Away in a Manger Idea

For this Ward Christmas Party idea, we took the title for a simple hymn "Away in a Manger" and followed that theme through the night.

We wanted to make the dinner delicious but something simple for our ward members to contribute.  So we had "bars" - salad bar, soup bar, baked potato bar, dessert bar, and everyone's favorite - the hot chocolate bar.  We just asked everyone to contribute either a soup, a dessert, or to cook up some baked potatoes, and the ward provided the salad, the toppings to the baked potatoes, and the hot chocolate.  We set up long rows of tables and as everyone arrived they placed their food on their designated table.  Everyone enjoyed the meal, and it put less pressure on everyone to prepare, but it made it feel less like a pot luck and more like a nicer meal.  Plus who doesn't like warm soup and hot chocolate on a cold night?

This year we are going to follow this theme again, and one thing we will add is a Nativity Room, probably the Relief Society Room.  We will have reverent Mormon Tabernacle Christmas music playing, and ask the members of our ward to bring their nativities to display in there.

For our presentation, we had the Primary children act out the story of Christ's birth, read straight from the scriptures.  When a hymn would fit in the story, we would have the congregation sing one verse of the hymn, which was all typed up and on each table.  To view the play, click here.  Our ward's favorite part was the three Sunbeams we had as the Wise Men.