Choose decorations and purchase needed materials, including table rental.  Responsible for setting up, overseeing, and taking down decorations (with help from Junior class)

Minimum needed: 6 people

These are the notes from 2008 Graduation.

2008 MPE Graduation Decorations Committee Report
This is a list of the responsibilities and resources used by the decorating committee for the 2008 graduation at Mid America Nazarene Church.  Remember that while the planning and most of the decorations must be bought ahead of time, the bulk of the work falls on graduation day and the days prior.  The April meeting is used for rehearsal time for the graduates, so all planning (including budget and junior help requests) should be completed by the March meeting.  One of the first things to be done is to look through past decorations at the MPE Office to see what you may want to reuse.

1.       Most of the decorations, except the balloons, are re-used year to year.  Some were used in past years but not in 2008.  These decorations are located at the MPE Office.
10113 Lenexa Dr
Lenexa, KS  66215
913-397-9506
2.       The contact person at the Mid America Nazarene Church is Dennis Vaverka at 913-489-6221.

3.      Table Rental—36 eight-foot rectangular tables were rented from AA Promotions.  The contact person is Sam Barnicale at 913-908-3754.  28 were for Uphaus hall for the students’ picture boards and 6 for the reception food next door.  (We had 3 seniors change their minds about participating in graduation.)  Yes, the decorations committee is responsible for ordering the tables which the food committee will use, as well as the centerpieces for those tables.
Sam has worked with MPE for several years.  Several days before graduation, he contacted Dennis to arrange a time to deliver the tables to the church.  He did not need help unloading tables, and left the invoice with Dennis.  Friday afternoon he stopped by to pick up his check from the treasurer.  Sam provided the staple gun and staples for attaching the skirts as well as pullers for removing the skirts.  He requested that no adhesives on the skirts be used as it takes an hour per table to remove.

Borrowed—The Mid America Nazarene Church has 33 round tables and 1 small trapezoid table.  The church also has a ladder which we used during decorating.

4.      Table Set Up— We fit 22 tables around the perimeter of Uphaus hall and put 6 tables back-to-back in the middle of the room.  We had 28 tables for 56 graduates.  We used navy table skirts saved from the 2007 ceremony to staple around the graduates’ tables.  We alternated white and blue tablecloths.  Inside the entrance of Uphaus hall, we placed a small trapezoid table, covered with a navy tablecloth to hold 2 baskets of note cards and pens for anyone who wanted to write a note to a graduate.  This table also became our “Lost and Found” section.  A box labeled “Lost and Found” might be helpful.

The six food tables were set up diagonally with space between each table.  All had navy cloths and navy skirts.  The food tables required 2 skirts per table to wrap completely.  Each food table had a centerpiece of 3 balloons.

The round tables for reception seating had white cloths.  For centerpieces we wrapped 12 glass bowls with blue flowers and filled them with Hershey’s kisses.  We made 2 eye-catching posters to draw attention this room.  In past years this room had been ignored but because of the posters there were not enough tables.  We used 12 round tables.   It would have been better to have set up 16 tables.

We ordered cloths in bulk from www.nationwideparty.com.  The rectangular cloths come in rolls 100 ft long, while the round ones come in packages of 12.  We were not able to save any round white cloths.  After graduation we were careful in tearing down, so we were able to save 30 table skirts in Uphaus hall.  Because we thought all the navy blue things in storage were skirts, we ordered too much white tablecloth.  Therefore, we also had a lot of unused white cloth for the rectangular tables.  The table skirts can cost anywhere from $3.50-$6.00, depending on where you get them.   You will need to check the count of cloths and skirts early to allow time for purchasing more, if needed.

5.       Name cards—We made name placards to place on the graduates’ tables so they would know where to set up.  We went in alphabetical order around the room, ending in the center.  We got the list from one of the graduation coordinators and printed 3 names per page.

6.      Banner—We had 2 paper banners printed.  One was placed on the banister in the sanctuary; the other above the door to Uphaus hall.  A large blue banner was hung on the north wall of Uphaus hall.  A plastic banner from Party City was hung in the room serving food.  2 posters were hand-painted “Reception Seating” to draw attention to that room.

7.      Flowers—There was confusion as to who purchases floral arrangements for the sanctuary, so none were purchased for 2008.  The floral committee purchases flowers for the graduation ceremony.  Any flowers used in decorations are purchased by the decorations committee.  No flowers are allowed on the communion table.  In past years, the committee has borrowed arrangements from families or churches they are affiliated with.

8.      Balloons—We purchased 200 balloons and 39 weights from Party City on 135th Street.  We then rented 1 helium tank and put a crew of four blowing up balloons.    No balloons were allowed in the Sanctuary, but were allowed in Uphaus hall, the food room, and the reception seating area.

a.       For the balloon arch that was on the stage in Uphaus hall, we used 21 silver latex balloons and 21 navy latex balloons.  We used nylon line left over from the 2007 graduation.   The ends were tied to bricks spray-painted silver; then the balloons tied, evenly spaced, along the length of the string.  When finished, the bricks were pushed together until the arch was the desired height.  The bricks and string are in storage at MPE.
Balloon Arch Length Formula
1.      If the balloon arch is wider than it is tall:
HEIGHT  +  WIDTH  =  APPROXIMATE TOTAL LENGTH

