Here's our event description:
Our first event for 2011 will be The Catholic Speed Dating Party!
This event is meant to be a thoughtful approach to meeting other Catholic singles, age 25 - 39. The event has been heavily promoted on Facebook and in the Diocese of Harrisburg, the Allentown Diocese, and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Our vision is to make this a highly structured event which facilitates meetings between single Catholic people of the same values who feel called to the vocation of marriage.
As our guests arrive, they will sign-in at the front desk (for advanced payment and registration is preferred) and then will be separated into waiting rooms by gender. The entrance fees collected will be donated to a Catholic charity fund for helping the victims of Haiti.
In both the ladies' waiting room and the gentlemen's waiting room, we will have non-alcoholic refreshments and light fare available, such as fruit, cheese, and crackers. Each gender group will be given time to foster new friendships and camaraderie.
A member of our planning committee will also visit each room to outline the agenda for the evening, explain how things will flow, answer questions, and remind participants that NO contact information should be exchanged this evening. We will connect persons in the days that follow only if both parties express mutual interest.
Then our vision is that participants will move out into the main room to listen to our guest speaker, Mrs. Andrea Ostrowski. A Catholic wife and mother of six, Andrea will speak to us about how God calls certain individuals to marriage and how we are also called to a specific person. She will talk to us about the development of our interior spiritual composition so as to attract the mate God intends for us. She will remind us that all dating should really be a courtship for the purposes of discerning marriage. And, most of all, she will speak to us about the importance of love being a GIFT that happens only in God's timing.
After this 30-minute presentation, each lady in attendance would sit at her own sweetheart table, which will be decorated with a nice table cloth and a candle centerpiece. (Our goal is to make no one feel uncomfortable or awkward, so participants would have already received instructions about how the agenda for the night will flow.)
The gentleman would each be assigned a starting place in the room, where they will sit down to speak with one lady at a time. At each table, the couple would have about 5 - 10 minutes (which will be determined by the number of participants present) to talk freely.
During this time of conversation, our DJ would play a nice mix of music in the background.
At the prompting of the DJ, couples' conversations will cease and each person will privately write on specific stationary whether or not they would be open to going on a first date with the person who they are sitting across from. Remember, no contact information will be exchanged by the couple at this time.
Then the DJ will announce that couples should move, whereby the man leaves the woman's table and goes to the next woman's table, traveling around the room in an organized fashion. We will take two breaks during the evening, so that the men and women may return to their waiting rooms and refuel on refreshments! :)
When all persons have met all persons of the opposite gender, the evening will be over. Participants will be reminded that--in the coming days--they will receive an email from us, giving them the contact information of only those persons who expressed mutual interest in going out on a first date. Whatever happens (or doesn't happen) after that is up to them (and God, obviously)!
One lucky lady and one lucky man will go home that night with a gift certificate to use on their first date (although this date may not necessarily be with each other).
This night is sure to be a ton of fun. Please consider attending!
In the event of snow, we will reschedule the event for 7 PM the following Friday, which will be February 25th. Check our blog website for a cancellation posting. Those who have RSVP'd favorably on Facebook will receive a notification message via Facebook. Please note that no emails will be sent out in the event of a cancellation due to weather.
The recommended attire for the evening is that men should not wear jeans. Ladies, use your own good taste.
