Christmas In Nauvoo - Ward Christmas Party

We were put in charge of our church or ward 

Christmas party this year.

We needed to plan something with families

and have it be for around 250 people.

I immediately got on the internet and

found on Sugardoodle

a list of suggested Ward Christmas Parties.

One caught my eye since we had just been

in charge of the Pioneer Trek this summer

and that was

Christmas in Nauvoo in 1843

posted by Paige Moore.

Christmas of 1843 was the last Christmas

that Joseph Smith was alive and he recorded

in his journal being woken up that morning

by carolers and that he and his wife Emma

hosted a dinner for 50 in the Nauvoo Mansion

and that they had music and dancing all evening.

It not only had the theme idea

but it had a list of assignments for the

various committees and a program

and facts about old

Nauvoo, Illinois.

The first thing I wanted to add was a horse

and carriage for the evening to set the stage

for old Nauvoo.

 I had just used this wonderful

company this fall for a Miss Utah County 

parade event so I contacted them and 

we got their Vis a Vis Limousine carriage.

The carriage company, Burch and Sons is

located in American Fork, Utah and they

have a huge collection of wonderful

carriages.

There was a line-up for carriage rides all evening.

One of my close neighbors was asked 

to play the prophet Joseph Smith.

He even grew his hair out and styled

it like Joseph's was styled in 1843.

A costume was rented from Hale Center Theater.

Nauvoo was famous for the beautiful

brick homes the people built while they lived

there so we printed out large rolls of red brick

on paper and decorated the various "stores"

we had around the church building.

Different organizations in the ward were 

assigned to be in charge of setting up and running

their "stores" and the Young Women 

organization went over the top with their

charming Scovil Bakery.

One of the leaders even brought over this

charming cupboard.  They made snowflakes

and hung them from the ceiling.  You felt

totally transported as you entered their room.

They were asked to have gingerbread cookies

for the children to decorate but they took it

a step farther and decided to create a

bakesale and donate the funds they

raised to needy families.

I love the wooden cash box they had in their bakery.

This charming tree was lit and in the corner with

a darling banner hung above it.

They even turned the chalkboards in the room into

windows in the bakery and hung lights around them.

You are looking out through this window!

Isn't this an adorable idea.  The round tables

were set up with plastic tablecloths

for the decorating of the gingerbread cookies.

We printed off whitewashed wood planks

for the Stoddard Tin Shop.  

Here the children could come in and make

a punched ornament or necklace.  You could

hear the pounding of little hammers down

the hall.  The kids really loved this one too.

These cute guys were all dressed in

period clothing and having a great time showing off for the camera.

The Red Brick Store was famous

in old Nauvoo and we had the Elder's Quorum

set it up like a store with barrels

of peanuts and candy.  Here you could 

bring toys and clothing and gently used items

for the needy and drop them off.

Back in 1843 large church meetings were

held in "The Grove" or out under the cover

of trees as there were no large church buildings.

Here the children played pioneer games.

Our postmaster was here to help people write

letters or emails to the many missionaries

we have from our ward serving around the

world.  One of those is my son who is serving

in Seoul, Korea.

The Bishop's Storehouse was a place where

you could make donations of food in 

Old Nauvoo which would be shared with

the needy so we had people bring

food and products the

Food and Care Coalition in town

need to help the homeless.

The Nauvoo Mansion was built to

house guests and visitors in Nauvoo.

We printed off stone blocks on paper

to create an entry for it.  The Mansion

was the cultural hall or gymnasium at the church.

And the stage was Joseph's room where

he was seated writing in his journal.

He was so great - he stayed in character

the whole evening and children said,

"Joseph is here, Joseph is here!"

They wanted to be up on stage by him.

We set up 24 long tables in a fan pattern

and the tables were covered with red tablecloths

and a wonderful roll of burlap.

Each set of tables had 3 silk wreaths and 2 glass 

hurricanes and one metal and glass hurricane with

artificial snow on the bottom of the hurricanes.

The candles of course were electronic.

The burlap ran down the serving tables too.

I created two tall urns with evergreens

and artichokes and lemons.

All candles have to be battery operated

in the church building for fire codes.

You can see the tables beginning to fill up.  

We also set up chairs around the edges.  Every

seat was used.  It was the best attended ward

party we have had.  You can also see a child

standing up on the stage next to the desk.  How

adorable is that?

We asked everyone to come in 

period clothing - at least no jeans for

men and no pants for women.  It really

added to the atmosphere.

The ward provided holiday ham and turkey and

fresh rolls from Shirley's Bakery.

Every family was asked to bring their

favorite holiday side dish or dessert.  

The tables were stuffed with delicious food.

As a follow up invitation, 

we sent out this "How to arrange a Christmas Dinner"

published in 1847.  It is fun to read through

 and see the traditional dishes mentioned. 

 I don't think anyone brought 

turnips, boiled onions or dressed celery!

My niece Shaunna did the designs for

both invitations, the signs for the 

shop doors and the brick, wood and

stone walls.  She was a fabulous help!

We had a group of carolers wandering

down the hall.

After dinner we had a short program that 

was included on the site I referenced.

We added to it with a song that our

Joseph (Del Moody) wrote about

Emma and then he stood at the end and

bore witness to Jesus Christ citing

Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-24

"This is the testimony, last of all. that we give

of him: That he lives!  For we saw him, even

on the right hand of God; and we heard the

voice bearing record that he is the Only

Begotten of the father."

It was so powerful after the song about

Emma and it brought tears to many eyes.

These were our actors playing Porter Rockwell

and one of the military officers who were part

of the program.

The choir sang several numbers in the program

and the Young Women sang "Go Tell it on the Mountain".

Many said it was the best ward Christmas Party

they had ever been to.  

I hope if you need to do a ward party, 

and choose to do Christmas in Nauvoo, that this

will give you some ideas and inspiration.

Incidentally, A Christmas Carol by

Charles Dickens was also published on

December 19, 1843.

I had researched the costumes of the period

and then I went 

production by Hale Center Theater in 

Salt Lake this year.  

Their costumes really followed the

time period with their

hairstyles featuring the sausage curls, the waistcoats and morning coats for the men

and the women's dresses with lower

and pointed waistlines .  It was

fun to see how they would have 

actually dressed

up for a party in 1843.

I will be posting this with

Tablescapes Thursday

Seasonal Sunday

Weekend Wrapup