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  • 1.  Breakfast with Belle

    Posted 01-26-2016 07:33
    Hi
    I've heard of some schools hosting g a Breakfast with Belle" type event as a fund raiser when mounting a production of Beauty and the Beast and am curious as to the logistics and the amount of profit/ overall cost and what you charged for such an event. We will be doing Mary Poppins and I'm thinking of a themed Tea Party but not really sure where to start. Suggestions? Advice?


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  • 2.  RE: Breakfast with Belle

    Posted 01-27-2016 07:39
    We did a tea with Belle.... Served small lunch, dessert etc and made approx $1000. With most if the food donated by parents, a little entertainment and lots of photos and autographs.

    --
    Jill Welsheimer
    Director of Instrumental Music and Theatre Arts
    Perryville High School
    410-996-6000




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  • 3.  RE: Breakfast with Belle

    Posted 01-27-2016 09:42
      |   view attached

    We staged "Alice in Wonderland" a couple of years ago and did a tea party fundraising event. I was skeptical but it was a huge hit and well worth the effort. Donations are key - we gathered more than 2 dozen tea cups and saucers, teapots, and cream/sugar sets from the collections of myself, mother, mother-in-law, and colleague. Guests chose their own cut and saucer upon arrival and chose a table.

    Next important piece was PR. We ran an article in a local paper and distributed flyers that provided details about the event including cost and when to register. We charged $10 per person age 5-adult and $3 for those age 2-4. We then planned the decorations - plastic table cloths, red and white tableware, some hearts. Menu included tea, coffee, and hot chocolate with an  assortment of cookies. Attached is our invitation if it helps.

    About halfway through, once folks were seated, our characters appeared in all of their costumes and mingled, served, and posed for photos.

    In all, we got great reviews and and it was a rousing success. Keep it simple, get the word out early, take reservations, and have fun.

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    Elizabeth Phillips
    teacher/director
    Memphis Community Schools
    Memphis MI

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    ALICE tea party invite 2.docx   28 KB 1 version
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  • 4.  RE: Breakfast with Belle

    Posted 01-27-2016 09:51

    Hi Holly,

     

    We do a similar event at our school for fundraising for drama…tea for Mary, Feast with the Beast, etc. Our goal is to keep the cost of the catering and swag to $3 per person. We do that by getting supplies donated by our parents. We did small tea sandwiches, cookies, fruit and an animal cracker and dip. The parents made the food in our cafeteria so we had the food safety covered. Parents donated small cookies and muffins for the dessert part. We are lucky to have linens at our school and we made the table decs ourselves and pulled props from our closet to dress the tables. We charge $15 for high tea or the meal. It can be worthwhile as far as profits. We seat 175 per event.

     

    Best of luck. The event is a ton of work, but parents and children loved it…especially the meet and greet part.

     

    Susan


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  • 5.  RE: Breakfast with Belle

    Posted 01-27-2016 13:24

    Thank you for starting this thread...we are doing a production of Beauty in March and we are hosting a "Fairy Tale Breakfast".  It was good to hear what others have done in the past.  I know there are so many things to work out logistically, but I also know it is going to be a a BIG hit! 

    Thank you all for your great ideas. 

    ------------------------------
    Janice Gabriel
    Theatre Arts Teacher
    Newtown High School
    Sandy Hook CT

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  • 6.  RE: Breakfast with Belle

    Posted 01-28-2016 09:09

    Thank you for all of the suggestions.  Please keep them coming!  Has anyone combined the cost of the tea with a ticket to the show?  

    Another thought--because we are doing shows on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday evening and Sunday Matinee--I thought it would be a bit taxing for all involved (especially actors) to do this on show weekend.  Any thoughts on the idea of doing this the weekend before?  Perhaps build word of mouth for the show?

    Thanks,

    Holly

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    Holly Thompson
    Worthington OH

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Breakfast with Belle

    Posted 01-28-2016 14:50

    We have made a character breakfast part of almost every show we have done lately, starting with "Suessical". It was our first we had a "Suess-ibruncheon" with green eggs and ham. If the story is kid friendly on characters then we do a breakfast. We have several grandparents that bring their grandchildren and love getting to make that memory with them.  

    I have been fortunate in the past to have a restaurant donate pancakes and sausage or ham for 200 people. We also have Broughton's Dairy nearby and they donate milk ( white and chocolate) and OJ. We also have a business who will donate all the cups, plates, silverware and napkins for us and someone else that donates butter and syrup. I try not to ask the parents to donate too much because they have already given so much to the show. Lucky for me I am a talker and can brag about my program until people will freely give to us for an ad in our program. I do keep track of the donation at a monetary level to base the size of ad.  We also call our local Kohl's and sign up for the Kohl's Cares program that you can automatically count on $500 if they come and work. Kohl's associates serve at our breakfast. 

    My kids come out in character and socialize with the little ones and there our opportunities to take pictures. I really try to make it a kid friendly event complete with coloring book playbills for autographs. My favorite breakfast memory can from "Charolette's Web" and Templeton was going around asking people for the scraps. 

    We do really well and like I said earlier we have grandparents who look forward to those shows. I can't tell you how many times I have been stopped in stores asking what and when we are doing.  

    I hope this helps feel free to contact me with any questions ldparks@k12.wv.us 3048633356

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    Douglas Parks
    Parkersburg WV

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