Women's Retreat Themes Must Be Designed to Attract Busy Gals
Women's Retreat Themes are more than just something to fill in the open space on a poster. They are the critical component to attaining registrations. A women's retreat theme has g...

Women's Retreat Themes are more than just something to fill in the open space on a poster. They are the critical component to attaining registrations. A women's retreat theme has got to consume the thoughts of prospective attendees from the time they hear or see it until the day they put their money down to register.

There is way too much competition for their attention for you to neglect selecting a captivating theme. It needs to be a stand-alone hit as well as one that can be incorporated into every aspect of the retreat.

STAND ALONE THEMES.

The name itself should generate curiosity while being self-explanatory. Themes like

- Prescription for a New You: Medical Theme
- Dressed to Kill: Spiritual Armor
- Heart Notes: Music & Loving Relationships
- Trip Around the World: Missions Focus with International Cuisine
- Shine Like Stars: Fundraiser Outreach or "Grammy" Awards

These themes provide instant interest while lending themselves to easy development.

THEME DEVELOPMENT.

Consider the theme Women Under Construction. You would decorate by placing ladders, saw horses, plastic drip sheets, and tool boxes everywhere. Your volunteers would dress in bib overalls and wear hard hats while carrying real walkie-talkies. You would offer break out sessions on topics like S.L.O.W. - Stress Reduction Strategies for Busy Moms and Duct Tape- Taming the Tongue. Food would include a "Build Your Own Sandwich" bar, featuring individual bags of chips, whole apples/oranges, Little Debbie's desserts and bottles of cold pop. Use lunch boxes as serving containers for the condiments. You could host a nail-driving contest or an entire construction site carnival.

The ideas are endless when you select the right theme.

THEME GENERATION.

Coming up with ideas is fun, but time consuming. Host a theme generation party with your volunteer staff at least six months, if not a year in advance. Spend time in the popcorn popper - popping up ideas, crazy and sane, all together until you have a long list. From this list, select a few favorites and narrow it down to the one you want.

Consider your speaker: Is the theme easy for a speaker to develop? Some groups go about it the other way: Finding the best speaker they can and going with her theme.

Many groups are tapping into ready-to-go themes like those available at www.PromoTemplates.com. These resource sets include the theme development ideas plus the publicity templates that help you instantly create posters, bulletin inserts, postcards, tickets and more.

Women's Retreat Themes are important. If you select an exciting theme that captures the imagination of your women, they will be much more likely to make the sacrifices required for them to attend. As a bonus, they will be highly motivated to invite their friends to come with them.