbie – one was her daughter Christy Cook (who has guest blogged for us twice – Labor Not in Vain and Spread Kindness Around Like Confetti) and one a daughter-in-law, Sharon Kea, who’s a member at our congregation. This idea seemed to work super well, and I have a feeling we’ll do this again in the future. =) Each of them had fantastic lessons taught with different personalities, so there was something for everyone!

The scriptures we used were Philippians 2: 1-5 and 10; Philippians 3:19; Philippians 4:13; Revelation 3:15; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 1 Samuel 1:28; Ephesians 6:11-16 (*main verse Ephesians 6:15)

(See the bottom of the post to win an audio CD of this year’s lessons!)

The Service Project: We don’t always have a service project to go along with our Ladies Day, but this year the committee had a fantastic idea to hold a shoe drive in conjunction with our theme. I wish I had a picture of the mountain of shoes donated! The shoes will be sorted and donated to a children’s home in Haiti that we help support and the rest will be sent on an upcoming mission trip to the Baja region in Mexico.

The Favors: Some years we have had door prizes – different wrapped gifts that members donate. This year two members of our committee took on the job of making little jars of scented sugar hand/foot scrubs for everyone to take home. Everything about this was adorable – it went along with our theme, the display was too cute (should’ve taken pics before – there were a TON of scrub!), and the ladies loved this as a take home item. I’ve already been using my pumpkin spice scrub on my hands every night before bed and I’m totally enjoying it! 😉

There were also favors on each eating table – you can see pictures below under the decor section. 😉

I mentioned in the registration info. about the handmade laminated bookmarks we gave our this year. But I guess it should be included in the “Favors” section also. 😉

One more new idea for this year – a packet for any little ladies who attend with their mothers. The last few years we haven’t been able to offer childcare, but we still want to encourage mothers to attend. I think this was a hit. 😉 One of our senior ladies made the denim bags!

The Decor: The committee asked two ladies (one of whom was my aunt Becky) to decorate the stage, registration table, and favor table this year. They, along with a friend of theirs from another congregation, did such a fantastic job!! They even made the huge shoes! Well, another friend cut them out of wood and they decorated them. =)

And for quite a few years now the decorating committee has asked individual ladies of the congregation to decorate the round eating tables. Every table is different, with someone’s own creative spin on the theme. We all loooove going around to look at each table, and I think this helps with getting the guests to mingle also. And there’s certainly a lesser burden on the decorating committee (though we usually decorate a table or two ourselves!) Another reason why I love this idea so much is that it involves so many more ladies in the preparation of the event. They all have a hand in its success…and that’s important.

Here are a few sneak peeks – the table decor really needs its Own Post (there were twenty-something tables!) so stay tuned for the conclusion! 😉




Thanks to our hard-working committee and every single lady who had ANY part in the planning, this year’s Ladies Day was a HUGE success! Obviously, we all had to pull together for this special day – but it’s always a joyful feeling to know that so many ladies came together on a Saturday morning to worship God and be encouraged by His word and by fellowship with our sisters. =)

Now, for the contest! 

For the first TEN people who 1) pin this post on Pinterest OR 2) share this post on Facebook (we’d LOVE if you did both! Then comment below to let me know how you shared), you will win an audio CD of our 2016 Ladies Day lessons. (Plus, maybe some other goodies!) We SO appreciate your support and encouragement of The Ruffled Mango and we hope that your friends and family can also benefit from this post!