Holiday House

House Chairmen

Guidelines letter typically sent to each House Chair:

Thank you for being a House Chair! 

Since Holiday House is our main fund raising event, its success depends on your commitment.  Please try to schedule your appointments around your house meetings, workshops and decorating time frame.

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Arrange a time with the homeowner in late August or early September to view the house with your committee members. Be sure to check with the homeowner about whether there are allergy issues in the family for plant selection.  After viewing the house, begin to think of a theme and decorating ideas.  The theme must be decided by the middle of September.  The theme is included in the brochure and tickets go on sale October 1st.  As soon as you have a theme, give it to the Holiday House Chairman, NAME or the Vice-Chair, NAME.

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Have members of your team sign up to work in a room. Depending on the size of the rooms and the size of your committee, you can decide how many people will be working in each room.  After room sign-up, members can then meet to decide what each will be doing in their respective room.  Ask one person from each room to be a team leader to keep you abreast of their plans and any problems. Try to keep visits to the home before December to a minimum.

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If you have a Co-chair, decide how the Chairs' duties will be shared and keep each other informed and included in all preparations so both are up-to-date.  

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It is important to be available to your house committee, the core committee and the homeowner.  Make sure you have the homeowner’s email and phone number.  To avoid miscommunications, check and re-check with committee members with requests you make of your committee.

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Budget: Each home gets a budget of $1,350.00. Fill out the ‘Cash Advance’ form (available on our website in the Members only area) and submit to the club’s treasurer to obtain your budgeted amount.  You are expected to remain within your budget.  You may want to determine a budget for each room and assign a team leader.  On the last day of decorating, each room’s team leader collects receipts from the members of their room and gives them to you for reimbursement. Or you may give the team leader for each room the money upfront. That way, they will stay within their budget and not have to wait for their money.  

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Be available to the homeowner about any issues, concerns or questions. Some homeowners want to be made aware of what the decorations will be for each room. You can give them an overview and let them know that ideas sometimes change as decorating evolves.

Workshops: When workshops are needed, all committee members are encouraged to attend. This will include outside decorations and some projects that could be taken home and worked on.   Advise team members of the date and time of the workshop and any supplies or tools to bring. Ask your committee to keep an eye on their emails or texts in case you need to reach them quickly with news or changes.

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Outside Decorations: You may have a committee to plan the outside decorations or have everyone contribute to the plan.  If they are physically able, all committee members are expected to work on the outside, which is done the week before the tour.  Planning the decorating requires keeping an eye on the weather.

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Week of the Show:  You will need to be at the home Monday through Thursday. You should be available to your committee members to keep things on schedule, answer questions, or solve problems. Aim for the decorating to be completed by noon on Thursday.  The newspaper photographer with the Club Publicist (NAME) and club photographers (who need photos for the January photo presentation) will be taking pictures on Thursday beginning at noon. It is important that someone familiar with the decorations remain at the home to point out “stellar” designs to the photographers.

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Hostesses:    We assure the homeowners there will be a hostess in each room to describe the room and to keep their possessions safe.  The House Chairman coordinates with the Host/Hostess Chairman to determine the number of hostesses needed per shift.  Ask the homeowner for a room where hostesses can leave their belongings and a bathroom they may use. The hostess at the front door should have information about the house. This should be kept brief to minimize wait time at the front door.  You can get this info from the Holiday House Chairman or the homeowner.  See Hostess/Host instructions below for more information.

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Luminaries: Delegate a small group to decorate and set out the Luminaries. These are set out on the morning of the Tour on the pathway to the home. Usually they are lit by the ending 2-4 pm shift and the oncoming 4-6 pm shift. Depending on the number of luminaries, a person or persons can be designated to light them so there will not be a last-minute problem.

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Save a few Christmas Tree ornaments or a unique or special decoration for the “Show and Tell” at the January Meeting.

Additional House Chair Responsibilities:

1. Make sure you receive a bag (from the core committee) containing: pens, hostess list with name and phone number of hostesses, name tags, NGC Flag and stand to be placed in front of the house.

2. Provide a list of your committee for the 8”X 10” frame to be displayed during the tour. Place where it will attract attention.

3. Lending things to the homeowner is discouraged.  If the homeowner doesn’t have a container suitable for your design, try the Dollar Store or a thrift store.  If your things absolutely must be used, they cannot be picked up before January and the list of items must be given to the House Chair.

4. Ask all designers to list the flowers used in their arrangements or other interesting information on a 3” X 5” card to be placed near the design.

Parties/Lunches held by the Chairs and/or Co-chairs are not a requirement, a thank you note would be much appreciated.

Do not hesitate to contact anyone on the Core Committee if you need more information or clarification, we want to make your job as easy as possible.​