New Member Retreat

[DeltaDoll]

Hi there! I was recently put in charge of planning our retreat for our new girls that we'll recruit in the fall. It's typically an overnight stay and I plan pretty much everything - location, food, activities, etc. I have my venue pretty much set and the activities planned. I am, however, a little nervous about food as we'll be bringing it ourselves.

The venue has a fridge, stove and grill attached to the pavilion that we'll be eating at. I'm trying to think of (relatively) easy buffet foods that I could have for the dinner/breakfast in the morning. I'd like to have a little more variety than just pizza/soda and was curious if anyone had some suggestions?

Thanks so much!

[AOIIalum]

What kind of budget do you have, and will you have to haul everything in and out yourselves? Does the entire chapter attend, just the NMs and Bigs, or what?

If the Bigs attend, maybe they could pack a picnic dinner to share with their little? Could be a fun tradition to start and simplify planning on your end. There's also lasagna and salad, and you could get those frozen and bake in the oven. Baked potato bars are fun, bake up a lot of potatoes in the oven and bring in all sorts of toppings and maybe even a crock pot of chili as either a topping or another entree option.

Keep breakfast simple, think continental breakfast with fruits, cheeses, yogurt cups and breads maybe? Costco or Sams Club could be your friend there. There are some great breakfast casserole type dishes that can be prepped in advance and refrigerated overnight to bake in the am too.

[DeltaDoll]

Originally Posted by AOIIalum

What kind of budget do you have, and will you have to haul everything in and out yourselves? Does the entire chapter attend, just the NMs and Bigs, or what?

If the Bigs attend, maybe they could pack a picnic dinner to share with their little? Could be a fun tradition to start and simplify planning on your end. There's also lasagna and salad, and you could get those frozen and bake in the oven. Baked potato bars are fun, bake up a lot of potatoes in the oven and bring in all sorts of toppings and maybe even a crock pot of chili as either a topping or another entree option.

Keep breakfast simple, think continental breakfast with fruits, cheeses, yogurt cups and breads maybe? Costco or Sams Club could be your friend there. There are some great breakfast casserole type dishes that can be prepped in advance and refrigerated overnight to bake in the am too.

Thanks so much for the ideas! Sorry for not being specific; only our new girls (60 of them) will be attending, and then about 8 of the older girls to chaperone and help lead all of the activities. It's been a little difficult to plan since we don't have our "official" budget until June 20th, but we're most likely going to get the same as last years and that was $2500. The location comes out to just a little under $2000 and then I budgeted giving each of the drivers $20 in gas money (it's a little far away). It ends up leaving me about $450 for food. I love the baked potato bar idea!