2.       If the balloon arch height and width are about the same:
1.5 (HEIGHT)  +  WIDTH  =  APPROXIMATE TOTAL LENGTH
3.   If the balloon arch is taller than it is wide:
2(HEIGHT)  +  WIDTH  =  APPROXIMATE TOTAL LENGTH
b.  6 balloon clusters of silver and navy latex balloons tied to silver washers were the centerpieces for the food tables.
d.   1 group of 3 navy and silver latex balloons tied to silver washers was placed in the center of each senior table to add decoration and a visual separation between displays.  These floated  above and behind the displays.
9.      Columns—We used navy tulle and clear Christmas lights saved from 2007 to wrap the 6 large columns in Uphaus hall.  Nails are already in the columns, ready for use.  Through experimentation, we found it easiest to place the lights inside the tulle as we wrapped the pole.  This was the only way to guarantee the lights would shine through the tulle.  Each column has an electrical outlet in the wall behind it, except one. For that one, we ran our own 30 foot extension chord across the floor.  (Don’t forget to tape down the cords to prevent tripping.)
One of the light strands has a broken bulb which will need replaced.   Apparently we wrapped the columns tighter in 2008 than in 2007 as all the tulle was too short.  We were able to cut an extra piece of tulle into pieces to finish 3 columns.  The 12 foot tulle section definitely needs replaced.

10.  Junior Class—In March the junior class will be in contact, wanting to know how many juniors will be needed to help decorate.  Past years have scheduled table set up for Thursday at 5pm.  Because of senior pictures and rehearsal, we changed that to Friday morning at 11:30.  This also gave us the option to have those people stay longer, if it appeared there would be more work to do than we had volunteers.  Most were very willing to stay to help blow up balloons.  Total helpers—16 juniors, 4 adults.

At 11:30 am Friday (Graduation Day), we used:
5 people (at least 1 adult) for setting up tables in Uphaus Hall
4 people to staple skirts on tables.

At 1 pm Friday (Graduation Day) we used :
1 supervisor (Junior Coordinator)
4 people to assemble the balloon arch (at least 1 adult)
4 people to hang and wrap the lights and tulle around the pillars (at
least 1 adult)
2 people to cover the round tables and put out the bowls of candy
2 people hang the banner and place the balloon bouquets on the
food tables.
3 people assigned to tie weights to groups of 3 balloons and placing
them at the center back of each senior display table.
NOTE:  We had assigned 3 juniors and 1 adult to help the 2 seniors and 1 parent blow up balloons and build the arch.  As each of the teams finished their tasks, they were reassigned to balloons.  With their help, 180 balloons were inflated and the arch built by 2 pm.

11.  Expenses/Budget—One person needs to be assigned to keep track of total expenses and write the budget for the Finance Committee, which would appreciate an estimate as soon as possible.  The budget needs to be turned in no later than the March meeting; although it can be later amended, if necessary.  The finance committee this year either reimbursed expenses or approved advances for specific purchases.

12.  Be sure to exchange contact information with everyone on your committee.  It becomes vital by the end of the year, especially if the purchasing is split among several people.

Decoration Expenses for the 2008 MPE Graduation
Table Rental—36 eight-foot tables ($5 each)                                    $180.00
Round table cloths                                                                  $40.05
Rectangular table cloths                                                         $66.55
Candy for Food Table Centerpieces-                                      donated
200 Balloons & ribbon                                                            $56.26
Helium tank rental                                                                  $43.95
39 Balloon Weights (39 at $0.49 each)                                  $19.11
3 Poster boards + supplies + small banner                             $10.53
2 medium banners                                                                  donated
2 strings clear lights (replacements)                                      $9.64
TOTAL spent by MPE                                                              $426.09
MPE Graduation Decorations in Storage
(Located at MPE Office)

3 balloon weights, star-shaped
24 balloon weights, silver washers
15 glass bowls for centerpieces
19 blue morning glory rings (for base of glass bowls)
30 navy blue table skirts
4 partial navy blue table skirts
14 navy table cloths (6 are new)
10 round navy cloths (4 are new)
1 –  10-inch silver cross
Silver cardboard stars  (2– 10 inch, 3 — 13 inch, 18 — 16 inch)
42 note cards with a graduation cap in the lower right corner
4.5 x 5.5 inches
200 plain 4×5 inch note cards
Star Garland (25 foot uncut, 25 foot cut in various lengths)
Balloons—13 silver, 13 navy
5 extension cords
5 sections tulle approximately 20 foot long
1 section tulle approximately 12 foot long (needs replaced)
3 various-sized pieces of tulle
1 spool fishing line (for the balloon arch)
1 spool navy ribbon
1 spool silver ribbon
4 bricks, spray painted silver (for the balloon arch)
6 strands clear Christmas lights
1 banner 18 inches by 8 feet.  “Midwest Parent Educators Class of
2008”
Bag with spare numbers for banner: 1, 9, 7.
1 plastic banner 18 inches by 5 ½ feet “Congrats Grad!”
1 roll silver paper   24 inches wide, length unknown
2 new rolls white tablecloth. 40 inches by 100 feet.  (Each roll will cover 12 tables 8 feet long)
2 partially used rolls white tablecloth.  40 inches wide.  Length unknown.

Helpful items to have while decorating:  several pairs of scissors, scotch tape, duct tape, clear packing tape, at least 1 package of ticky-tack for every 2 posters/banners, extra string of lights, cell phone, marker, arch directions, a plan for getting balloons down from the ceiling.