Spring is here and it is one of the biggest times for Leaders to be planning their next bridging and award ceremonies. In light of the nice weather and wanting to be outside a great theme to use at your ceremony is Hawaiian. Of course if your on the Northern East Coast or some other portions of the USA, you are not getting that 80 – 90 degree weather quite yet, so our ceremonies are usually held indoors. Girls still dressed in their summer attire and we made the best of the 55 degrees that was outside.
Here are a few other great ceremony ideas to use with your troop:
- Winter Bridging Ceremony
- Your Next Flag Ceremony
- Star Is Born CeremonyÂ
- Stepping Stone and Wishing Well Ceremony
Today I want to share 4 helpful tips / ideas for you to use when planning your next Ceremony with a summer flair.
Get Your Decorations  Cheaper
So as many of us know we need to be frugal with our money, but you still will want to have some decorations for your ceremony. So if you plan ahead I would highly recommend using Oriental trading for all your decorating, and even gift idea needs. Why you may ask, well because most of the items you can buy on oriental you can get at your local party story but if you look many of those items came from oriental, they are re-sellers so they charge quite a bit more than oriental. I use Oriental trading for all my decorating. I bought a huge roll of Hawaiian table covering and a few yellow table clothes and all my tables were covered. We bought ducky bags, and coconut water bottles, and of course all the lays for the girls to wear around their necks. Â Check out Oriental Tradings huge Luau party store
Make Your Very Own Re-useable Bridge
What you need: 8 dowel rods, heavy duty glue (we used super glue) or heavy duty tacks, Rainbow color fabric or thick ribbon of your choice, Variety of flowers, 8 large red party cups or color of your choice, and cement
How to make:
- First you will make up the cement and put the dowel rods into each cup and pour cement in and let set until they are all dry.
- After cups are dry you will take fabric/ribbon and place on top of dowel and glue down, stringing nicely to the other 3. If you want to be able to replace the ribbon with different designs based on theme – you could use heave duty tacks to push them in on top so can be removed after ceremony.
- Then take the flowers you purchased and decorate each dowel rod. That is it now you have a bridge you can customize at every ceremony with different flowers or fall leaves, depending on theme of ceremony.
Sand Art Ceremony
This ceremony you will need different color sand: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, light green, Blue, light blue, Pink, Brown & Purple, a jar, and a small funnel. The girls will pour small amounts of each color into the jar as they read the part of ceremony. Â If you want you can get a jar for each girl and enough sand for each girl and they could each make their own keepsake of the GS Law.
Girl#1        I will do my best to be… Honest and Fair – Purple represents this law. A GS works honestly and keeps her promise. She is fair in all she does and to all those she meets.
Girl #2     Blue represents being friendly and helpful.  A GS is amiable and loyal to          her friends. She helps others wherever and whenever she can.
Girl #3    Green represents considerate and caring. A GS works well with others            and looks out for the well-being of those around her.
Girl #4    Orange represents courageous and strong. A GS attempts new tasks and          braves new endeavors. She is confident and self-assured in her actions.
Girl #5    Red represents being responsible for what I say and do. A GS readily            admits her strengths and weaknesses and is aware of the consequences of her          actions.
Girl #6    Yellow represents respect for myself and others. A GS acts with                integrity. She directs her thoughts and deeds to encompass her own beliefs and         to be sensitive to those around her.
Girl #7    Light green represents A GS respects authority. She understands the            sense of regard for another’s position.
Girl #8   Brown represents A  GS uses resources wisely. She uses her materials,           money, time, and energy with care as not to waste the Earth or her own              resources.
Girl #9    Light blue represents A GS makes the world a better place. She strives to         clean, conserve and enrich the world around her. She believes it is important to         leave a place better than she found it.
Girl #10   And last, but certainly not least, a GS should always… Be a sister to             every GS Pink represents this law.
Ceremony Music
When your girls are walking across the bridge to go up to next level play Hawaiian music. If you need some inspiration here is a cd that you can play at your event: Hawaiian Music Ukulele and Steel Guitar
More Resources For My Leader ReadersÂ
I get asked a lot what other resources are out there on the internet for Leaders. Â I have done some digging over the years and have used many of the resources myself. I compiled a list of some great companies that sell patches, programs and also other bloggers offering amazing resources that may fit your needs even better than my site did. Â Â Checkout what I found.
